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JSC2013-E-013830 (7 March 2013) --- At the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center in Star City, Russia, Expedition 35/36 backup crew members Oleg Kotov (left), Sergey Ryazanskiy (center) and Michael Hopkins of NASA pose for pictures during a pre-launch news conference March 7. The three crew members are in training as backups to Chris Cassidy of NASA, Alexander Misurkin and Pavel Vinogradov who are scheduled to launch to the International Space Station March 29, Kazakh time, in the Soyuz TMA-08M spacecraft from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Photo credit: NASA/Stephanie Stoll
Standing by, the backup transformer is fully assembled at Mead Substation. The backup transformer was moved, Aug. 12, to Mead Substation in case the current operating transformer fails before its replacement is ready next year. (Photo by Chris Lyles)
This picture almost took out my laptop. It took me about 8 hours to get things back to normal. I saved a large tiff file from photoshop 1.8 gigs so I would have my layers to go back to later. It took about 20 minutes to save to the harddrive which I thought a little unusual. Some how the file must have become corrupt. My whole computer became unresponsive. I'm using PS 6 Beta which I think was the cause. BACKUP, BACKUP, BACKUP......I hadn't. Strobist info 28" softbox with a 580exii at 1/4 power camera left and a white reflector camera right.
Norwood, Bronx
The Williamsbridge Reservoir Keeper's House is the only surviving building in New York City associated with the Bronx and Byram Rivers water system. Particularly between 1884 and 1906, this system served the critical function of supplying the burgeoning western section of the Bronx and helped the city to bridge the gap in the years between the construction of the Old and New Croton Aqueducts. The Bronx River portion of the system was constructed between 1880 and 1889, under the supervision of George W. Birdsall, chief engineer of the Croton Aqueduct in the New York City Department of Public Works.
The fifteen-mile Bronx River pipeline was completed in 1884, but the Williamsbridge Reservoir was not finished until 1889. The Keeper's House, located at the northeast end of the reservoir, was constructed in 1889-90 by contractor Terence A. Smith. L-shaped in plan, the two-and-a-half-story house is built of rock-faced, variegated gray-tan gneiss ashlar with smooth, speckled-gray granite trim, including keyed enframements. In 1925, when it was no longer needed, the reservoir was drained; it was later converted into a playground. The Keeper's House, after five decades as a private residence, was purchased in 1998 by the Mosholu Preservation Corp., a non-profit organization active in neighborhood improvement in Norwood.
DESCRIPTION AND ANALYSIS
The Water Suoolv of New York Citv in the Nineteenth The Bronx and Bvram Rivers Water Supply System
Until the mid-nineteenth century, New York City did not have an adequate and reliable source of fresh water. Citizens were forced to subsist on water from the Collect pond, various wells and pumps, and cisterns. But the serious pollution of these water sources, which were sometimes linked with diseases and epidemics, along with general civic filth and periodic fires exacerbated by lack of water, posed major problems. These were especially aggravated by the rapid growth of the population. Manhattan island, moreover, is located amidst saltwater estuaries, presenting substantial obstacles to bringing in potable water.
As early as 1798, several plans were advanced to divert water from the Bronx River to Manhattan, but these were not implemented. After decades of discussion, an independent Water Commission was authorized by the state legislature in 1834 to plan and construct a water system. The city finally obtained a supply of fresh water in 1842 through the gravity-fed Croton Aqueduct, which was begun in 1837 and completed in 1848. An innovative engineering achievement, an outstanding (if expensive) public works project, and one of the first major municipal water systems in the United States, the Croton Aqueduct was planned under chief engineer David B. Douglass, the leading proponent of the Croton River as water source, but built under chief engineer John B. Jervis.
Water emanating from the Croton River and Reservoir in Westchester County, N.Y., traveled 41 miles through an embanked tunnel, across the High Bridge over the Harlem River/ to a receiving reservoir in what later became Central Park and then to a distributing reservoir at Fifth Avenue and West 42nd Street. An additional water supply system became a municipal necessity after the Civil War with the explosion of the city's population, accompanied by the emergence of indoor plumbing and ever-increasing water usage. However, attempts were first made to increase the capacity of the water flow of the existing Croton system, and extensions were constructed. These included a new receiving reservoir in Central Park, alterations to the High Bridge, and the High Bridge Water Tower and reservoir/ A hydrographic survey of the Croton River watershed in 1857-58 resulted in plans for fourteen additional reservoirs outside the city; this plan was mostly carried out between 1866 and 1911. The (Old) Croton Aqueduct remained the city's principal source of water until 1890.
In 1870, the New York City Department of Public Works was established under Commissioner William M. ("Boss") Tweed, and the Croton Aqueduct came within its jurisdiction. After Tweed's conviction on various graft charges in 1873, the department was headed by Allan Campbell, who promoted a plan to utilize the Bronx and Byram Rivers as the next municipal water source. Of immediate concern was the development and water needs of the western portion of the Bronx, formerly part of Westchester County, annexed as the 23"* and 24* Wards of New York City on January 1,1874. Opponents of Campbell's plan, led by reformers in the Union League Club and others, fearing further departmental corruption, advocated a New Croton Aqueduct under the control of an independent commission. Droughts in 1876-77 and 1880-81 added to anxieties about the adequacy of the city's water. Eventually, both systems were constructed, but the more modest and less expensive Bronx and Byram plan was the first one to be implemented, due largely to strained municipal financial circumstances after the Tweed years and the Panic of 1873.
The proposed scheme consisted of dams and reservoirs to be built across the Byram River in Connecticut, and, in Westchester County, across the Bronx River at Kensico, and at Rye Ponds. The plan also included tapping Byram Pond and digging a channel connecting the two rivers. Construction of the Bronx River portion of this gravity-fed system began in October 1880, under the supervision of Ceorge W. Birdsall, chief engineer of the Croton Aqueduct in the Dept. of Public Works. The Bronx River pipeline, consisting of a 48-inch cast-iron pipe, began service in 1884 and carried water fifteen miles from Kensico to the site of the planned reservoir near Willi amsbridge.
The Bronx River portion of this water system was completed in 1889, while the Byram River portion was delayed until 1891 -97 due to complications in acquiring land. Particularlybetween 1884 and 1906, the Bronx and Byram Rivers water system served the critical function of supplying water to the burgeoning western section of the Bronx. (Part of the eastern section of the Bronx was annexed to the city in 1895, and the entire borough became part of New York City in 1898.) It thus helped to bridge the gap in the years between the construction of the Old and New Croton Aqueducts, and facilitated the rapid development of the Bronx, especially the construction of taller buildings, which needed greater water pressure. This could not have occurred without an adequate water supply.
The Williamsbridge Reservoir and Keeper's House " The use of the name Williams' Bridge for this area dates back to before the American Revolution. It is said to have come from John Williams, owner of a farm adjacent to the bridge carrying the Boston Post Road over the Bronx River since the late seventeenth century. A settlennt called Williamsbridge eventually grew up around the bridge and was the location of a station on the New York & Harlem Railroad in 1842. The city acquired land located to the west of the village, on a ridge called Gun Hill, for the Williamsbridge Reservoir in August 1882. This included part of the farm associated with the Valentine-Varian House (1758) and land owned by Amanda Bussing and the Estate of John Bussing.' This location is bounded by Woodlawn Centery (opened in 1865) and Van Cortlandt Park to the north, the Bronx River to the east, the Mosholu Parkway to the west, and Bronx Park to the south. The city acquired the above-nntioned parkland in 1888.
Though the Dept. of Public Works started plans for the reservoir in 1880, a construction contract was not signed until June 1884. The contractor was Sullivan & Moore. In September 1884, the Bronx River pipeline was finished and supplied water to the city, running under Putnam Place and terminating at the site; however, the reservoir was not completed for several more years. The (?Marter/y Rpo/ty of the Dept. of Public Works contain complaints about the slowness of the reservoir contractor's construction work and annua! cessations because of severe winter weather. The oval reservoir was surrounded by an earthen and stone embanknnt, with the bottom covered with concrete. The interior was completed at the end of 1888. As reported by Stephen Jenkins in 77tg Jfory #/vnjt (1912), "water was admitted into the reservoir on December 4,1888, and the distribution of the water to the Annexed District was begun. The reservoir has a capacity of 150,000,000 gallons when it is filled to a depth of forty fect...."' Chief engineer BirdsaH noted then that "it will take next year to complete and sod the outside bank of this reservoir, erect the necessary fences and complete the roads around same.'"* The receiving and distributing reservoir was filled and in full use by the fall of 1889, and was completed at the end of that year. The cost had been nearly $524,000.
Plans for a Reservoir Keeper's House, to be built of stone with a comer tower, were drawn up by architect Douglas Smyth.'* Apparently, this proposal was scrapped in favor of a less elaborate building. Plans for a two-and-a-half-story stone house, to be located at the northeast end of the reservoir, were approved by Birdsall in February 1889, and a contract was signed in March with building contractor Terence A.Smith. Construction began in September 1889, the exterior stonework was finished by March 1890, and the house was completed in June. The total cost was $8749. shaped in plan, the house is built of rock-faced, variegated gray-tan gneiss ashlar with smooth, speckled-gray granite trim, and embellished by keyed enframennts. The house originally had three wooden porches. Straightforward and massive, the stone house follows the tradition of building stone structures for both Croton Aqueducts. The Williamsbridge Reservoir Keeper's House is the only surviving building in New York City associated with the Bronx and Byram Rivers water supply system.
The first reservoir keeper, whose job it was to maintain and guard the reservoir, was Irish immigrant Matthew Mallahan (1834-1913), in this position from 1890 to about 1911. Mallahan came to the United States in 1875, was a Bronx hotel keeper and liquor dealer in the 1880s, and lived here with several relatives. The house also contained a first-story office for the keeper.
Later History
The Bronx and Byram Rivers water system played a brief but significant role in supplying water to New York City. Shortly after its completion, this system was surpassed by the more extensive New Croton Aqueduct. Constructed between 1885 and 1907 under chief engineers Benjamin S. Church and Alphonse Fteley for the New York City Aqueduct Commission, the New Croton Aqueduct was put into service in 1890. The Jerome Park Reservoir (1895-1906), the New Croton's receiving and distributing reservoir located to the west of the Williamsbridge Reservoir, held a much larger volume of water than the earlier one. Eventually, the capacity of New York's water supply was greatly expanded with the Catskill (1907-29) and Delaware River (1937-50s) water systems. The Old Croton Aqueduct ended service to New York City in 1955.
During the early twentieth century, the Williamsbridge Reservoir continued to supply a percentage of the borough's water. The Bronx and Byram Rivers watersheds were merged into the Catskill system in the 1910s. The reservoir was reduced to serve as an emergency backup system after 1919. The water supply was cut off and the reservoir was drained in 1925. After the land was transferred to the Dept. of Parks, the reservoir was converted into Williamsbridge Oval Playground, which opened in 1937 under parks commissioner Robert Moses.
The park served the neighborhood, known since the construction of the reservoir as Norwood, that had been developed largely with apartment buildings after 1905. Montefiore Hospital locatedherein 1913. The Reservoir Keeper's House was abandoned by the city, but plans were made in the 1930s to convert it to a branch library. However, Dr. Isaac H. Barkey, a physicist and engineer, and his wife Dorothy, interested inpurchasing the house, convinced the city to build a new library nearby and acquired the property in 1946. After five decades in residence, the Barkeys sold the house in 1998 to the Mosholu Preservation Corp. A non-profit organization established in 1981 by Montefiore Medical Center to address the problem of housing abandonment and deterioration in the ethnically diverse Norwood neighborhood, the Mosholu Preservation Corp. has been active in neighborhood improvement and publishes the Norwood Mewy community newspaper. Plans are under way to renovate the Keeper's House for use as its offices, for a local meeting facility, and a youth summer employment center. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in September 1999.
Description
The Williamsbridge Reservoir Keeper's House is a two-and-a-half-story, L-shaped building constructed of rock-faced, variegated gray-tan gneiss ashlar, with smooth, speckled-gray granite trim, including the watertable, a band course terminating the second story, and keyed enframements. The rubble stone foundation is currently exposed. The roof has gables at the northern end of the front (west) elevation and at the south elevation. Fenestration is rectangular, except for a small round-arched window in each gable. Windows were originally two-over-two double-hung wood sash; these were replaced (c. 1950s) by multipane metal casements.
Front (west) elevation: This elevation has four bays, two tm each wing. The main entrance originally had a wood paneled door; this was replaced (c.1950s) with an historic decorative metal door from a Manhattan town house. The southernmost bay on the first story originally had a double French window (which was salvaged and is currently in storage); the opening is currently covered. There was originally a wood porch with latticework, posts, and steps; a steel mesh deck was installed (c. 1950s).
Rear (east) elevation: This elevation has four bays on the first story and three bays on the second story. The central entrance originally had a wood paneled door (converted into a window c. 1950s) and a wood porch with latticework, posts, and side steps. Stone steps, flanked by a stone areaway wall, lead to a basement entrance with a solid metal door (c. 1950s). North elevation: This elevation has two bays. The entrance in the eastern bay of the first story originally had a wood paneled door (the lower portion survives in part) and a wood porch with latticework, posts, and steps.
South elevation: This elevation has two bays on the southern end of the building, as well as one bay on the second story of the wing projecting from the northern end.
Roof: The roof, a replacement (c. 1950s) of the original slate roof, is covered in variegated slate shingles, with red tile ridgecap (with end finials), snow guards, and copper gutters. Originally there were two corbeled brick chimneys; the one near the southern end survives, while another at the juncture of the two wings was removed.
Lot: There is an original stone retaining wall along the eastern property line, with portions of a deteriorated pipe railing. A chain-link fence currently surrounds the property.
- From the 2000 NYCLPC Landmark Designation Report
This build is part of the story "Backup arrives" for Andromeda's GATEs on Eurobricks.
You can read the whole story here: www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=120279