the construction of the system, were nonetheless hopeful that the infusion of Manhattan with free and clean water might result in less rampant drunkenness. But they were disappointed: breweries were among the first businesses to benefit from the ready supply of fresh water.2 Eventually, however, Croton water caught on, aided by a boost in water pressure brought on by the completion of High Bridge in 1848, the widespread installation of private bathroom fixtures, the popularization of public baths, and the introduction in the 1850s of that natural complement to the public water supply: the public sewer.3 By the 1880s, each New Yorker was using an average of nearly one hundred gallons of water a day, the highest rate in the world.4 15 Gerard T. Koeppel, Water for Gotham: A History (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2000), 198. 2 Ibid. 3 Ibid., 287; Kroessler 15. 4 Koeppel, Water for Gotham, 287. 5 Laura Vookles Hardin, “Celebrating the Aqueduct: Pastoral and Urban Ideals,” The Old Croton Aqueduct: Rural Resources Meet Urban Needs (Yonkers: The Hudson River Museum of Westchester, Inc., 1992. Published to coincide with the exhibition at the Hudson River Museum of Westchester, October 2, 1992 through February 7, 1993.), 51–55. 1 Above: Spillway of the New Croton Dam History of the Croton Waterworks 16 Aqueduct was taken offline in 1955. The New Croton Aqueduct is still capable of providing New York City with between 10 and 30 percent of its fresh water, although as of this writing it is completely shut down pending the completion of the Croton Water Filtration Plant in Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx. Section 1: Introduction of the land, the New Croton Aqueduct was buried deep underground. The ethnic composition of the work crews who built this part of the system reflects a shift in immigration patterns and the sources of cheap, unskilled labor in the Greater New York area in the late nineteenth century: supplanting the Irish were crews of African Americans and recent Italian immigrants. When it came online in 1893, the New Croton Aqueduct provided the City with 300 million gallons of water a day, triple the rate of the Old Croton Aqueduct. As part of an effort to wring every last drop of potable water out of the Croton Watershed, dams and reservoirs continued to be built in Westchester and Putnam Counties throughout the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The most significant of these was the New Croton Dam, an awe-inspiring masonry structure constructed between 1892 and 1905 (pictured at left). This dam significantly enlarged the size of the Croton Reservoir, the main reservoir in the Waterworks and the body of water that fed both the Old and New conduits. The expansion of this reservoir also necessitated the displacement of entire communities, surviving photo documentation of which shows whole houses being picked up and transported to designated areas on higher ground. The last major structure in the Croton Waterworks, the Croton Falls Dam and Reservoir, was completed in 1911. Even before this addition had been accomplished, however, New York City had begun construction on the Catskill Aqueduct, a much larger system that drew water from the far-moredistant Catskill Mountain region. This system and the subsequent Delaware Aqueduct would eventually eclipse the Croton Waterworks in terms of amount of water provided per day. The technically obsolete Old Croton 17 How the Croton System Works 19 18 Section 1: Introduction How the Croton System Works Yellow fever epidemic in New York City; Bellevue Hospital established 1794 Yellow fever epidemic in New York City; 2,086 people die 1798 1795 1799 Yellow Fever Epidemic in New York City 1803 Manhattan Company sells waterworks to New York City 1808 1811 Yellow fever epidemic in New York City 1819 1822 Erie Canal completed Great Conflagration of New York City; hundreds of buildings destroyed 20 Common Council of New York City creates New York City Board of Health Manhattan fire on Chatham Street; approximately 100 buildings burn down Philadelphia’s steam-powered Fairmount Water Works created 1825 1828 Asiatic cholera epidemic; 3,515 New York City residents die (from population of 250,000) Aaron Burr forms Manhattan Company, brings water to New York City Baltimore and Ohio Railroad construction begins 1832 1833 1835 1836 New York City Water Commission established John B. Jervis appointed Chief Engineer of Croton Aqueduct project Photography invented Old Croton Aqueduct completed (includes structures such as Old Ossining Weir, Archville Bridge, Murray Hill Reservoir, Yonkers Weir, West Burnside Avenue Bridge, Sing Sing Kill Bridge, Ventilators, Clendening Valley Crossing, Nepperhan/Saw Mill River Bridge) 1837 1837 1838 1842 1842 Panic of 1837, followed by fiveyear depression New York’s Croton Aqueduct opens October 14. Daylong celebration culminates in fifty-foot shower of water spouting from Croton Fountain in City Hall Park. Attending the celebration are President John Tyler, former presidents John Q.