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Collect Pond

Coordinates:40°42′59″N74°00′06″W/ 40.71639°N 74.00167°W/40.71639; -74.00167
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A 1798watercolorof Collect Pond.Bayard's Mount,a 110-foot (34 m)hillock,is in the left foreground. Prior to being levelled around 1811 it was located near the current intersection of Mott and Grand Streets. New York City, which then extended to astockadewhich ran approximately north–southeast from today'sChambers Streetand Broadway, is visible beyond the southern shore.

Collect Pond,orFresh Water Pond,[1]was abody of fresh waterin what is nowChinatowninLower Manhattan,New York City.For the first two centuries of European settlement inManhattan,it was the mainNew York City water supply systemfor the growing city. A jail was later built on the former pond. In the 20th century, the site becameCollect Pond Park(40°42′59″N74°00′07″W/ 40.7163°N 74.0019°W/40.7163; -74.0019), which includes a reflecting pool to acknowledge the historic importance of this body of water.

Pond description[edit]

The pond occupied approximately 48 acres (190,000 m2) and was as deep as 60 feet (18 m).[1]Fed by an underground spring, it was located in a valley, with Bayard Mount (at 110 feet or 34 metres the tallest hill in lower Manhattan) to the northeast andKalck Hoek(DutchforChalk Point,named for the numerousoystershellmiddensleft by theindigenousNative Americaninhabitants) to the west. A stream flowed north out of the pond and then west through asalt marsh(which, after being drained, became ameadowby the name of "Lispenard Meadows" ) to theHudson River,while another stream issued from the southeastern part of the pond in an easterly direction to theEast River.

The southwestern shore of Collect Pond was the site of a Native American settlement known asWerpoes.A small band of Munsee, the northernmost division of theLenape,occupied the site. The Munsee continued to live at Collect Pond until the Dutch settlement ofNew Amsterdamwas established in the 17th century. It is possible that members of this band were the participants in the "sale" of Manhattan to the Dutch.

Collect Pond was used as a terms of boundary for night watch duties in 1731 under John Montgomerie's charter during the British rule in New York City.[2]The pond was home to a copious amount of fish, and in 1734 legislation was passed preventing the use of nets in the pond. This was prior to the extreme pollution to the pond, which included the dumping of dead animals.[3]

18th century[edit]

Collect Pond andFive Pointson thetopographicalmap byEgbert Viele.The Five Points intersection is where Mosco Street (marked here as Park Street) intersected withBaxter Street(formerly Orange Street) andWorth Street(formerly Anthony Street).

In the 18th century, the pond was used as a picnic area during summer and askating rinkduring the winter.[4]Beginning in the early 18th century, various commercial enterprises were built along the shores of the pond in order to use the water. These businesses includedCoulthards Brewery,Nicholas Bayard'sslaughterhouseon Mulberry Street (which was nicknamed "Slaughterhouse Street" ),[5]numeroustannerieson the southeastern shore, and the pottery works ofGerman immigrantsJohan WillemCroliusand Johan Remmey on Pot Bakers Hill on the south-southwestern shore.[6]By the late 18th century, the pond was considered "a very sink and common sewer".[1]

John Fitch's steamboat experiment[edit]

Fitch testing his steamboat on the Collect Pond
John Fitch'ssteamboatexperiment on Collect Pond

ConnecticutinventorJohn Fitchwas an instrument maker working in the later part of the 18th century. As an early pioneer of steam navigation, Fitch tested severalsteamboatson theDelaware Riverbetween 1785 and 1788. Fitch’s real success, however, occurred in 1796 when he tested another ship equipped with apaddle wheelon Collect Pond. On the boat with him was fellow inventorRobert Fulton,Robert R. Livingston,who was the firstChancellor of New Yorkand a signer of the Declaration of Independence, and 16-year-old John Hutchings, steering.[7]

This was six years before Fulton and Livingston launched “Fulton’s Folly”on theSeine RiverinFrance.Hutchings claims to have been a “lad” at the time who “assisted Mr. Fitch in steering the boat”. In a broadside issued in 1846, Hutchings asserts that it was in fact Fitch who designed the steam propulsion mechanism. He claims that both Fulton and Livingston were present during Collect Pond tests and in fact depicts both, as well as Fitch and himself, in a paddlewheel steam ship in the upper left quadrant of the broadside. Though Fulton seems to have received most of the credit for the era of steam navigation, Hutchings hoped, through the publication of this broadside, to shed some light on Fitch’s contributions as well. A plaque at Collect Pond Park, however, states that though Fitch's account "is often repeated, no evidence has been found to substantiate the story."

Contamination and landfill[edit]

The contaminatedwastewaterof the businesses surrounding the pond flowed back into the pond, creating a severepollutionproblem and environmental health hazard.Pierre Charles L'Enfantproposed cleaning the pond and making it a centerpiece of a recreational park, around which the residential areas of the city could grow. His proposal was rejected, and it was decided to drain and fill in the pond. This was accomplished with soil partially obtained from leveling the nearby hills of Bayard's Mount and Kalck Hoek, and by digging acanalto the north to encourage the water to drain into the river. Thelandfillwas completed in 1811, andmiddle classhomes were soon built on thereclaimed land.[8][1]

The landfill was poorly engineered. The buried vegetation began to releasemethanegas (a byproduct ofdecomposition) and the area, still in a natural depression, lacked adequatestorm sewers.As a result, the ground gradually subsided. Houses shifted on their foundations, the unpaved streets were often buried in a foot ofmudand mixed with human and animal excrement, andmosquitoesbred in thestagnant poolscreated by the poor drainage.

Several decades later, New York City obtained a new, plentiful supply of fresh water from theCroton Aqueduct.The neighborhood known as "Five Points",a notoriousslum,developed near the former eastern bank of the Collect and owed its existence in some measure to the poor landfill job (completed in 1811) which created swampy, mosquito-ridden conditions on land that had originally had more well-to-do residents.

Most middle and upper class inhabitants fled the area, leaving the neighborhood open to poor immigrants that began arriving in the early 1820s. This influx reached a height in the 1840s, with large numbers of Irish Catholics fleeing theGreat Famine.[9]

The Tombs[edit]

The original Tombs building in 1896
Main article:The Tombs

New York's jail, nicknamed "The Tombs",was built onCentre Streetin 1838 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 design, byJohn Haviland,was based on an engraving of an ancient Egyptianmausoleum.The building was 253 feet (77 m) in length by 200 feet (61 m) wide and it occupied a full block, surrounded by Centre, Franklin, Elm (today's Lafayette), and Leonard Streets. It initially accommodated about 300 prisoners.

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. The original building was replaced in 1902 with a new one on the same site connected by a "Bridge of Sighs" to the Criminal Courts Building on the Franklin Street side. When the original Tombs building was condemned and demolished at the end of the century, largeconcretecaissonswere emplaced tobedrock,as much as 140 feet below street level, in order to give its replacement more secure foundations. That building was replaced in 1941 by one across the street on the east side of Centre Street with the entrance at 125 White Street, officially named theManhattan Detention Complex,though still referred to colloquially as "The Tombs".

Park conversion[edit]

The park in 2008, facing East
ThegranitefoundationofThe Tombsuncovered during reconstruction of Collect Pond Park in early 2012

The park is located on the block bordered byLafayette Street,Leonard Street,Centre Street,and White Street,[10]and sits between the three city courthouses: theCriminal Court,Civil Court, and Family Court.[10][11]

In 1960, theNew York City Board of Estimatetransferred the former site of Collect Pond to theNew York City Department of Parks and Recreationfor conversion into a park. Originally named "Civil Court Park" because of its proximity to the surrounding courthouses, it was renamed "Collect Pond Park" under CommissionerHenry J. Sternto represent the location's history.[10]

In 2006, the city received funding for a renovation of Collect Pond Park, using federal-relief funds distributed after theSeptember 11 attacks.[12]The park was closed for a total reconstruction in 2011.[13]The granite foundation of The Tombs was uncovered in 2012, leading to a partial stop-work order pending archaeological investigation.[14]The rebuilt park reopened in May 2014, with a pool evocative of the former Collect Pond.[15]The project had cost $4.6 million. Although the park was popular among residents and visitors, the pool had to be drained and repaired within months of the park's reopening;[16]it was refilled in 2015.[17]

It is still possible to ascertain the rough boundaries of Collect Pond and originaltopographyin 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.[18]

In 2020, theItalian-Argentinesculptor Luciano Garbati's workMedusa With the Head of Perseus(2008), a seven-foot-tall representation ofMedusacarryingPerseus's head, was installed in the center of the park as part of the NYC Parks Department'spublic artprogram. Garbati's work, a reversal ofCellini'sPerseus with the Head of Medusa,anItalian Renaissancebronze, was reimagined byMeToo movementadvocates as a symbol offeministtriumph.[19]

References[edit]

  1. ^abcdJackson, Kenneth T.,ed. (1995).The Encyclopedia of New York City.New Haven:Yale University Press.ISBN0300055366.,p. 250.
  2. ^Richardson, James (1970).Encyclopedia of New York City.New York: Oxford University Press.
  3. ^Burrows, E. G., Wellace, M. (1998). "Chapter 23: The Road to City Hall".Gotham: A History of New York City to 1898.Oxford University Press.ISBN978-0-19-511634-2.
  4. ^"The Hudson: A History" Tom Lewis (2007).
  5. ^"Abattoirs.; History of New-York Slaughter-Houses-Interesting and Curious Data. (1866)".The New York Times.
  6. ^"Craftsmen In Clay" @ www.corzilius.org
  7. ^Scientific American,New Series, Volume 3, Issue 8, page 116. August 18, 1860
  8. ^Kieran, John.A Natural History of New York.p. 31.ISBN978-0-8232-1086-2.
  9. ^Delaney, Tim.American Street Gangs.pp. 39, 290.
  10. ^abcCollect Pond Park,New York City Department of Parks and Recreation.Accessed April 19, 2024.
  11. ^Donna Ferrato,Dare to Survive,New York Times(January 2, 2023).
  12. ^Collins, Glenn (February 9, 2006)."6 Lower Manhattan Public Spaces to Bloom With Post-9/11 Funds".The New York Times.RetrievedApril 19,2024.
  13. ^Shapiro, Julie (July 22, 2011)."City Puts the Pond Back in Collect Pond Park".DNAinfo New York.RetrievedApril 19,2024.
  14. ^Hogarty, Dave (August 9, 2012)."Old Tombs Excavated at Collect Pond Park Construction".Curbed NY.RetrievedApril 19,2024.
  15. ^"Bigger! Better! The New Collect Pond Park Is Open".Tribeca Citizen.May 22, 2014.RetrievedApril 19,2024.
  16. ^Glassman, Carl (August 4, 2014)."New Collect Pond Park, Popular But Still Beset with Problems".Tribeca Trib Online.RetrievedApril 19,2024.
  17. ^Glassman, Carl (July 26, 2015)."Collect Pond Park Finally Gets Its 'Pond' Water Back".Tribeca Trib Online.RetrievedApril 19,2024.
  18. ^Kadinsky, Sergey (2016).Hidden Waters of New York City: A History and Guide to 101 Forgotten Lakes, Ponds, Creeks, and Streams in the Five Boroughs.New York, NY: Countryman Press. pp. 1–9.ISBN978-1-58157-566-8.
  19. ^Julia Jacobs,How a Medusa Sculpture From a Decade Ago Became #MeToo Art,New York Times(October 13, 2020).

External links[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related toCollect Pond.

40°42′59″N74°00′06″W/ 40.71639°N 74.00167°W/40.71639; -74.00167

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