High Pumping Station

The High Pumping Station is a rectangular red brick building with a steeply angled slate roof located within Jerome Park. This structure was part of the larger Jerome Park Reservoir system and served to push water upward to upper levels of tall buildings throughout the neighborhood.

Construction took place from 1901 to 1906 under architect George W. Birdsall's direction. The facility was built during a major expansion of city water systems to serve the rapidly growing neighborhoods in the Bronx.

The station displays Romanesque Revival architectural features with arched openings and decorative brick elements that shaped early industrial building design in the city. These visual choices reflect how engineers and architects worked together when creating structures for public water systems.

The building sits along Jerome Avenue and is easy to spot from street level. Keep in mind this is an active water infrastructure site, so access to the interior may be limited or unavailable.

The building still houses original mechanical equipment from the early 1900s that reveals how water pumping systems functioned over a century ago. These preserved machines are rare examples of pioneering engineering at the city-wide scale.