Williamsbridge Reservoir was a natural lake (despite its name) measuring 13.1 acres (5.3 ha) just south of Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx, New York.[1] Specifically the body of water was located at 208th Street and Bainbridge Avenue.[2] It was shaped like a saucer[3] and was normally 41 feet (12 m) deep.[1] Its water level dropped approximately 14 feet (4.3 m) in mid-August 1901.[4] On April 3, 1934 Commissioner of Water Supply, Gas and Electricity, Maurice P. Davidson, proposed that it be offered to Robert Moses to be used as a park site. The reservoir had ceased to be used after 1919.[1]
Williamsbridge Reservoir | |
---|---|
Williamsbridge Reservoir Williamsbridge Reservoir | |
Location | Williamsbridge Oval, Bronx, New York |
Coordinates | 40°52′39″N 73°52′38″W |
Type | former lake |
Surface area | 13.1 acres (5.3 ha) |
A site for the Montefiore Home, first organized in 1884, was acquired in the West Bronx, between Columbia Oval and the Williamsbridge Reservoir, in January 1910. On the plot a hospital for treating various diseases replaced the previous site of the Montefiore Home, a building at Broadway (Manhattan) between 137th Street and 138th Street.[5]
In June 1928 a four-year-old boy, Frederic Fleishaus, of 3315 Rochambeau Avenue, the Bronx, drowned in Williamsbridge Reservoir. He gained access to the water through a small opening in an eight-foot fence which had been erected for protection.[3]
The Williamsbridge Reservoir property came under the control of the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation on June 27, 1934. A new sport and play area covering 20 acres (8.1 ha), known as the Williamsbridge Oval Park and Williamsbridge Playground and Recreation Center, opened there on September 11, 1937. A Works Progress Administration project, the facilities cost $1,500,000 to build. It features a Beaux Arts landscape and Art Moderne recreation center.[2][6]
The Keeper's House at Williamsbridge Reservoir was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1999.[7] Sixteen years later, the entire park was listed on the Register as well.[8]
New York City's water supply system | |
---|---|
Croton reservoirs | |
Catskill & Delaware reservoirs | |
Controlled lakes | |
Waterways | |
Aqueducts |
|
Storage reservoirs | |
Distribution tunnels |
|
Treatment plants |
|
Italics indicate a decommissioned site |
Waterways of New York City | |||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Tidal straits |
| ||||||||||
Bays and coves |
| ||||||||||
Rivers, creeks, canals |
| ||||||||||
Lakes, ponds, reservoirs |
| ||||||||||
Former waterways shown in italics. Smaller ponds may not be shown. See also: Geography of New York City, Geography of New York–New Jersey Harbor Estuary |