April 1, 2012
April 22, 2012
NYPL, 42nd Street
Section of Old Croton Aqueduct exposed during excavation on W. 105th Street (1928).
Old Croton Aqueduct Ride Notes
April 1, 2012
“The Whole Megilla”
The Croton Ode, Maps,
Distributing Reservoir (42nd Street),
Central Park, Highbridge, Manhole Covers
Route April 12, 2014
Description
In 1842, the original Croton Aqueduct began delivering water to New York City from the Croton River 41 miles to the north. In the decades leading up to the aqueduct’s completion the city had suffered epidemics of Asiatic Cholera and Yellow Fever because water came from increasingly polluted wells. Fire also devastated the city several times, including the Great Fire of 1835 in which 500 buildings burned down because there was no reliable water source to extinguish the fires. The aqueduct was an incredible work of engineering never before accomplished on such a large scale. It delivered 40 million gallons of clean reliable drinking water daily to a rapidly growing city.
Join NYC native Matt Malina and Leigh Wells as we bike the route of the Old Croton Aqueduct from the NYPL to the Highbridg