Brooklyn Water Works - Freeport

 

The City of Brooklyn purchased Milburn Pond to supply the Ridgewood Reservoir in the 1880's. After the pond was enlarged, a new pumping station was needed to accommodate Brooklyn's growing need for water and the Brooklyn Waterworks, also known as the Milburn Pumping Station, was born. Brooklyn Water Works, located on the west side of North Brookside Avenue in Freeport, was a three-story brick Romanesque Revival building

Designed by Brooklyn architect, Frank Freeman, it was completed in 189. It housed five steam pumps and could deliver up to 54 million gallons of water a day.   Piping ran down the length of Sunrise Highway, continuing down Conduit Avenue in Brooklyn.

Once Brooklyn became part of New York City, however, the need for the new pumping station diminished.  In 1898, Brooklyn began receiving its water from the Croton Aqueduct system and in 1929, the Brooklyn Waterworks was used only as a backup water supply for emergencies.  Its two huge smokestacks were removed at that time.

The pumping station continued as a backup supply until it was decommissioned in 1977. The property was bought up by Nassau County. The property was then bought by developer Gary Mileus in 1989, for 1.4 million dollars to be used for 48 condos; construction to be completed in 1990.  However, a housing market collapse halted the project and, not long after, the building was severely damaged by fire.

The Brooklyn Waterworks was torn down on August 30, 2010.  According to an article in L & M Publications, the Brooklyn Waterworks had landmark status since 1986, but was found to be beyond repair. In 2012, Nassau County purchased the land for $6.22 million.  The site, which is south of the Brookside Preserve, cannot be developed.  The South Shore Audubon Society currently maintains the property.

 

Sources:

Brooklyn Waterworks, Freeport, Long Island, NY, clydesguides.blogspot.com/2010/12/brooklyn-waterworks-freeport-long.html. Accessed 16 Dec. 2023

Feeney, Regina. Libguides: Freeport History Encyclopedia, libguides.freeportlibrary.info/Encyclopedia/b. Accessed 16 Dec. 2023