Reservoir Number One (aka Lake Innisfree)

 lake, reservoir

Lake Innisfree, also known as Reservoir No.1 and Lake Isle, is a man-made reservoir located in the north-western section of New Rochelle of the city along the Eastchester border. Constructed in 1894, the reservoir is impounded by the New Rochelle Reservoir #1 Dam on Hutchinson Creek. The dam is masonry and of earthen construction, with a height of 34 feet and a length of 680 feet. The water surface covers an area of about 65 acres and the capacity is about 271,700,000 gallons. It has a maximum discharge of 744 cubic feet per second and drains an area of 2.2 square miles. The water from this reservoir flows by gravity to the southern, low level district of the city. There is a steel equalizing tank 34 feet high by 44 feet in diameter connected with this system on high ground 2 miles south of the dam. The lake is owned by the City Of New Rochelle.

The area surrounding the lake was once rolling woodland owned in large sections by farmers in the 1700-1800’s. The New Rochelle Water Company then bought up the land using it as a watershed for the lake served as a water supply source for New Rochelle. The lake is currently used for recreational purposes and is the only inland body of water in lower Westchester County that is used for swimming and boating. Large mouth bass, perch, catfish, eel, sunfish, and shiners are some of the fish that are indigenous to the lake. About ten years ago, carp were stocked in the lake to control aquatic vegetation. When the Hutchinson River Parkway was reconstructed around 1988, a horse trail with two new bridges was built between the parkway and the dam allowing equestrians to ride their horses along the edge of the reservoir.

www.topozone.com/map.asp?lon=-73.7984663&lat=40.9567652...