WWW.QNS.COM RIDGEWOOD TIMES JULY 19, 2018 25
OUR NEIGHBORHOOD: THE WAY IT WAS
Company guaranteed, 10 million
gallons of water would be delivered
to Brooklyn per day; an additional
10 million gallons per day would be
delivered within three years of the
project’s beginning.
The water works, at full capacity,
were capable of delivering 40 million
gallons per day with all four steam
engines and pumps installed at the
main reservoir, and when the aqueduct
system was expanded further
east on Long Island to tap additional
supplies of water.
BREAKING GROUND
The formal ground-breaking for
the Ridgewood Reservoir took place
on July 31, 1856. The Common Council
of Brooklyn arranged for 30 horsedrawn
stage coaches to leave Brooklyn
City Hall downtown between 2:30 and
3 p.m. to journey to the reservoir site.
The ceremony was to start at about
4 p.m. A platform had been built and
draped with American flags. Stewart’s
Brass Band entertained the crowd with patriotic
songs before the ceremony began.
Among the estimated 1,000 people
in attendance was Jacob Denton, who
owned a farm on the east side of Fresh
Pond Road that later became part of
Mount Carmel Cemetery, and his son,
William.
Brooklyn Mayor George Hall was
among the featured speakers; he
would use a special shovel to turn the
fi rst dirt.
RENAMING THE AREA
The groundbreaking was featured on
the front of the following day’s issue of
The New York Times. They stated that
from now on the site would be called
“Ridge Wood” and not Cypress Hills. It
did not state the authority for this name,
but presumably the directors of the
Nassau Water Company had so decided.
Prior to this date, none of the maps
of the area show the name Ridgewood
in use. However, subsequent to the
groundbreaking, the maps show the
site as the Ridgewood Reservoir.
The June 28, 1858, issue of the Long
Island Democrat followed suit in one
of its stories: “The 4th of July at Ridgewood,
Long Island: This place formerly
known as South Williamsburgh was
lately christened Ridgewood. It is located
on the Cypress Hills macadamized
road about three miles from Peck Ferry
Slip, near the Ridgewood Reservoir
of the Brooklyn Water Works, and in
the immediate vicinity of the Cemetery
of the Evergreens.”
But today, the Ridgewood Reservoir
is actually located in Glendale. Over
the years, as Ridgewood and Glendale
became developed, the Long Island
Rail Road’s Bay Ridge branch became
part of the boundary separating the
neighborhoods.
This undated photo shows the Ridgewood Reservoir full of water while it was used to provide Brooklyn residents
with the water needed to cook, clean, bathe and drink. Now completely out of the city’s water system
for more than 25 years, the reservoir’s become naturally reforested, full of all kinds of wildlife.
Land north and west of the Bay
Ridge line is in Ridgewood; and areas
south and east of the line — including
the reservoir — is considered Glendale.
DRINKING ‘RIDGEWOODS’
Although H.S. Wells and Company
had guaranteed to deliver 10 million
gallons of water per day within two
years, as it developed, they were substantially
late, as work would not wrap
up until 3 1/2 years aft er it started.
Finally, on April 28, 1859, the City
of Brooklyn held a five-mile-long
parade to celebrate the completion of
the initial stage of the water works. To
prevent any anticipated violence, 500
police offi cers were hired to supplement
the Brooklyn Police Force, but
as it happened, they were not needed.
The parade started at the corner of
Myrtle and Bedford avenues and proceeded
north along Bedford Avenue
through Williamsburgh.
Major Gen. H.B. Duryea, who was
head of the Fift h Brigade, led the parade.
The Fift h Brigade was made up
of the 13th, 14th, 17th and 72nd Regiments.
New York Gov. Edwin Denison
Morgan also participated, as did the
common council of Brooklyn.
Because pure water meant that
decent ice could be made, about 100
icemen marched in the parade, carrying
their ice tongs.
When the fi rst water from Ridgewood
Reservoir fl owed through the
mains of the City of Brooklyn on
April 28, 1859, the residents tasting
the good water called their drinks
“Ridgewoods.”
Although the celebration took place
in April 1859, it was not until the
following year, Jan. 20, 1860, that the
water works became fully operational.
RECYCLING THE
RESERVOIR
For nearly 100 years, the Ridgewood
Reservoir provided Brooklyn residents
with all the water they needed to
drink, cook, clean and bathe. It would
outlive the City of Brooklyn itself,
which was incorporated into Greater
New York City in 1898.
Aft er New York City connected its
water system — which supplies water
from reservoirs upstate — to Brooklyn,
the Ridgewood Reservoir became
redundant. It was rendered a backup
water supply in 1959, and taken completely
out of the city’s water system
40 years later.
The basins were drained and the
site was left dormant for 25 years,
allowing the reservoir to naturally
reforest itself. Eleven years ago, the
city Department of Environmental
Protection (DEP) transferred ownership
of the reservoir to the Parks
Department for future development
as parkland. Incredibly, while the
two outer basins were reforested,
the center basin is home to a shallow,
beautiful lake surrounded by natural
reeds.
Several years later, then-Mayor
Michael Bloomberg outlined a master
plan which would have transformed
the Ridgewood Reservoir and neighboring
Highland Park into one of eight
“regional parks” across the city.
Initial plans called for one of the
three reservoir basins to be cleared
and developed into new athletic fi elds
and park space. As much as $50 million
in city funds were initially allocated
for this endeavor.
Residents, environmentalists and
other civic activists fought the proposal,
claiming that development plans
would harm the reservoir’s fragile
ecology created over the previous
two decades. As reported by QNS and
the Ridgewood Times, the reservoir is
“home to more than 100 species of birds
— including at least fi ve that have been
listed as Threatened or of Special
Concern in New York state — several
diff erent species of plant and fauna
and a wide variety of tree species.”
The Great Recession of 2007-09
caused fi nancial distress in the city,
forcing the $50 million reservoir revitalization
plan to be tabled indefi nitely.
The Parks Department, however, received
funds in recent years to renovate
the perimeter pathways and a causeway
between two of the three basins.
In just the last year, the state and
federal governments have recognized
the ecological importance and the
historical signifi cance of the Ridgewood
Reservoir. The site was added
to the National and State Registers of
Historic Places, and the state Department
of Environmental Conservation
announced it would designate the
reservoir as a wetland.
It would seem that the Ridgewood
Reservoir truly has come full circle.
The heart of a mechanical water system
that once brought a taste of nature
to a city now has come back to nature
itself.
Source: The Jan. 22, 2015, issue of the
Ridgewood Times.
* * *
Share your history with us by emailing
editorial@ridgewoodtimes.com (subject:
Our Neighborhood: The Way it Was) or
write to The Old Timer, ℅ Ridgewood
Times, 38-15 Bell Blvd., Bayside, NY 11361.
Any mailed pictures will be carefully
returned to you upon request.
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