Photo shows view of the power house at the Water Works Park in Detroit, Michigan. This old photograph dates to 1901. Nice view of people hanging out in the park in front of the lakefront.

The city of Detroit began building its water system as early as 1836, with the construction of a waterworks at the foot of Orleans. The prosperity of the city in the time after the Civil War allowed Detroit to develop a municipal water system, using water from the Detroit River. In 1868, the city began developing Waterworks Park, on Jefferson Avenue near at the foot of Cadillac Boulevard. The main function of the site was to provide water to the municipal system, but it was also intended to use the grounds to be used as a public park.