The Croton Water System (1837–1890)

After decades of epidemics and fires fueled by contaminated wells, the city creates a commission to find a clean water source. The Croton River is chosen.

The West Point-trained engineer designs a 41-mile gravity-fed system from the Croton Dam to Manhattan — one of the greatest engineering projects of the era.

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.'

Workers build the High Bridge across the Harlem River (the oldest standing bridge in NYC), ventilator towers, weirs at Ossining and Yonkers, and the Murray Hill Reservoir.

Croton River water reaches the receiving reservoir at what is now Central Park. The 41-mile journey by gravity takes roughly 22 hours.

'The greatest jubilee New York has ever boasted.' A parade, fountains, and a commemorative medal by engraver Robert Lovett Sr. mark the arrival of clean water. John Quincy Adams was invited but sent his regrets.

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

A second, larger aqueduct with three times the capacity, tapping lakes across a watershed of several hundred square miles. The old aqueduct continues to operate.

A second, larger aqueduct with three times the capacity of the original, tapping numerous lakes across a watershed of several hundred square miles.