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Near Congregation de Notre Dame Academy

Posts & Stories(4)

Silver Lake image

Silver Lake
Post

Board of Water Supply. Silver Lake Reservoir. View showing east side of south basin looking toward middle dike. Staten Island’s Silver Lake Reservoir was the original end-of-the-line for Catskill water traveling 120 miles from Ashokan Reservoir. In the 1890s, Staten Island residents pressed for a public park in their borough, and in 1897 a bill passed to purchase land and prepare plans for Silver Lake Park. The park was established about five years later, and within another few years the Board of Water Supply decided to transform the lake into a reservoir and add over 100 acres to the park. Construction began in 1913 and, as shown in this photo, by fall 1917 the reservoir was filled with Catskill water, final landscaping was underway, and this man was checking the future location of a seven-foot-tall fence (the little suitcase is where one fence post would be placed). From 1967-71, underground storage tanks were built to hold Staten Island’s drinking water, and the lake became accessible to the public again. Today the park offers many recreational activities, and the lake still receives water from Ashokan! October 17, 1917.
Don't Call Manhattan Schist: Or the Famous Rocks of New York image

Don't Call Manhattan Schist: Or the Famous Rocks of New York
Story

While New York City is certainly best known for its towering skyscrapers and classy historic districts, its earliest monuments of stone are just that: stone. The geologic landscape of the city was formed between 20,000 and 18,000 years ago with the movement of the Wisconsin Ice Sheet down from Canada. The rock and debris deposited from the ice sheet, as well as the valleys it deepened, bedrock it smoothed and glacial grooves it left, formed the landscape of the city that began to grow in the colonial era. In some cases the rocks have been moved or crumbled in the name of urban development. But some of this geologic history can still be seen within the urban environment. This collection highlights some of the more well-known geologic features.

Photos(55)

Silver Lake image

Silver Lake

Board of Water Supply. Silver Lake Reservoir. In the 1890s, Staten Island residents pressed for a public park in their borough, and in 1897 a bill passed to purchase land and prepare plans for Silver Lake Park. The park was established about five years later, and within another few years the Board of Water Supply decided to transform the lake into a reservoir and add over 100 acres to the park. Construction began in 1913 and, as shown in this photo, by fall 1917 the reservoir was filled with Catskill water, final landscaping was underway, and this man was checking the future location of a seven-foot-tall fence (the little suitcase is where one fence post would be placed). From 1967-71, underground storage tanks were built to hold Staten Island's drinking water, and the lake became accessible to the public again. Today the park offers many recreational activities, and the lake still receives water from Ashokan! Man at east end of south parapet. View looking southwest from east end of middle dike. October 17, 1917.
Silver Lake image

Silver Lake

Board of Water Supply. Silver Lake Reservoir. View showing east side of south basin looking toward middle dike. Staten Island's Silver Lake Reservoir was the original end-of-the-line for Catskill water traveling 120 miles from Ashokan Reservoir. In the 1890s, Staten Island residents pressed for a public park in their borough, and in 1897 a bill passed to purchase land and prepare plans for Silver Lake Park. The park was established about five years later, and within another few years the Board of Water Supply decided to transform the lake into a reservoir and add over 100 acres to the park. Construction began in 1913 and, as shown in this photo, by fall 1917 the reservoir was filled with Catskill water, final landscaping was underway, and this man was checking the future location of a seven-foot-tall fence (the little suitcase is where one fence post would be placed). From 1967-71, underground storage tanks were built to hold Staten Island's drinking water, and the lake became accessible to the public again. Today the park offers many recreational activities, and the lake still receives water from Ashokan! October 17, 1917.