The Old Croton Aqueduct Rural Resources Meet Urban Needs The Hudson River Museum of Westchester The Old Croton Aqueduct figure 1: Section of the Aqueduct with Iron Lining, c. 1837-39. ink and watercolor on paper Courtesy Jervis Public Library, drawing #205. Photo G. R. Farley The Hudson River Museum of Westchester 511 Warburton Avenue Yonkers, NY 10701 914-9634550 The Old Croton Aqueduct: Rural Re…

Dr. Jeffrey A. Kroessler, School of General Studies, Adelphi University, and History Department, Queens College, CUNY; Dr. F. Daniel Larkin, Professor of History and Chairman of the Histo- ry Department at SUNY Oneonta; and Roger Panetta, Professor of History at Marymount College. Daniel Walkowitz, Professor of Urban and Labor History in New York State and Director of Metropolitan Studies Program,…

island, without regard for such topo- graphic features as hills, swamps, streams, springs, or natural drainage. Conspicuously absent, of course, was any provision for public parks, and it is truly one of the triumphs of the 19th century that the City had the energy and foresight to create Central Park in the 1850s. By mid-century, the built up portion of Manhattan extended four miles along each ri…

The epidemic of 1798 took the lives of 2,000 New Yorkers. Writing to Noah Webster, Dr. Samuel L. Mitchill, one of the City's leading men of science, blamed urban conditions for the outbreak: "New York tliis time has a plague indeed. The scourge is applied severely and cuts deep.... It seems to be admitted on all sides to be a home-bred Pestilence. The inhabitants have really poisoned their city by…

enveloped by it, and the backyard privies in the adjacent neighborhood leached their noxious contents into the soil, contaminating the rainwater that filtered through and drained into it. In 1809 a canal was dug to the Hudson to drain the Collect and the spring-fed marshes near Broadway. By 1815, the Collect had disappeared, but Canal Street remained. '° Writing after completion of the Croton syst…

char- tered obligation to supply water to all citizens who wanted it.^^ The company quickly confirmed the worst fears of its critics by abandoning plans to tap the Bronx River and, instead, drilling a well at Reade and Center Streets in a densely populated neighborhood. figure 9: Hollow Log with Valve, used by The Manhattan Water Company, N.Y.C., wood and iron Courtesy The New-York Historical Soci…

revenue should be derived. But to the poor, and those who would be content to receive it from the hydrants at the corners and on the sidewalks, it should be as free as air, as a means of cleanliness, nourishment and health. In the hands of any other power than the Common Council, this free use would be restrained, and the experience of all other Cities (and our own may be included) teaches us the …

Canal Street. Between 1820 and 1850, the population density had intensified from 157 persons per block to 272 per block (those figures would pale compared to the terrible overcrowding of the late 19th centu- ry), and those people were using the same outdoor privies and cesspools. Few tenement owners willingly paid the $10 annual fee to connect their buildings to the Croton system, and conditions a…

Progress (New York: The A. S. Barnes Co., 1896 [1877]), p.747. 20. Francis, p.70. 21. Greene, pp.185-7. 22. Rosenwaike, p.37; Duffy, Appendix I. 23. Oliver E. Allen, New York, New York: A History of the World's Most Exhilarating and Challenging City (New York: Atheneum, 1990), p.l51; George J. Lankevich and Howard B. Furer, A Brief History of New York City (Port Washington: Associated Faculty Pres…

but successive drilling was less promising. Finally when mineral water was brought up from one of the wells, the Disbrow scheme went the way of all the others. By then, at the end of the 1820s, the City's fire department was adding its support to the growing appeal to solve the water supply problem. Conflagrations occurred with alarming regularity in the largely wooden metropolis and the firefight…

the Legislature's height requirement. The huge stone structure was a major contributor to the enormous jump in the final cost of the Aqueduct to $9.5 million. When Douglass took over as chief engineer of the Croton project in June 1835, his first task was to lead a survey party into West- chester County. Stephen Allen was less than impressed with what he regarded as an unnecessary delay, since Dou…

system. Another was the nearly 40-mile-long tunnel needed to carry the Croton water from the Dam to the Distributing Reservoir on Murray Hill, between 5th and 6th Avenues, from 40th Street to 42nd Street (figure 16). Douglass proposed that the tun- nel be constructed of stone with the top arched, the bottom an inverted arch, and the side walls tapering slightly inward toward the bottom. The brick-…

works, a masonry structure with the waterway lined with cast Iron. In suggesting the design for the Sing Sing Aqueduct Bridge, Jervis revealed early in 1837 the approach he would take in plan- ning the building of the other major structures of the Croton sys- tem. He informed the Water Commissioners that his object was to use a "plain and substantial style of architecture," and to avoid ornamentat…

the Water Commissioners would have general administrative overview of the project as a "Board of Directors," Douglass divided ten of the remaining eleven "specifica- tions" between the responsibilities of the Engineering Department and the particular duties of the chief engineer. According to Douglass, the Engineering Department would consist of the chief engineer and assistant engineers, rodmen (…

a day. During the winter months when most construction activities ceased, Jervis, ever mindful of economy, reduced the size of the staff in each division. The organization of the Engineering Department that was used on the Croton Aqueduct served as a model and was carried over into many later projects by the engineers who furthered their pro- fessional training on this great weiter system. Sources…

Manhattan. The system was designed for a population of 450,000 people using 20 gallons per day, which would give the requirement of 9 million gallons to be delivered by the Aqueduct. It is interesting to note that this appeared to be perfectly adequate in the minds of the designers who had no idea that the New York met- ropolitan area would exceed 10 million In population in our day and use perhap…

the aqueduct from the Croton river to the north bank of the Harlem River 33 miles, and determined the grade of the aqueduct at about 13' /4 inches to the mile. It was, in the main, well located. In regard to plans of work, he proposed a cross section of the masonry of the conduit with which some modification was adopted. So far as I have known, he prepared no specifications for the work that were …

designing a new dam with a much larg- er spillway capable of taking a larger quantity of flood water, Jervis was forced to build the Dam, in part, on a gravel bottom since the rock ledge did not extend across the river valley. Even though Jervis designed what he called an artificial foundation, he was very con- cerned that the water over the spillway not scour the foot of the dam and ultimately le…

gates. Aqueduct bridges Where major water courses crossed the line of the Aqueduct it was necessary to build something larger than a culvert, and Jervis was forced to consider aqueduct bridges along the length of the Aqueduct between the Croton Dam and the north bank of the Harlem River. The most impressive of these aqueduct bridges was over Sing Sing Kill, it had a single span arch with a rise of…

Bridge at Sing Sing (plan and elevation), c. 1837-39, watercolor and ink on paper Courtesy Jervis Public Library, Rome, NY, drawing #317. Photo: G. R. Farley figure 28. below left: Elevation of a Higli Bridge for Crossing Hariaem [sic] River, c.1839-40. watercolor and ink on paper Courtesy Jervis Public Library, Rome, NY, drawing #249. Photo: G. R. Farley figure 29. above: Pian of Effluent Pipes i…

great acclamation from the citizens of New York City. The High Bridge was not completed until 1848. Notes 1. Charles King, A Memoir of the Construction, Cost, and Capacity of the Croton Aqueduct (New York, 1843), p.220. 2. See selected bibliography on tlie construction of the Croton Aqueduct, p.57 of this book. 3. John Robison, A System of Mechanical Philosophy (Edinburgh, 1804). 4. John B. Jervis…

largely owned, by the tenant farming families who had appeared as a landowner along the line of the Aqueduct, near Indian Brook in Mount Pleasant (today Ossining); Oscar Irving and his uncle Washington Irving had their neighbor George Harvey re-model Sunnyside in Greenburgh during this year; at the same time Alexander Hamilton's son. Colonel James Hamilton III, established columned Nevis, slightly…

place [Yonkers] whom I met today, expresses the greatest cordiality and good feeling.^ In general. Douglass boasted "that a better disposed or more rea- sonable set of landholders than those on the line of the Croton Aqueduct is very seldom found. Very soon after, however, the disposition of Westchester land- holders worsened. Word spread that additional lands were needed along the line, and the b…

Water Commissioners characterized as "unreasonable demands ... by a portion of the inhabitants of Westchester" stymied the project. By law, engineers could not begin work on any lands not purchased or appraised. Anxious to get the work started and win support of the property owners along the line, that summer the Water Com- missioners named as Commissioners of Appraisement three highly regarded We…

century Westchester swallowed whole, as it were, this pre-digested image of the Irish laborer. Occasionally, some day laborers who were bare- ly paid a subsistence wage, in fact fueled the farmers' stereotype- driven intolerance. Gabriel Purdy and Robert Tompkins, for exam- ple, complained of damage and petty theft by Aqueduct workers to farm lands along the line of the Aqueduct: One of them had a…

bias. West Point-trained resident engi- neer Edmund French wrote to Jervis from Sing Sing, April 25, 1838, figure 37: Irish RIbbonmen, wood engraving in Harper's Weekly, January 1, 1859 Courtesy The Historical Society of the Tarrytowns. Photo: J. Kennedy "The affair that resulted in the death of one of the overseers on Section 10 appears to have been nothing more than one of the usual Irish fighti…

been achieved. The out- come was foretold in an article in the New York Sun, June 16, 1837: Being mainly speculators themselves, the Commissioners must have known that landholders are seldom diffident in taking advan- tages of public improvements, to enhance the price of property. As the Water Commissioners finally explained: The cost of the land required was twice or three times what the owners e…

of Westchester, not previously purchased. The meeting of the appraisers was ... fixed and notified for the 23rd of Oct. 1837, at the house of John Bashfbrd, in the village of Yonkers." 14. J. B. Jervis' monthly report to the Water Commissioners, Document No. 14, June 30, 1837, p.ll2. 15. Letter to John B. Jenis from his brother William, Yonkers, April 16, 1838, John B. Jervis Papers, Box #23, Jerv…

in the growth of the City's population or a chapter in the development of municipal services. The design and construction of the Aqueduct is also noted as one of the remarkable technical accomplishments of 19th-century engineering. The Croton Aqueduct is usually thus described as an example of an innovative technology and as a response to the needs of an expanding urban population.^ This urban-cen…

if the City was to "be to this country what London was to England."^ Pre-eminence had dire implications for the neighboring regions. The rural community or region which is the source of this precious natural resource will not only find itself under severe pressure to yield but will face a future in which a growing city will have a legitimate claim for more water. In 1825 Governor De Witt Clinton h…

the United States and the State of New York." They asked that the act be repealed and that they be left, "as all good citizens should be left, free from any such intrusion or dis- seizin, peaceably to enjoy, retain or dispose of their respective real estate and property, as to them, respectively shall seem meet."^^ Writing nearly a century ago, historian Edward Wegmann dis- missed the protest rhet…

distance of about three miles carrying away m its course, Quaker bridge, Holman 's mills, and the old piers of the old Croton bridge.... All the bridges below the dam were carried away, and above the dam. Pines Bridge, and we are informed Wood's Bridge also — leaving no crossing over the Croton from its mouth to Golden's bridge ....■^^ The newspaper account provides us with the local view of the i…

for half a century, until the dam collapse. At high tide, mer- chant schooners and sloops had transported wheat up-river to the Underhill mills and returned loaded with flour for the New York mar- ket. But in 1841, the Underhills gave up the milling business, citing the shortage of water power and the property damage caused by the dam collapse. ^° The transformation of northern Westchester County …

focus on New York City. Weidner's family had tieen displaced by the Catskill Aqueduct and, as a result, his work, though it still remains urbarvcentered, shows more concern for these kinds of issues. 2. Edward Wegmann's The Water Supply of The CityofNeu York IbiH^lSVf (New York: John Wiley, 1896) underscores the sense of urgency about the City's quest for water. Wegmann was a member of the enginee…

and urban life.^ At the same time, Americans longed to place the United States in a cultural continuum of noble historical progress, and aqueducts symbolized the achievements of great civi- lizations. Technological progress was avidly desired, yet on some level, viewed with ambivalence.^ Thomas Cole depicted the fate of corrupt nations in his Course of Empire series for the art gallery of New York…

classical antiquity. King, a merchant and editor of the Ne-d; York American,^" also used weighty rhetoric to stress American superiority in achieving such a great public work by the vote and fiscal commitment of civic- minded citizens, rather than by imperial decree. Making more than one reference to its construction by freemen, King argued American democracy, surpassing corrupt civilizations of t…

in the mid-19th century — revealing the still close connection between the ideals of art and science during this period.^'' In pro- moting a meeting of art and engineering, Tower's text integrates a history of ancient and modern aqueducts and descriptions not only of the building of the Croton Aqueduct but also the beauty of its surroundings and how it complemented them. For example, he not- ed th…

har- nessed water for irrigation purposes. In this vein, the Evening Post remarked appreciatively: This is the most stupendous mass of masonry we have ever seen, or which probably exists in this country .... the walls are strengthened by pilasters on each corner . . . and by one at the center of each side While a few published views, such as Nathaniel Currier's 1842 lithograph View of the Distribu…

French Barbizon artists, who painted the rural landscape directly from nature. Charles Henry Miller's painterly study of High Bridge (c.1873, Walter and Lucille Rubin, not in exhibition) reflected these sensibilities, emphasizing the rural and picturesque character of the area; yet he also depicted the "traffic" along the Westchester 54 side. Miller developed the composition into a monumental canv…

entertainment for man and horse may be had. The 'High Bridge' is a place of great resort in pleasant weather for those who love the road and rural scenery." Even closer at hand, the Murray Hill Distributing Reservoir was, at least at first, a wel- come oasis for those who wanted to get away from more crowded areas of the City. Curher and Bornet both depicted the citizens on the parapet, from which…

American Art Journal, 23, No. 1 (1991), pp.20-37. Troyon points OUt that despite the general popularity of landscape paintings at this time, It was not until the late 1840s that they started playing a m^or role in the Art-Union's pubiicatlons. 2. Troyon; Sarah Bums, Paaortd Inventions: Rural Ufe in Nineteenth Century American Art and Cukure (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1989); Raymond O'…

O'Brien discusses the cow image, borrowed from the tradition of English land- scape paintings in the pastoral mode, pp.186, 316 (n.72). 23. Private collection, Helen Tower Wilson, along with other related letters. Tower apparently produced his book under his own enterprise and with his own money. Later, he also wrote that the book was well received. 24. Mary Bartlett Cowdrey, American Academy of F…

Aqueduct. New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation, Taconic Region, 1992. Douglass, David Bates. MSS. The Archives, Warren Hunting Smith Library, Hobart and William Smith Colleges, Geneva, NY. The Evening Post, New York, October 15, 1842. Fitzsimons, Neal, ed. and introd. The Reminiscences of John B. Jervis: Engineer of the Old Croton. Syracuse: Syracuse University Pres…

Jervis" (vol. II) Reproduction, courtesy of the Jervis Public Library, Rome, NY Lt. Theophllus Schramke, ProHle of Lower Part of Croton Aqueduct, c.1842 Color lithograph, George Hayward's Lithography, NY; 10 x 38 Vs inches Jervis Public Library, Rome, NY Nathaniel Cum'er (1818-1888), Hydrographhs Map of the Counties of New York, Westchester, and Putnam and also showing the line of the Croton Aqued…

'Ordinary Cutting," "Deep Cutting,' "Section of the Aqueduct on the Inland Route from the Head of the Saw Mill River to the City" Ink on paper; 9^4 x 14 V2 inches Jervis Public Library, Rome, NY, drawing #200 Plan of Supporting the Croton Aqueduct Across Ravines and Low Grounds, Dec. 27th 1836 Watercolor and Ink on paper; 25 x 33 V2 Inches Jen/is Public Library, Rome, NY, drawing #235 Section 3: T…

Ink on paper; 9 x 12 inches Mrs. Helen Tower Wilson David B. Douglass, Land Takings Map #41: Land of Justice Dearman, Jewell and Stephen Tompkins, 1836 Ink and watercolor on paper Reproduction, courtesy of Westchester County Archives, Andrew J. Spano, County Clerk Fayette B. Tower, Jewell's Brook, c.1842 Ink and wash on paper ; 10 x 6V2 inches Mrs. Helen Tower Wilson T. E. Sickels, Viaduct near Sa…

and Valentine Property. 1836; Land Takings Map #57: including property of L. Wells, corner Post Road and Tuckahoe Rd., 1836 Ink and watercolor on paper Reproductions, courtesy of Westchester County Archives, Andrew J. Spano, County Clerk Fayette B. Tower. Over Railroad to Mr. Harvey's Marble Quarry, Hastings, c.1842 Ink with watercolor wash on paper; /V"'* 67" inches Mrs. Helen Tower Wilson David …

B. Tower, from Sing Sing, to his mother, Mrs. D. T. Tower. Waterville, NY, November 5, 1837 Mrs. Helen Tower Wilson General Improvement and Repairs of work on part of the ... Croton Aqueduct, 1847 Accounting sheets by division, signed by division supervisors (overseers), listing workers involved Ink on paper; each 6^4 x 15^4 Inches Courtesy of William Lee Frost William St. John Harper (1851-1910).…

& Amber Ale, No. 59 Christie St. New York, n.d. Colored lithograph; ISVs x 19V8 Inches The J. Clarence Davies Collection, Museum of the City of New York, 29.100.2951 C. Bachman, New-York (Croton water fountain and view to tip of Manhattan), 1849 Lithograph of Sarony & Major; published by John Bachman, NY The Hudson River Museum of Westchester, 74.0.49 Sunday Excursion at High Bridge Wood engraving…

Historical Society, New York, Gift of Comella F. Muddlman and Anna E. Muddlman, 1959.90 Fayette B. Tower, Croton Aqueduct at Haarlem River (High Bridge), c.1842 Ink with watercolor wash on paper; 4 V2 x 9 V2 inches Mrs. Helen Tower Wilson William James Bennett (1789-1844), Fishermen at High Bridge, 1844 Watercolor on paper; 12V4X 20 Inches Phelps Stokes Collection, Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Divisi…