Hackensack Water Works

Aug 132014

The New Milford Plant of the Hackensack Water Company was constructed between 1881-1911 on a little manmade island in New Jersey. It operated as a water filtration and pumping plant until 1990 when it shut down. It was one of the first plants to bring safe drinking water to the public, which was an imperative necessity at the time since the cholera epidemic was at an all-time high because people kept dumping their shit water into their drinking water and then wondering why they were sick.

The Allis-Chalmers pumping engines were installed in 1915 and used for over 70 years. The engines, and the buildings overall, are remarkably devoid of graffiti and vandalism, which is a rare find these days. (I went there in 2013, I cannot attest to its current state.)

It’s been noted that the site has a massive underground infrastructure, about two levels below ground, but it’s all underwater since flooding begins a few feet below ground level inside the building, as seen below.

There have been efforts to both save and demolish the site. In 1996, it was placed on the list of New Jersey’s 11 Most Endangered National Historic Places. In 2001, it received a Save America’s Treasures grant and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. But as I’ve learned over the years, putting things on lists is often just an act of wishful thinking and doesn’t always guarantee preservation. Everything has a selling point, and the right amount of money can knock things right off a preservation list and into a landfill. See: Greystone.

In the following years, the site received a number of grants as historical organizations fought to preserve the structure against proposals that sought to demolish it. The last information I could find on preservation efforts ended in 2011 when the plant received a $704,834 grant to stabilize the building in hope that it could eventually be open to public tours. Another $500,000 was supposed to be granted, but the money was redirected. As of 2014, the site is still abandoned, unstable, and not accessible to the public. There is a conservation group working to preserve the building but it’s hard to tell how active they have been in the last few years.