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Milburn Pumping StationakaBrooklyn Water Works
The history of the property dates to the late 17th century, when John Pine received permission to operate a grist mill at Milburn and Merrick roads. At that time, the creek that runs through the preserve was dammed to form the body of water known today as Milburn Pond. In the 1880s, this property, along with several other Long Island streams, was purchased by the City of Brooklyn to supply water to its growing population.
The following pictures show how the pumping station stands to this day. |
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This 22-acre freshwater Brookside preserve provides a peaceful setting of woods and water, along with a series of brief trails, some of which are covered with boardwalks. The woods feature red maple, white oak and cherry trees, along with numerous bird species such as the wood thrush and tufted titmouse. The pretty Milburn Creek meanders through the preserve, offering clear water and a sand and pebble bed. 
To help the water along, a large pumping station was erected on the Freeport-Baldwin border. The Milburn Pumping Station in Freeport turned out to be one of the most extraordinary and beautiful industrial structures ever built on Long Island. Frank Freeman, a Brooklynite and a master of Romanesque revival architecture, was commissioned to design the 300-foot-long pumping structure.
Work began on the conduits and pumping station in 1890. By the end of the next year, the pumping station was almost completed and its equipment was tested. Unfortunately, there was still a gap in the pipes at Rockville Centre and the huge surge of water inundated workers. But a week later the pumping station was pushing water to Brooklyn around the clock. By 1907 the system was supplying about 85 percent of the 145 million gallons a day consumed in Brooklyn.
The creation of Greater New York City in 1898 put the New York City Board of Water Supply in control. By 1917, a new Catskill aqueduct started 12 years before was supplying most of the city's water.
In the 1920s the city began paying Nassau County $80,000 a year in taxes for the water system property. To cut their tab, city officials suggested building a highway above their pipeline. The state Legislature authorized the plan, and the result was Sunrise Highway. It was dedicated on June 8, 1929.
The city also dedicated 2,200 acres in Nassau to the Long Island State Park Commission in 1925. This land would be transformed into the Southern State, Meadowbrook, Wantagh and Bethpage Parkways and Valley Stream and Hempstead Lake State Parks. While the city retained the right to pump water, its dependence on the old system continually dropped until it was used only in emergencies, the last time in a 1965-66 drought.
In 1977, when the system was obsolete, Nassau gained ownership of the pumping station. The county obtained the property around the station and 1,750 additional acres of watershed land four years later. The remaining water system property was purchased by the county in 1986.
Nassau considered using the pumping station for its public works department or an aviation museum. In 1986 it was sold to developer Gary Melius, who had restored the Otto Kahn mansion in Cold Spring Hills. A 1985 fire that destroyed much of the building has stalled restoration plans, but Melius is still hoping that he can convert the building into a nursing facility.