Taking Our Water for the City : : The Archaeology of New York City’s Watershed Communities / / April M. Beisaw.

• Superior document: Title is part of eBook package: De Gruyter Berghahn Books Complete eBook-Package 2022
• VerfasserIn: Beisaw, April M.,
• Place / Publishing House: New York; , Oxford : : Berghahn Books, , [2022]; ©2022
• Year of Publication: 2022
• Language: English
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (154 p.)

Tap water enables the development of cities in locations with insufficient natural resources to support such populations. For the last 200 years, New York City has obtained water through a network of nineteen reservoirs and controlled lakes, some as far as 125-miles away. Engineering this water system required the demolition of rural communities, removal of cemeteries, and rerouting of roadways and waterways. The ruination is ongoing. This archaeological examination of the New York City watershed reveals the cultural costs of urban water systems. Urban water systems do more than reroute water from one place to another. At best, they redefine communities. At worst, they erase them.

Table of Contents

Frontmatter -- Contents -- Illustrations -- Acknowledgments -- Abbreviations -- General map. Overview of the New York City water system showing the location of Olive and Kent. -- Introduction -- Urban Water as an (Un)natural Resource -- Archaeology’s Unique Perspective -- Book Outline -- Chapter 1. Archaeology and the Contemporary Past -- Past, Present, Future -- Archaeological Method and Th eory -- Archaeologists as Activists -- Connections and Conclusions -- Chapter 2. New York City’s Water System -- Starting on Manhattan Island -- Reaching Off -Island -- Acquiring More Distant Lands -- Connections and Conclusions -- Chapter 3. Kent: A Town Repurposed -- Introduction -- History -- Archaeology of Kent’s City-Owned Lands -- Connections and Conclusions -- Chapter 4. Olive: A Town Traumatized -- Introduction -- History -- Archaeology of Olive’s City-Owned Lands -- Connections and Conclusions -- Chapter 5. Water Pasts for Water Futures -- An Archaeology of Watershed Communities -- Archaeologists as Eff ective Activists? -- Conclusion -- References -- Index