Before the Bronx River Parkway Reservation was completed in 1925, the Bronx River Valley was little more than an open sewer. Cesspools, privies, barnyards and factories all contributed their refuse to the river. The creation of a highway and park along the river’s route was first suggested as a correction to these problems in the 1896 report of the Bronx Valley Sewer Commission. In this remarkably visionary document–briefly excerpted here–the commissioners and their engineers detailed sewer options, cost considerations and even presented scientific evidence on whether the discharge of sewage into the Long Island Sound tidewater was the best disposal method.

The 1896 Report of the Bronx Valley Sewer Commission is just one of many records held at the Westchester County Archives relating to the development of the Bronx River Parkway Reservation, America’s first roadway within a planned park. These documents include Bronx Valley Sewer Records (1907-1911), Bronx Parkway Commission Minutes (1907-1925), and Bronx Parkway Commission Annual Reports (1907-1925, with gaps), as well as plans, drawings and photographs. Using these archival sources, a detailed history of the eventual construction of the Bronx River Parkway Reservation has been compiled. See Historic American Engineering Record – Bronx River Parkway Reservation, HAER No. NY-327.

This record is also associated with:
Eastchester
Scarsdale
White Plains