Fordham Manor 357 



Hill is an eminence to the west of the river now occupied by a 

 distributing reservoir. In 1888, the waters of the Bronx 

 River were impounded at North Castle in Westchester County 

 by the construction of the Kensico dam, at the same time that 

 a reservoir was building on Gun Hill. Water was admitted 

 into the reservoir on December 4, 1888, and the distribution 

 of the water to the Annexed District was begun. The reser- 

 voir has a capacity of 150,000,000 gallons when it is filled to 

 a depth of forty feet ; and though it has been found necessary 

 to tap the Croton Aqueduct, the Gun Hill reservoir still sup- 

 plies a large part of the Borough. 



To the west of the reservoir, at Van Cortlandt Street and 

 Woodlawn Road, still stands the old Valentine house of 

 Heath's attack, which was for many years the homestead of 

 the Varian family. The old farm was cut up into building 

 lots in April, 1905. 



