The Croton Water System (1837–1890)

The city’s voters authorize the Croton project. A temporary water commission had been established in 1833 and a permanent commission in 1834.

Jervis replaces David Bates Douglass late in 1836. His engineering experience grew from work on the Erie Canal; he had no formal engineering training.

Water Commissioners begin purchasing land along the aqueduct route. The New York Sun warns that 'landholders are seldom diffident in taking advantage of public improvements, to enhance the price of property.'

Laborers demand wages of 87.5 to 100 cents per day and march from the dam site to Sing Sing. Engineer Edmund French reports 'the affair that resulted in the death of one of the overseers on Section 10.'

The Harlem River crossing takes longer than the aqueduct’s initial opening. Temporary pipes carry water in 1842; High Bridge is completed in 1848.

Water enters the aqueduct at the Croton end on June 22. It reaches the city’s receiving reservoir on June 27 and the distributing reservoir on July 4.

A public procession and music celebrate the new water supply. Charles King records the Sacred Music Society singing Morris’s ode near the Park Fountain.

The Central Park Commission holds a competition for the reservoir design. Thirty-three entries are submitted.

The new aqueduct adds a larger route for Croton water. The original aqueduct remains in use alongside it.

The new aqueduct adds a larger route for Croton water. The original aqueduct remains in use alongside it.