Completed in 1878 the two basins
covered a total of 12 acres. The east basin retaining wall consisted of eight
elliptical arches, each spanning 55'. The length was 1,250'. The width at the
base was 48.5', tapering to 25' on the top walk. These basins were cleaned in
alternate years and everything was found from wrecked cars to suicide victims.
When ever this cleaning took place municipal picnics, complete with music and
dancing were held inside the empty basin. Although chemical purification of city water
began in 1907 at the new water plant upriver at California, the Eden Park
reservoir remained in use. In the 1960s the stone retaining wall of the
lower/eastern basin was largely removed and the basin filled in for ball fields.
The upper/western basin was made deeper to increase its capacity to 80,000,000
gallons. The reservoir was used until 1965 when it was covered with a shallow 3/4 acre reflecting pool.
The building with the tall stack you see in many of these cards was the old pumping station. Built in 1894 it was closed in the early twentieth century. In 1939 it was converted into the radio station for the Cincinnati Police Department. It was station WKDU, 500 watts, at 1706 kilocycles. In the 1980s the facility was dismantled. I don't know what it is used for now.
The first card gives you an excellent overhead view of the reservoir. The first card in the second row must have been taken from the opposite side of the reservoir looking towards Mt. Adams, otherwise it makes no sense to me at all.
Real Photo postcards
Not a postcard
The lithograph above shows the construction of the southern half of the reservoir. The 2nd image shows the reservoir being filled in 1906.
The next nine cards show a hot house that was in the style of a Swiss cottage. It housed plants for viewing and cultivated flowers that were planted in Eden Park. This greenhouse was in use until the Krohn Conservatory was constructed in 1933. The Krohn Conservatory can be seen on the next page. The 3rd card below says Baker's Pass. That is what the carriage-way on top of the retaining wall was called. David Baker Pass was the public official who encouraged the reservoir project.
The two cards above have really been altered because they make no sense otherwise. The Ohio River is shown on the left and, in reality, is not possible. Compare these with all the other cards.
The building you see in the 3rd postcard and last two
is the pumping station building you see with the smoke stack in all the
cards above and below. Constructed in 1894 to supply the Ohio River water to the
reservoir seen in these cards. Water was then fed to the large water tower (AKA
Stand Pipe) in the park. High levels of pollution in the river led to the
pumping station's shut down in 1907. In 1939 it was used by the Cincinnati Fire
Department as their Fire alarm Telegraph Office (along with the one inside City
Hall) seen in the last image above. The telegraph machine received signals from tripped fire alarm boxes and
punched the box's number onto long reels of paper. Dispatch workers would then
transmit this number to all engine companies. Each company had a set of cards
listing which number boxes it was required to respond to. Fires were dispatched
from this building until 1988 when the city began using 911 emergency response
dispatch. On March 3, 1980 this building and the Stand Pipe were added to the
National Register of Historic Places. The structure has been vacant since
This year (2014) it is going to be converted into a brewpub with plans to open in the summer of 2015.
Private Mailing Card
Not a postcard
Party held in empty reservoir
Three winter scenes of the reservoir
FOR MORE EDEN PARK CARDS