High Service Pumping Station, March 5, 1938. The origins of this building date to 1901 when the new consolidated city's Department of Water Supply laid the foundation for a pumping station near the planned East Basin of the Jerome Park Reservoir. The "high service" facility was meant to provide increased water pressure to new taller buildings. While the East Basin was never constructed, the 1906-completed building did find a use as a pumping station, with underground pipes attaching it to the West Basin of the reservoir. The red brick, Romanesque Revival building is low and long with 42 uniform two-story arch-topped windows on its facade. The long and steeply pitched roof once had a tall brick water-tower jutting out from the middle of the building (seen here). The tower has since been dramatically shortened, though the facility still functions in its original purpose. Interestingly this pumping station differs stylistically from other, earlier waterway infrastructure. The early work, rendered in stone and often completed in Renaissance Revival and Italianate styles, was completed by the Aqueduct Commission, a state-appointed panel. This building was designed by George W. Birdsall, of the city's Department of Water. In the case of new aqueduct infrastructure, the city and state agencies often clashed in the early years after consolidation. The red brick Romanesque look of this building "can be interpreted as defiant or hostile," according to architectural historian Robert Kornfeld.

Pickwick Arms, interior courtyard, ca. 1925. The triangular design of the apartment building allowed for an interior courtyard (enter by large gated archways). The lush courtyard was designed with a tile-roofed gazebo. By 2008 the lion-head fountain (seen to the left and below the gazebo) had been removed and the gazebo was in a dilapidated state. The gazebo was shored up to maintain its structural stability and it was renovated. It still stands in the courtyard of the Pickwick Arms.

Pickwick Arms, ca. 1925. This five-story Tudor style apartment building has an imposing look that is the result of siting on a triangle lot and having a angular north facing facade that seems to be jutting out. Built in 1923, the exterior of the building remains very well preserved, though the window awnings and flag pole have been removed.

Valentine-Varian House When Isaac Valentine, a blacksmith and farmer, bought this parcel of land from the Dutch Reformed Church, and built this two-story fieldstone house, carriages traveled the nearby Boston Post Road through a Bronx consisting mostly of farmland. It stands today as the borough’s second oldest house. The home’s symmetrical style, sometimes referred to as Georgian vernacular, features evenly placed windows and identical chimneys at either end. Inside, rooms mirror each other across a central hallway. The design of the deep-set, splayed windows throughout the house let in light and keep out the cold. During the Revolutionary War (1776-1783), the Valentine home was occupied by British, Hessian, and American troops. Except for 11 months between 1775-1776, Valentine and his family remained in the house throughout the war. The house, close in proximity to cannons clustered on a nearby hill, miraculously survived several fierce battles. Financial ruin forced Isaac Valentine to sell the home and the 260-acre property to Isaac Varian, a successful butcher and farmer, in 1792. The Varians kept the house for three generations; one of Isaac’s grandsons (also named Isaac) served as New York City’s 63rd Mayor, from 1839-1841. BCHS Collections William F. Beller acquired this house in a 1905 auction, and his son, William C. Beller, donated it to The Bronx County Historical Society in 1965, but sold the land to developers. The house was then moved diagonally from its original location, across Bainbridge, one block south to its present location in Williamsbridge Oval Park. The move took two days and involved an enormous 48-wheel dolly, that turned the house ninety degrees to rest it in the center of the street skirting the park. Workers plastered and bolted the exterior together, and ribbed with house with steel bands supported by steel beams, in order to keep from falling apart during the move. Although less than 100-yards, the house still bears some scars from that precarious trip. Sections of the house retain the original floorboards, hand-forged nails, and homemade mortar. Now the home of the Museum of Bronx History, administered by The Bronx County Historical Society, two rooms contain changing exhibitions. The front parlor has a permanent display about the development of the area, from the Dutch period through the Revolution.

Constructivism is an art movement and philosophy that originated in Russia in 1915. The style uses architectural line drawings as symbols of protest against the government. Using these images, think about what it means to apply these abstract ideas to NYC buildings to make your own Constructivist art. This story was created for Christina Rinker's art class at Knowledge & Power Preparatory Academy.