Ridgewood Reservoir  Ridgewood Reservoir is a decommissioned 19th century reservoir that sits on the Brooklyn–Queens border in New York City, within what is now Highland Park. The reservoir itself is actually on the Queens side of the border in the neighborhood of Glendale. The reservoir and park are bounded on the north by the Jackie Robinson Parkway, on the south by Highland Boulevard, on the west by the backyards of homes on Bulwer Place and on the east by Cypress Hills National Cemetery. In 2018 it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Ridgewood Reservoir was built by the City of Brooklyn, New York, which was rapidly outgrowing its local water supplies. In 1851 the City thought it was failing to attract business firms that would have moved to Brooklyn if it had as reliable a water source as New York City's Croton Aqueduct. Various sources were proposed. The Croton River was thought to be inadequate to New York City's future alone, so would not be available to Brooklyn. The Bronx River was both inadequate and difficult of access. Wells in and near Brooklyn were inadequate both in quantity and quality. Natural lakes on Long Island were few and could not provide enough water. The only solution was to tap the many small streams on Long Island and conduct their water to Brooklyn to be lifted into an elevated reservoir. The original design of the Ridgewood Reservoir as well as the final specifications for the Brooklyn Water Works system was designed by Brooklyn civil engineer, Samuel McElroy. This original design called for three basins, however, later engineer James P. Kirkwood altered the designs and instead built a double basin. The new double reservoir was built in Snediker's Cornfield on a hilltop near Evergreen Cemetery in what was once part of Ridgewood, Queens (this section of Queens is now part of Glendale) and was sealed by puddling with clay and paving with stones. Ground was broken for the reservoir on July 11, 1856 and water was first raised on November 18, 1858. In 1862, the water supply for the reservoir consisted of six dammed streams in what is now Queens and Nassau Counties: Jamaica Stream (Baisley Pond), Simonson's Stream, Clear Stream, Valley Stream, Pine's Stream, and Hempstead Stream (Hempstead Lake). This water was carried in a 12-mile-long masonry conduit, called the Ridgewood Aqueduct, to a pumping station at Atlantic Avenue and Chestnut Street near the City Line.