Bronx River - Waterfall Overlook

Bronx River - Waterfall Overlook. . , This man-made waterfall once helped to power the Stone Mill downstream., The Bronx River flows 23 miles from Valhalla, near the Kensico Reservoir in Westchester County in New York, to its mouth at the East River. It is the only freshwater river in New York City., In the 18th and 19th centuries, the Bronx River powered the mill of the Lorillard family, tobacco merchants who owned some of the land on which The New York Botanical Garden now sits. The Lorillards built this stone dam to replace an old wooden dam, which has been dated to around 1760. Fast-moving water from the dam flowed along a channel called a mill race (now a path along the river) and into the Stone Mill downstream. The Stone Mill constructed in 1840 to grind tobacco into snuff. after the City of New York bought this property in the late 1800s, they lowered the dam and piled rocks to achieve the look of a natural cascade., In recent years, conservation efforts led by the Bronx River Alliance have successfully restored the natural habitats in the river for plant and animal species. Today the Bronx River is home to a variety of bird species, including herons, egrets, and wood ducks, as well as snapping turtles, eastern painted turtles, and 17 species of fish.