When nearby land could no longer supply enough water to town, the Union Improvement Company chose this site for a reservoir because Tibbs Run water could be captured in a natural bowl and the largely undeveloped upper watershed preserved clean mountain water. When construction began in early 1911, the land was still heavily forested, and some old growth timber from that time still stands. In early 1912, the Union Utilities Company, successor to the Union Improvement Company, acquired water rights within the watershed leading to but not adjoining the reservoir, and landowners agreed not to pollute the waters; those rights later passed through subsequent deeds, and some of that land is now protected as part of the Snake Hill Wildlife Management Area. The first stage of construction diverted Tibbs Run with a small dam about 8 feet high and 30 feet wide, creating pooled water in the natural stream channel that was sent to the pipeline leading to town during construction. Afterward, water behind the dam was routed west into the reservoir basin through a 24-inch-diameter terra-cotta pipe that crossed Jones Run in a short concrete aqueduct before ending at the basin. This off-stream reservoir design was unusual for its time and most likely was chosen so clean Tibbs Run water could enter the reservoir without mixing with the more polluted Jones Run, which remained outside the reservoir. In 1948, a small wooden weir, a pipe into the reservoir, and a control box were added so Jones Run could serve as a supplemental water supply.