Croton Distributing Reservoir

Covering 4 acres (16,000 m2) and holding 20 million US gallons (76,000 m3),[1] it supplied the city with drinking water during the 19th century.

[2] Atop the walls was a public promenade offering panoramic views; Edgar Allan Poe enjoyed walking there.

The decommissioned Central Park Reservoir still remains, but has not operated as part of the Croton Aqueduct system since 1993.

[10] The inscription was: HISTORICAL AND DESCRIPTIVE ACCOUNT OF THE CROTON AQUEDUCT – The Law authorizing the construction of the work, passed May 2nd, 1834.

Stephen Allen, William W. Fox, Saul Alley, Charles Dusenberry and Benjamin M. Brown were appointed Commissioners.

The AQUEDUCT, from the DAM to this Reservoir, is 40½ miles long, and will deliver in twenty-four hours 60,000,000 imperial gallons.

Granite walls surrounded the above-ground reservoir
A remnant of the reservoir can be seen today in the foundation of the South Court of the New York Public Library Main Branch . [ 7 ]
Vestiges of the Croton Distributing Reservoir embedded in the foundation of the New York Public Library Main Branch
Croton Reservoir Tavern near Bryant Park referencing the reservoir’s history.