Kensico Dam Plaza

Park Hours: 

Open seven days a week, 8am to 10pm (summer hours)

About:

The Kensico Dam was built under the old dam that formed Lake Kensico, using stone taken from the adjacent Cranberry Lake Park. More electric power was applied for its creation than any other construction work for the Catskill water supply. The crushing plant at the quarry was the largest ever placed on contract work, and a railroad was built solely for the purpose of carrying debris from the construction site to landfills. At the quarry village, a school operated for the children, sewing classes for the women, and English language classes for the predominately Italian male workers.

The dam was completed in 1917. It is 307 feet high and 1,843 feet long, and forms the Kensico reservoir. It was acquired as parkland in 1963 from the New York City Watershed Commission and remains the property of the New York City Department of Environmental Protection. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as part of the Bronx River Parkway Reservation.