The Fisher Hill Reservoir and Gatehouse are historic elements of the
public water supply
In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociological concept of the ''Öffentlichke ...
for the
Greater Boston
Greater Boston is the metropolitan region of New England encompassing the municipality of Boston (the capital of the U.S. state of Massachusetts and the most populous city in New England) and its surrounding areas. The region forms the northern a ...
area.
History
The reservoir was located on Fisher Avenue between Hyslop and Channing Roads in
Brookline, Massachusetts, and is now the site of
Fisher Hill Reservoir Park. It was built in 1886-87 as an early component of the Boston Water Board's expansion of its high service system. The gatehouse may have been designed by
Arthur Vinal, who also designed the
Chestnut Hill pumping station at the
Chestnut Hill Reservoir
Chestnut Hill Reservoir is a reservoir created in 1870 on existing marshes and meadowland to supplement the city of Boston's water needs, located in its namesake neighborhood of Chestnut Hill. A 1.56 mile jogging loop abuts the reservoir. Chestnu ...
.
It is a two-story Richardsonian Romanesque structure, with its first floor finished in stone and its second in brick. Brownstone trim is used on the windows and corner quoins, and the
voussoir
A voussoir () is a wedge-shaped element, typically a stone, which is used in building an arch or vault.
Although each unit in an arch or vault is a voussoir, two units are of distinct functional importance: the keystone and the springer. The ...
s which form the arches on the first floor. There are pipes to the reservoir and down to Chestnut Hill, and gates for controlling access to local the distribution network. The building was taken out of service in the 1950s.
The reservoir and gatehouse were listed on the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...
in 1990.
In 2013, the town acquired the property from the state, and has since converted it into a public park, filling in the reservoir. The gatehouse survives, and there is interpretive signage explaining the historical use of the property.
See also
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References
External links
*
Water supply infrastructure on the National Register of Historic Places
Industrial buildings and structures on the National Register of Historic Places in Massachusetts
Infrastructure completed in 1887
Buildings and structures in Brookline, Massachusetts
Reservoirs in Massachusetts
Gatehouses (waterworks)
Historic American Engineering Record in Massachusetts
National Register of Historic Places in Brookline, Massachusetts
Historic district contributing properties in Massachusetts
Lakes of Norfolk County, Massachusetts
1887 establishments in Massachusetts
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