 |
The
Irvington Historical Society ___________________________________________ 131 Main Street, PO BOX 23, Irvington, NY 10533 Phone: (914) 591-1020 |
|
The
Irvington Historical Society ___________________________________________ 131 Main Street, PO BOX 23, Irvington, NY 10533 Phone: (914) 591-1020 |
|
Passing through the village of Irvington is one of the early American engineering triumphs, the Old Croton Aqueduct, a lifeline between New York City to the south and the Croton reservoir system to the north. Begun in 1837 and completed in 1842, largely by the hands of Irish immigrants, the Croton system relieved New York from its dependence on unhealthy wells and cisterns for providing drinking water and fighting fires. The forty-mile long aqueduct starts about seven miles inland from the mouth of the Croton River, then meanders through the Hudson River villages. Ultimately the aqueduct crossed into Manhattan at High bridge and reached a reservoir at 42nd Street and Fifth Avenue - today's site of the New York Public Library. The top of the aqueduct is now a recreational path known as the Old Croton Trailway State Park. The original Croton Dam lies at the bottom of the enlarged Croton Reservoir system - a new dam was built 1893-1907 and a new aqueduct ran slightly further inland from the river towns. Evidence of the Old Croton Aqueduct can be found in the numerous road and stream culverts and the ventilator shafts, built every mile or so along the route.
|
