1908: The Iguanas That Escaped From the Bronx Zoo » ReptileHouse1905

Reptile House, Bronx Zoo

The Reptile House was one of the first structures built at the new zoo in Bronx Park. Work began on August 22, 1898, and was completed in the winter of 1899. The mottled brick, granite, and terra cotta building was 146 feet long and 100 feet wide, and was designed to provide “suitable accommodations for representatives of all the orders of living reptiles and batrachians.” Situated on the edge of a forest of great oaks, it featured a nearby natural pool of water in granite rock that served as a summer home for lizards. Today, only the outer structure of the Reptile House remains much as it was in 1899.

Reptile House, Bronx Zoo