At the start of the 20th century, engineers for New York City determined that in order to accommodate the growing metropolis' demand for water, they would have to accomplish an engineering feat of almost unprecedented scale.

To find a source of clean water that could be feasibly delivered to the city, engineers had to look far north, to the Catskill Mountains. The plan called for the damming of Esopus Creek, which would flood thousands of acres of farmland, forming a massive reservoir. Water would then travel through 163 miles of subterranean aqueducts and two smaller reservoirs on the way to the city.