In 1852 the City of Rochester approved the construction of a pipeline after a severe outbreak of illness caused by contaminated city water. In 1876 the gravity-fed pipeline connecting Hemlock Lake to Rochester was opened. To improve water quality, the city purchased the land surrounding both Hemlock Lake and neighboring Canadice Lake; the lakes' cottages, hotels, and farms were condemned and torn down beginning in 1895. Property owners who refused to sell to the city became the subject of eminent domain. Including the land around Hemlock and Canadice lakes, the city owned over of land, of which were forested.