Bishop Falls

Test borings from Freeman's report suggested a high dam be built at Bishop Falls. The grist mill and the old stone house were built by my ancestor, Asa Bishop, who came to the Town of Olive in 1790. While the infamous Aaron Burr was creating "The Manhattan Company"* under the guise of finding "pure and wholesome water," Asa and his son Jacob were working the mill here. The site of Bishop Falls now lies 1/4 mile from the main Ashokan dam under 180 feet of water at the deepest part of the reservoir. It marks the spot where the Esopus Creek was stopped on September 9, 1913, and where water storage began in the west basin of the Ashokan.

*Aaron Burr and his cronies intended to use the excuse of financing the search for clean water to start a bank, the remnants of which is the "Manhattan" in the Chase Manhattan Bank.

NYC Watershed Retrospective