.gif)
Collect Pond (Manhattan)
Encyclopedia
The Collect Pond or Fresh Water Pond was a body of fresh water near the southern end of Manhattan Island in New York City
, occupying approximately 48 acres (194,249.3 m²) and as deep as 60 feet (18.3 m). For the first two hundred years of European settlement of Manhattan Collect Pond was the main water supply. The pond, fed by an underground spring, was located in a valley with Bayard Mount (at 110 feet the tallest hill in lower Manhattan
) to the northeast and Kalck Hoek (Dutch
for Chalk Hook, named for the numerous oyster
shell midden
s left by the indigenous
Native American
inhabitants) to the west.
A stream flowed north out of the pond and then west through a salt marsh
(which, after being drained, became a meadow
by the name of "Lispenard Meadows") to the Hudson River
, while another stream issued from the southeastern part of the pond in an easterly direction to the East River
.
The southwestern shore of the Collect Pond was the site of a Native American
settlement known as Werpoes. A small band of Munsee, the northernmost division of the Lenape
, occupied the site until the Dutch settlement of New Amsterdam was established. It is possible that members of this band were the participants in the famed sale of Manhattan
(Manahatta) to the Dutch.
area during summer, and a skating rink
during the winter. However, industries began to use the water and dump waste there. These included tanneries, breweries, ropewalk
s, and slaughterhouses. By the late 18th century, the pond was already considered “a very sink and common sewer”.
Proposals were made to solve the problem, including the conversion of the pond to a park designed by Pierre L’Enfant, and the creation of a canal between the East
and Hudson River
s. In the end, it was filled in from land removed from nearby Bayard's Mount, the highest hill in lower Manhattan, rechristened after the Revolution "Bunker Hill" (commemorating the American victory at Bunker Hill, Boston
; a small battery had fortified Nicholas Bayard
's Mount during the Revolution and leveled between 1803 and 1811. By 1813, the Collect was virtually gone.
Several decades later New York City obtained a new, plentiful supply of fresh water from the Croton Aqueduct
. The neighborhood known as "Five Points
", a notorious slum
, developed near the former eastern bank of the Collect and owed its existence in some measure to the poor landfill job (completed during 1811) which created swamp
y, mosquito-ridden conditions on land that had originally had more well-to-do residents.
New York's jail nicknamed "The Tombs
", built on Centre Street
during 1838, was on the site of the pond and was constructed on a huge platform of hemlock logs in an attempt to give it secure foundations. The prison building began to subside almost as soon as it was completed and was notorious for leaks in its lowest tier and for its general dampness. When the original Tombs building was condemned and demolished at the end of the century, builders sank enormous concrete
caissons
to bedrock
, as much as 140 feet below street level, in order to give its replacement more secure foundations.
inventor John Fitch
conducted trials of an experimental steamboat
on the Collect Pond. On the boat with him was fellow inventor Robert Fulton
, Robert R. Livingston, who was the first Chancellor of New York
and a signer of the Declaration of Indepenence, and 16-year-old John Hutchings steering.
During 1960, a portion of the site of the Collect was given to the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation
for conversion into a park. Originally, the park was named "Civil Court Park" due to its proximity to the surrounding courthouse buildings. However, the park was renamed "Collect Pond Park", its current name, to represent its history more accurately. The park is located on the block bordered by Lafayette Street, Leonard Street, Centre Street, and White Street.Currently the park is closed and is being entirely reconstructed with completion expected in 2012. The newly re-built park is to include a pond evocative of the former Collect Pond.
It is still possible to ascertain the rough boundaries of the Collect Pond and original topography
in the elevations of the streets in the area, with the lowest elevation being Centre Street which runs in the approximate center of the former pond.
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, occupying approximately 48 acres (194,249.3 m²) and as deep as 60 feet (18.3 m). For the first two hundred years of European settlement of Manhattan Collect Pond was the main water supply. The pond, fed by an underground spring, was located in a valley with Bayard Mount (at 110 feet the tallest hill in lower Manhattan
Lower Manhattan
Lower Manhattan is the southernmost part of the island of Manhattan, the main island and center of business and government of the City of New York...
) to the northeast and Kalck Hoek (Dutch
Dutch language
Dutch is a West Germanic language and the native language of the majority of the population of the Netherlands, Belgium, and Suriname, the three member states of the Dutch Language Union. Most speakers live in the European Union, where it is a first language for about 23 million and a second...
for Chalk Hook, named for the numerous oyster
Eastern oyster
The eastern oyster — also called Atlantic oyster or Virginia oyster — is a species of true oyster native to the eastern seaboard and Gulf of Mexico coast of North America. It is also farmed in Puget Sound, Washington, where it is known as the Totten Inlet Virginica. Eastern oysters are and have...
shell midden
Midden
A midden, is an old dump for domestic waste which may consist of animal bone, human excrement, botanical material, vermin, shells, sherds, lithics , and other artifacts and ecofacts associated with past human occupation...
s left by the indigenous
Indigenous peoples
Indigenous peoples are ethnic groups that are defined as indigenous according to one of the various definitions of the term, there is no universally accepted definition but most of which carry connotations of being the "original inhabitants" of a territory....
Native American
Indigenous peoples of the Americas
The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...
inhabitants) to the west.
A stream flowed north out of the pond and then west through a salt marsh
Salt marsh
A salt marsh is an environment in the upper coastal intertidal zone between land and salt water or brackish water, it is dominated by dense stands of halophytic plants such as herbs, grasses, or low shrubs. These plants are terrestrial in origin and are essential to the stability of the salt marsh...
(which, after being drained, became a meadow
Meadow
A meadow is a field vegetated primarily by grass and other non-woody plants . The term is from Old English mædwe. In agriculture a meadow is grassland which is not grazed by domestic livestock but rather allowed to grow unchecked in order to make hay...
by the name of "Lispenard Meadows") to the Hudson River
Hudson River
The Hudson is a river that flows from north to south through eastern New York. The highest official source is at Lake Tear of the Clouds, on the slopes of Mount Marcy in the Adirondack Mountains. The river itself officially begins in Henderson Lake in Newcomb, New York...
, while another stream issued from the southeastern part of the pond in an easterly direction to the East River
East River
The East River is a tidal strait in New York City. It connects Upper New York Bay on its south end to Long Island Sound on its north end. It separates Long Island from the island of Manhattan and the Bronx on the North American mainland...
.
The southwestern shore of the Collect Pond was the site of a Native American
Indigenous peoples of the Americas
The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...
settlement known as Werpoes. A small band of Munsee, the northernmost division of the Lenape
Lenape
The Lenape are an Algonquian group of Native Americans of the Northeastern Woodlands. They are also called Delaware Indians. As a result of the American Revolutionary War and later Indian removals from the eastern United States, today the main groups live in Canada, where they are enrolled in the...
, occupied the site until the Dutch settlement of New Amsterdam was established. It is possible that members of this band were the participants in the famed sale of Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
(Manahatta) to the Dutch.
History
During the 18th century, the pond was used as a picnicPicnic
In contemporary usage, a picnic can be defined simply as a pleasure excursion at which a meal is eaten outdoors , ideally taking place in a beautiful landscape such as a park, beside a lake or with an interesting view and possibly at a public event such as before an open air theatre performance,...
area during summer, and a skating rink
Ice rink
An ice rink is a frozen body of water and/or hardened chemicals where people can skate or play winter sports. Besides recreational ice skating, some of its uses include ice hockey, figure skating and curling as well as exhibitions, contests and ice shows...
during the winter. However, industries began to use the water and dump waste there. These included tanneries, breweries, ropewalk
Ropewalk
A ropewalk is a long straight narrow lane, or a covered pathway, where long strands of material were laid before being twisted into rope.Ropewalks historically were harsh sweatshops, and frequently caught on fire, as hemp dust forms an explosive mixture. Rope was essential in sailing ships and the...
s, and slaughterhouses. By the late 18th century, the pond was already considered “a very sink and common sewer”.
Proposals were made to solve the problem, including the conversion of the pond to a park designed by Pierre L’Enfant, and the creation of a canal between the East
East River
The East River is a tidal strait in New York City. It connects Upper New York Bay on its south end to Long Island Sound on its north end. It separates Long Island from the island of Manhattan and the Bronx on the North American mainland...
and Hudson River
Hudson River
The Hudson is a river that flows from north to south through eastern New York. The highest official source is at Lake Tear of the Clouds, on the slopes of Mount Marcy in the Adirondack Mountains. The river itself officially begins in Henderson Lake in Newcomb, New York...
s. In the end, it was filled in from land removed from nearby Bayard's Mount, the highest hill in lower Manhattan, rechristened after the Revolution "Bunker Hill" (commemorating the American victory at Bunker Hill, Boston
Battle of Bunker Hill
The Battle of Bunker Hill took place on June 17, 1775, mostly on and around Breed's Hill, during the Siege of Boston early in the American Revolutionary War...
; a small battery had fortified Nicholas Bayard
Nicholas Bayard
Colonel Nicholas Bayard was an official in the colony of New York. Bayard served as the sixteenth Mayor of New York City, from 1685 to 1686...
's Mount during the Revolution and leveled between 1803 and 1811. By 1813, the Collect was virtually gone.
Several decades later New York City obtained a new, plentiful supply of fresh water from the Croton Aqueduct
Croton Aqueduct
The Croton Aqueduct or Old Croton Aqueduct was a large and complex water distribution system constructed for New York City between 1837 and 1842...
. The neighborhood known as "Five Points
Five Points, Manhattan
Five Points was a neighborhood in central lower Manhattan in New York City. The neighborhood was generally defined as being bound by Centre Street in the west, The Bowery in the east, Canal Street in the north and Park Row in the south...
", a notorious slum
Slum
A slum, as defined by United Nations agency UN-HABITAT, is a run-down area of a city characterized by substandard housing and squalor and lacking in tenure security. According to the United Nations, the percentage of urban dwellers living in slums decreased from 47 percent to 37 percent in the...
, developed near the former eastern bank of the Collect and owed its existence in some measure to the poor landfill job (completed during 1811) which created swamp
Swamp
A swamp is a wetland with some flooding of large areas of land by shallow bodies of water. A swamp generally has a large number of hammocks, or dry-land protrusions, covered by aquatic vegetation, or vegetation that tolerates periodical inundation. The two main types of swamp are "true" or swamp...
y, mosquito-ridden conditions on land that had originally had more well-to-do residents.
New York's jail nicknamed "The Tombs
The Tombs
"The Tombs" is the colloquial name for the Manhattan Detention Complex, a jail in Lower Manhattan at 125 White Street, as well as the popular name of a series of preceding downtown jails, the first of which was built in 1838 in the Egyptian Revival style of architecture.The nickname has been used...
", built on Centre Street
Centre Street (Manhattan)
Centre Street runs north-south in the New York City borough of Manhattan. Centre Street runs from Park Row and continues north to Delancey Street where it merges with Lafayette Street....
during 1838, was on the site of the pond and was constructed on a huge platform of hemlock logs in an attempt to give it secure foundations. The prison building began to subside almost as soon as it was completed and was notorious for leaks in its lowest tier and for its general dampness. When the original Tombs building was condemned and demolished at the end of the century, builders sank enormous concrete
Concrete
Concrete is a composite construction material, composed of cement and other cementitious materials such as fly ash and slag cement, aggregate , water and chemical admixtures.The word concrete comes from the Latin word...
caissons
Caisson (engineering)
In geotechnical engineering, a caisson is a retaining, watertight structure used, for example, to work on the foundations of a bridge pier, for the construction of a concrete dam, or for the repair of ships. These are constructed such that the water can be pumped out, keeping the working...
to bedrock
Bedrock
In stratigraphy, bedrock is the native consolidated rock underlying the surface of a terrestrial planet, usually the Earth. Above the bedrock is usually an area of broken and weathered unconsolidated rock in the basal subsoil...
, as much as 140 feet below street level, in order to give its replacement more secure foundations.
John Fitch's steamboat experiment
In 1796 ConnecticutConnecticut
Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...
inventor John Fitch
John Fitch (inventor)
John Fitch was an American inventor, clockmaker, and silversmith who, in 1787, built the first recorded steam-powered boat in the United States...
conducted trials of an experimental steamboat
Steamboat
A steamboat or steamship, sometimes called a steamer, is a ship in which the primary method of propulsion is steam power, typically driving propellers or paddlewheels...
on the Collect Pond. On the boat with him was fellow inventor Robert Fulton
Robert Fulton
Robert Fulton was an American engineer and inventor who is widely credited with developing the first commercially successful steamboat...
, Robert R. Livingston, who was the first Chancellor of New York
New York Court of Chancery
The New York Court of Chancery was established during the colonial administration on August 28, 1701, the colonial governor acting as Chancellor. The New York State Constitution of 1777 continued the court but required a lawyer to be appointed Chancellor. It was the court with jurisdiction on cases...
and a signer of the Declaration of Indepenence, and 16-year-old John Hutchings steering.
Modern day
New York City Department of Parks and Recreation
The City of New York Department of Parks & Recreation is the department of government of the City of New York responsible for maintaining the city's parks system, preserving and maintaining the ecological diversity of the city's natural areas, and furnishing recreational opportunities for city's...
for conversion into a park. Originally, the park was named "Civil Court Park" due to its proximity to the surrounding courthouse buildings. However, the park was renamed "Collect Pond Park", its current name, to represent its history more accurately. The park is located on the block bordered by Lafayette Street, Leonard Street, Centre Street, and White Street.Currently the park is closed and is being entirely reconstructed with completion expected in 2012. The newly re-built park is to include a pond evocative of the former Collect Pond.
It is still possible to ascertain the rough boundaries of the Collect Pond and original topography
Topography
Topography is the study of Earth's surface shape and features or those ofplanets, moons, and asteroids...
in the elevations of the streets in the area, with the lowest elevation being Centre Street which runs in the approximate center of the former pond.
External links
- Collect Pond Park, New York City Parks Department
- Collect Pond Video