Day 1076

This seemingly inactive pumping station stands just a few hundred feet north of the artesian well (now closed off to the public) that we visited back on Day 1. Like the well, the pumping station is located on what was formerly the property of the Crystal Water Company, one of the private companies that supplied well water to Staten Islanders in the days before the island had access to NYC's superior upstate water supply.

Crystal Water built a pumping station here in 1886; in 1906, the station comprised 56 wells and three pumping engines. The city acquired Crystal Water in 1909, and even after Staten Island was connected to the new aqueduct from the Catskill Mountains around 1917, the city continued to run the wells here to meet the island's increased demand for water. Around 1923, it was decided that the pumping station needed to be replaced, and that the wells would be eliminated, as they had become less and less productive over the years. While no longer a source of water, the new pumping station (above), which went into service in 1928, continued to provide the increased water pressure needed to serve the areas of higher elevation on the island.

Next door stands a very similarly styled building with a sign that reads "Staten Island Water Maintenance", whatever that means. A guy working there told me it now serves as the pumping station, which makes sense because the pumping station above looks like it's just being used as storage space at this point.