Croton Aqueduct

Old Croton Aqueduct
Ventilator No. 16, Irvington, New York
(May 2005)
Nearest city: New York City, New York
Built: 1837
Architect: John B. Jervis; David Douglass; James Renwick, Jr.
Governing body: State
NRHP Reference#: 74001324
Significant dates
Added to NRHP: December 2, 1974[1]
Designated NHL: April 27, 1992[2]

The Croton Aqueduct or Old Croton Aqueduct was a large and complex water distribution system constructed for New York City between 1837 and 1842. It brought water by the force of gravity alone 41 miles (66 km) from the Croton River in Westchester County into reservoirs in Manhattan, where local water resources had become polluted and inadequate for the growing population of the city.

Contents

Background

The island of Manhattan, surrounded by brackish rivers, had a limited supply of fresh water available, which dwindled as the city grew rapidly after the American Revolutionary War, and fresh water sources became polluted by effluent. Before the aqueduct was constructed, residents of New York obtained water from cisterns, wells, natural springs, and other bodies of water. But rapid population growth in the 19th century, and encroachment on these areas as Manhattan moved further North of Wall Street, led to the pollution of many local fresh water sources. Below Grand Street, a small number of well-off customers of the Manhattan Company had fresh water delivered to them, but that company was actually more focused on banking – it eventually became Chase Manhattan – and only paid as much attention on its water activities as it needed to not to lose the state charter that allowed it to bank.[3] The poor and the rest of the city were forced to rely on well water, often made palatable by adding alcoholic "spirits", prompting temperance campaigners to call vigorously for the municipal provision of water.

The unsanitary conditions caused an increase in disease. Epidemics like cholera and yellow fever ravaged the city. A polluted aquifer, overcrowded housing, the lack of sewers, public ignorance of basic sanitary conditions, and the existence of polluting industries near wells and residential areas contributed to an unprecedented mortality rate of 2.6% (1 death per 39 inhabitants) in 1830. In addition, the rapid expansion in densely packed wooden buildings, combined with a lack of an adequate water supply, led to many fires, culminating in the 1835 Great Fire of New York, which destroyed large parts of the city.

Construction

The need for a new supply of fresh water was crucial and in 1837 construction began on a massive engineering project. supervised by Chief Engineer John B. Jervis, to divert it from sources upstate.[4] The Croton River was dammed, aqueducts were built, tunnels dug, piping laid and reservoirs created. Iron piping encased in brick masonry was laid from the Croton Dam in northern Westchester County to the Harlem River, where it continued over the High Bridge at 173rd Street and down the west side of Manhattan and finally into a Receiving Reservoir located between 79th and 86th streets and Sixth and Seventh Avenues that is now the site of the Great Lawn and Turtle pond in Central Park.[5] The Receiving Reservoir was rectangular tank within fortress-like rusticated retaining walls, 1,826 feet (557 m) long and 836 feet (255 m) wide; it held up to 180,000,000 US gallons (680,000 m3) of water. 35,000,000 US gallons (130,000 m3) flowed into it daily from northern Westchester.

From the Receiving Reservoir water flowed down to the Distributing Reservoir, better known simply as the Croton Reservoir, a similar fortification located on Fifth Avenue between 40th Street and 42nd Street, where the main branch of the New York Public Library and Bryant Park are located today. This reservoir was built to resemble ancient Egyptian architecture. New Yorkers drove out of town for the fine view of the city obtained from atop its walls.

The Aqueduct opened to public use with great fanfare on October 14, 1842. The day-long celebration culminated in a fountain of water that spouted to a height of fifty feet from the beautifully decorated cast-iron Croton Fountain in City Hall Park. Among those present were then-President of the United States John Tyler, former presidents John Quincy Adams and Martin van Buren, and Governor of New York William H. Seward. James Renwick, Jr., who went on to design Grace Church, New York, the Smithsonian Institution Building in Washington, DC, and St. Patrick's Cathedral, New York, was involved in the architectural and engineering work on the Aqueduct was as an up-and-coming 18-year-old.

Impact on the city

Water started flowing through the aqueduct on June 22, 1842, taking 22 hours for gravity to take the water the 41 miles (66 km) to reach Manhattan.[4] Even though only 6,175 houses had been connected to the system by 1844, the Croton water had already dramatically improved both domestic hygiene and interior design. Baths and running water were being built in the private homes of wealthy New Yorkers and public bathing facilities were created for the masses. The water system had another inadvertent consequence. The decline in the number of residents drawing water from the city's wells resulted in a rise in the water table which flooded many cellars. To address this problem, the city built sewers in many residential streets. By 1852, 148 miles (238 km) of sewers had already been constructed.

About this time the German cockroach attracted attention, and was called "Croton bug" on the mistaken belief that the aqueduct brought the insects into the homes being connected to the new water supply system.[6]

The capacity of the Old Croton Aqueduct, large as it was, could not keep up with the growth of New York City, and construction on a New Croton Aqueduct began in 1885. It went into service in 1890, with three times the capacity of the Old Croton Aqueduct. It currently supplies ten percent of New York City's water. The Croton Reservoir continued to supply New York City with drinking water until 1940, when Commissioner of Parks and Recreation Robert Moses ordered it drained and filled to create the Great Lawn in Central Park.

Old Croton Trail
Length 26.2 mi (42.2 km)
Location Westchester County, New York, U.S.
Trailheads Van Cortlandt Park, New York
Croton Gorge Park, New York
Use Hiking, Biking, Jogging
Trail difficulty Easy
Season Year round
Sights Lyndhurst
Hazards Poison ivy

Old Croton Trail

The Old Croton Trail extends for 26.2 miles (42.2 km) in Westchester County, New York, providing public access along all but four segments – in southern Yonkers, Tarrytown, Scarborough and Ossining – of the route of the aqueduct, including across the lawn of Lyndhurst, following the acqeduct's easement. The Trail enters New York City on the eastern side of Van Cortlandt Park [4] and runs through the Bronx alongside Aqueduct Avenue and under the southern part of University Avenue.

Both trail and the tunnel comprise the Old Croton Aqueduct State Historic Park,[7] which was created in 1968 and encompasses the northernmost 26 miles (42 km) of the Aqueduct and its right-of-way, from Croton Gorge Park to the Yonkers-New York City line. It lies wholly within Westchester County, but is under the jurisdiction of the Taconic Region of the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation.[8]

The trail runs roughly parallel to Metro North's Hudson Line from northern Yonkers to Scarborough and is accessible from numerous stations on that line. The trail briefly parallels the Rockefeller State Park Preserve and its trails. Access to the trail is easiest where it crosses Route 9, known variously as Albany Post Road, Broadway or Highland Avenue.

Remnants of the aqueduct still exist and can be seen along the trail, including 21 stone ventilators, and three stone weirs, chambers which were used to empty the aqueduct for maintenance.[9] A portion of the Old Croton Aqueduct, running from the Croton River to Manhattan, was listed as a National Historic Landmark in 1992.[2][10] The Croton Water Supply System was also designated as a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark by the American Society of Civil Engineers in 1975.[11]

The interior of the Old Croton Aqueduct has been explored and documented by Miru Kim and “guerrilla historian” Steve Duncan.[12] The aqueduct also plays an important role in E. L. Doctorow's novel The Waterworks.

See also

References

Notes
  1. ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. 2007-01-23. http://nrhp.focus.nps.gov/natreg/docs/All_Data.html. 
  2. ^ a b "Croton Aqueduct (Old)". National Park Service. September 17, 2007. http://tps.cr.nps.gov/nhl/detail.cfm?ResourceId=1468&ResourceType=Structure. 
  3. ^ Burrows, Edwin G. & Wallace, Mike (1999). Gotham: A History of New York City to 1898. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0195116348.  pp. 360, 362, 589
  4. ^ a b c "Old Croton Aqueduct Trail". New York City Department of Parks and Recreation. http://www.nycgovparks.org/sub_your_park/virtual_tour/croton_aqueduct/index.html. Retrieved September 19, 2007. 
  5. ^ "Great Lawn". Central Park Conservancy. http://www.centralparknyc.org/visit/things-to-see/great-lawn/great-lawn.html. Retrieved October 6, 2011. 
  6. ^ Cockroach insect information & pictures. Retrieved November 29, 2006.
  7. ^ "Old Croton Aqueduct State Historic Park". New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation. http://nysparks.state.ny.us/parks/96/details.aspx. Retrieved October 6, 2011. 
  8. ^ "History of the Aqueduct Trail". Friends of the Old Croton Aqueduct. http://www.aqueduct.org/node/12. Retrieved October 6, 2011. 
  9. ^ "Old Croton Aqueduct Trail Map" (PDF). New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation. http://nysparks.state.ny.us/parks/attachments/OldCrotonAqueductOldCrotonAqueductTrailMap.pdf. Retrieved October 6, 2011. 
  10. ^ Lange, Robie S. (October 1991). National Register of Historic Places Registration: Croton Aqueduct. National Park Service. http://pdfhost.focus.nps.gov/docs/NHLS/Text/74001324.pdf  and Accompanying 20 photos and drawings, from 1978 and 1843.PDF (6.95 MB)
  11. ^ "Croton Water Supply System". ASCE Metropolitan Section. http://www.ascemetsection.org/content/view/341/875/. Retrieved February 20, 2010. 
  12. ^ Gibberd, Ben (July 29, 2009). "Children of Darkness". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/29/nyregion/thecity/29shad.html. Retrieved September 15, 2009. 
  13. ^ Descriptive display at the weir chamber in Ossining, New York in the Old Croton Aqueduct State Historic Park. Accessed: September 6, 2010
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