Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Reservoir

Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Reservoir
Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Reservoir is located in New York City
Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Reservoir
Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Reservoir
LocationCentral Park, New York City
Coordinates40°47′6.32″N 73°57′37.71″W / 40.7850889°N 73.9604750°W / 40.7850889; -73.9604750
TypeReservoir
Basin countriesUnited States
Surface area106 acres (43 ha)
Average depth29 ft (8.8 m)
Water volume1,000,000,000 US gallons (3,800,000 m3)
Shore length11.58 mi (2.5 km)
1 Shore length is not a well-defined measure.

The Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Reservoir, also known as Central Park Reservoir, is a decommissioned reservoir in Central Park in the borough of Manhattan, New York City, stretching from 86th to 96th Streets. It covers 106 acres (43 ha) and holds over 1 billion US gal (3.8 million m3) of water.

In the 1850's, Nicholas Dean, the board president of the Croton Aqueduct water distribution system, proposed that Central Park be planned around its existing receiving reservoir (known then as the Yorkville Reservoir and nowadays the site of the Great Lawn and Turtle Pond). To supplement the distribution system, a second reservoir, the Central Park Reservoir, was completed in 1862. After the construction of the second reservoir, it was usually styled the Upper Reservoir, and the Yorkville Reservoir usually styled the Lower Reservoir.

The Lower Reservoir was decommissioned in 1903 and demolished in the 1930s. In 1993, the Upper Reservoir was decommissioned and control eventually transferred to the Department of Parks and Recreation. The reservoir was renamed in 1994 in honor of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis to commemorate her many contributions to the city and because she had enjoyed jogging in the area.