Williamsbridge Reservoir
{{Infobox body of water
| name = Williamsbridge Reservoir
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| image = Bronx, V. 2, Double Page Plate No. 31 (Map bounded by E. 211th St., Bronx River, Holt Pl., Bainbridge Ave.) NYPL2020940.tiff
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| caption = 1911-1913 map
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| location = Williamsbridge Oval, Bronx, New York
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| coordinates = {{coord|40|52|39|N|73|52|38|W|region:NY_type:waterbody|display =inline,title}}
| type = former lake
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| area = {{convert|13.1|acre|ha}}
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| pushpin_map = New York City#New York
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| pushpin_map_alt = Location of the former lake in New York.
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Williamsbridge Reservoir was a natural lake (despite its name) measuring {{convert|13.1|acre|ha}} just south of Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx, New York. Specifically the body of water was located at 208th Street and Bainbridge Avenue.{{cite news |title=New 20-Acre Playground Opened In Bronx; Moses and Lyons Dedicate It Before 2,000 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1937/09/12/archives/new-20acre-playground-opened-in-bronx-moses-and-lyons-dedicate-it.html |newspaper=The New York Times |date=September 12, 1937 |page=N1 |access-date=2011-03-19}} It was shaped like a saucer{{cite news |title=Boy Drowns In Reservoir |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1928/06/12/archives/boy-drowns-in-reservoir-child-crawls-through-small-hole-for-fatal.html |newspaper=The New York Times |date=June 12, 1928 |page=28 |access-date=2011-03-19}} and was normally {{convert|41|ft|m}} deep. Its water level dropped approximately {{convert|14|ft|m}} in mid-August 1901.{{cite news |title=Mr. Birdsall On Bronx Water Supply |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1901/08/16/archives/property-owners-rights-city-enjoined-from-having-refuse-dump-on.html |newspaper=The New York Times |date=August 16, 1901 |page=12 |access-date=2011-03-19}} 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.{{cite news |title=2 Reservoir Sites To Serve As Parks |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1934/04/04/archives/2-reservoir-sites-to-serve-as-parks-abandoned-land-in-the-bronx-and.html |newspaper=The New York Times |date=April 4, 1934 |page=23 |access-date=2011-03-19}}
History of reservoir site
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.{{cite news |title=Montefiore Home's New Site |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1910/01/21/archives/morgan-offer-does-not-rush-subways-proposes-only-to-consider.html |newspaper=The New York Times |date=January 21, 1910 |page=8 |access-date=2011-03-19}}
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.
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 {{convert|20|acre|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.
{{cite web | url = https://cris.parks.ny.gov/ | title = Cultural Resource Information System (CRIS)| publisher = New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation| format = Searchable database| access-date = 2016-03-01}} Note: This includes
{{cite web | url = https://cris.parks.ny.gov/Uploads/ViewDoc.aspx?mode=A&id=314595&q=false | title = National Register of Historic Places Registration Form: Williamsbridge Oval Park| access-date = 2016-03-01 | author = Corinne Engelbert and Daniel McEneny| format = PDF| date=February 2015}} and [https://cris.parks.ny.gov/Uploads/ViewDoc.aspx?mode=A&id=314596&q=false Accompanying photographs]
The Keeper's House at Williamsbridge Reservoir was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1999.{{NRISref|version=2009a}} Sixteen years later, the entire park was listed on the Register as well.{{cite web|url=https://www.nps.gov/subjects/nationalregister/upload/weekly-list-2015-national-register-of-historic-places.pdf|title=National Register of Historic Places Listings|date=2015-05-22|work=Weekly List of Actions Taken on Properties: 5/11/15 through 5/15/15 |publisher=National Park Service}}
References
{{Reflist}}
{{NYCwater}}
{{New York City waterways}}
{{authority control}}
Category:Cultural history of New York City
Category:Lakes of New York (state)
Category:Works Progress Administration in New York City