The Metropolitan Waterworks Museum is housed in the former Chestnut Hill pumping station, built in 1886 for the Boston Metropolitan Waterworks as part of Boston’s shift to a larger, more reliable water system. Beginning service in 1887, it pumped water uphill to the Fisher Hill reservoir for gravity distribution to nearby neighborhoods and at peak capacity handled 100 million gallons a day. Its centerpiece is the steam-powered Leavitt-Riedler Pumping Engine, installed in 1894 and used through 1928, later recognized as a historic mechanical engineering landmark. Restored after decommissioning in the 1970s, the building reopened in 2011 as a museum of engineering, public works, and regional growth.