This image is from a postcard dating back to the 1890s, soon after the tower was built. According to a Brooklyn Daily Eagle article from January 18, 1893, a water shortage threatened the city (the city of Brooklyn, that is, which had yet to become part of New York City):
“There would be no substantial relief until the water tower at Prospect Hill should be put in use, which would be in two or three months,” the article states.
This prime part of Brooklyn looks awfully lonely and barren in the photo. But things would quickly change: The Brooklyn Museum would soon be built on a land to the east of the water tower and adjoining reservoir. Eastern Parkway would eventually be lined with trees and apartment houses.
The tower itself was constructed to supply water to houses near Prospect Park, which there would be many more of in the coming years.
Tags: Brooklyn Museum, Eastern Parkway, Prospect Heights, Prospect Hill Reservoir, Prospect Hill Water Tower, Prospect Park
October 17, 2008 at 3:27 pm |
This has got to be one of the biggest landmarks to be utterly forgotten in modern times!
October 17, 2008 at 4:26 pm |
Wonderful postcard – some of my family lived near the Hill at this time so it is especially interesting to me.
February 12, 2009 at 7:01 pm |
Thanks for sharing this information. My mother gave me a postcard featuring the Water tower, and I was glad to learn more about it:
Amy