Jersey City Reservoir No. 3

Jersey City Reservoir No. 3, on Bergen Hill in the Heights of Jersey City, was built between 1871 and 1874 as part of the city’s waterworks system, supplying drinking water to Jersey City and Ellis Island. Set behind heavy stone walls and distinguished by Egyptian Revival and Romanesque Revival design, it remained in service until the 1980s, when it was abandoned for a larger reservoir at Boonton Gorge. The enclosed basin then evolved into an unusual urban wildlife preserve with a lake, trees, wildflowers, and birds. Listed on state and federal historic registers in 2012, it survives as a rare link to the city’s water-supply history.

Union City, New Jersey · United States