The Croton Aqueduct was a large, complicated water system that was engineered between 1837 and 1842 to provide New York City with a steady supply of clean water.
Before
the aqueduct system, New Yorkers got their water
from cisterns, wells, natural springs, and other
bodies of water.
But the rapid population growth that took place during the nineteenth century was accompanied by a number of terrifying fires that destroyed large parts of the city, whose buildings were mainly made of wood.
There was also an increased demand for water for use in industry. To make matters worse, the existing water supply had become polluted and unsanitary, and contributed to an increase in disease and such epidemics as cholera and yellow fever. As a result, the city badly needed a fresh supply of water.
The
aqueduct was an intricate engineering project.
Iron pipe encased in brick masonry was laid
from the Croton Dam in northern Westchester
County.
It traveled over the High Bridge (the oldest of New York's great bridges at the time) that spanned the Harlem River at 173rd Street.
It then went down the west side of Manhattan and into the Receiving Reservoir, located in the area then known as "Yorkville," between 79th and 86th streets and Sixth and Seventh Avenues.
The
Receiving Reservoir looked like a huge rectangular
fortress.
Water flowed from the Receiving Reservoir to
the Distributing Reservoir (also known as the
Croton Reservoir), a similar fortification located
on the site of what is now the New York Public
Library at Fifth Avenue between 40th and 42nd
streets. Clean water was distributed from there
to homesand businesses in the lower parts of
the city.
The Receiving Reservoir was 1,826 feet long and 836 feet wide, and held up to 180 million gallons of water. Thirty-five million gallons flowed into it daily. The land on which the reservoir was built had been owned by the city and by two private citizens. One of these private owners was William Mathews, the deacon of the African Union Methodist Church of Seneca Village. The city purchased 4.75 acres from Mathews for $11,000. Mathews was probably a member of an African American community called York Hill, which was on the site where the reservoir was built. William Mathews then moved to Seneca Village, buying properties on 84th and 85th streets.
The
Aqueduct opened to great fanfare on October
14, 1842. The celebration culminated in a fountain
of water that spouted to a height of fifty feet
from the beautifully decorated Croton Fountain
in City Hall Park.
Joining in the festivities were President Tyler, former presidents John Quincy Adams and Martin van Buren, Governor William Seward, city officials, representatives from civic organizations and dignitaries from neighboring states.
This magnificent engineering effort provided the city with fresh water until 1940, when Robert Moses, Commissioner of Parks and Recreation, ordered it drained and filled to create the Great Lawn.
 
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