Lake Innisfree (also known as Lake Isle or Interlaken, and originally as Reservoir No. 1)[1] is a man-made lake and former reservoir[2] in the city of New Rochelle, in Westchester County, New York. The lake is located along the border of the neighboring town of Eastchester,[1] and its eastern end abuts the Hutchinson River Parkway. The lake takes its name from the poem Lake Isle of Innisfree by W. B. Yeats.[2]
Lake Innisfree | |
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Lake Innisfree | |
Location | New Rochelle, Westchester County, New York |
Coordinates | 40°58′N 73°48′W |
Type | Reservoir |
Primary inflows | Hutchinson River |
Basin countries | United States |
The area surrounding the lake was once rolling woodland owned in large sections by farmers in the 1700-1800s. The New Rochelle Water Company then bought up the land using it as a watershed for the lake served as the water supply source for Upper Rochelle during late 19th & early 20th centuries.
Constructed in 1885,[2] the reservoir is impounded by the New Rochelle Reservoir #1 Dam on the Hutchinson River. The dam is masonry and of earthen construction, with a height of 34 feet and a length of 680 feet. The water surface covers an area of about 65 acres and the capacity is about 271,700,000 gallons. It has a maximum discharge of 744 cubic feet per second and drains an area of 2.2 square miles.[3]
The water from this reservoir flows by gravity to the southern, low level district of the city. There is a steel equalizing tank 34 feet high by 44 feet in diameter connected with this system on high ground 2 miles south of the dam.[3] The dam, which impounded 300 million gallons of water, cost $60,000 to build. While at first, the water supplied New Rochelle exclusively, two additional dams were constructed so that the water could also be routed to Pelham, Eastchester, and elsewhere.[2]
The reservoir was named Lake Innisfree in the 1930s by the developer of the adjacent Interlaken Cooperative. The same developer constructed a sandy beach for recreation.[4]
This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the United States Geological Survey.
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain. [Assembly of the State of New York] (1914). Documents of the Assembly of the State of New York, Volume 41. p. 661.
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