The Collect Pond

Unless urban history or the history of place are included under the umbrella of environmental history, my visit to the Collect Pond Park was the only part of my tour that broached the subject.  The Collect Pond was one of the surprise visits that I had happened upon between the African Burial Ground and the Museum of Chinese in America. In my preparation for the trip I had read about   So you could say that my prediction for this site was that it didn't exist and that the Pond was long forgotten.  The Collect Pond, once nearly 50 acres in size, served a significant recreational outlet, and water source for early settlers and was a means of sustenance for the Native Americans that preceded them.  By the 19th century the pond was contaminated and of no use so it was filled and built upon.  But that didn't last long as the fill was not stable and building began to sink and the rotting waste below began to stink.  No surprise, the former collect pond became one of the most notorious slums in American history--the Five Points District.   This building, demolishing, and stinking went on until 1941 when a the site was stabilized.  It returned to public use in 1960, and the water feature, seen below, was added in 2012.

Water feature at the Collect Pond Park

An 18th century romanticized view
of the pond.

The Park and the history of the area/pond say much about the city.  One thing that became clear over the course of my trip was the City's constant evolution and reinvention of itself.  The fact that this space has gone from a beautiful pond, to a dump, to a building site, and now to a park is evidence enough.  The value of public space was another persistent observation gathered over the course of my tour.  The NYC Department of Parks and Recreation boasts over 1700 public spaces that it maintains.  Thinking historically, beyond the various uses/functions of those spaces today is the back story on how they came to be and how different philosophies of their use has evolved and continues to evolve.  Intended or not, the reflection pools at the Collect Pond Park reflect far more than its patrons and its environs, they also reflect the ever evolving relationship between the land and the people that use it.