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The Croton Waterworks A Guide to the Preservation and Interpretation of Historic Infrastructure

Historic Preservation Studio II, Spring 2011

Columbia University GSAPP The Croton Waterworks A Guide to the Preservation and Interpretation of Historic Infrastructure

Historic Preservation Studio II, Spring 2011

Advisor: Liz McEnaney

Students: Jørgen Cleemann Jennifer Frazer Michael Frigand Ayana John Andrew Maziarski Sarah Morrison Jessica Ouwerkerk Julie Rosen Kaity Ryan Rebecca Salgado Tatum Taylor Kenisha Thomas

Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation Contents

Acknowledgments Section 4: Conclusion Mission Statement XX Introduction XX Key Players Section 1: Introduction to the Croton Waterworks XX Possible Funding Sources XX Preservation of Historic Infrastructure XX Online Forum Analysis and Conclusions XX History of the Croton Waterworks XX Croton Waterworks Website Statistics XX How the Croton System Works XX Croton Conversations Statistics XX Time Line XX Glossary XX Typologies Section 5: Appendix Section 2: Preservation XX Structure List XX Statement of Significance XX Atlas XX PreservationChallenges XX Fiches XX Designations and Protections XX Demographic Maps XX Charters and Declarations XX Proposal for a Croton Congress XX Preservation Plan/Guidelines XX Bibliography Section 3: Interpretation XX Image Credits XX Interpretation of the Croton Waterworks XX Considerations and Challenges XX Documentation, Analysis, and Methodology of Existing Interpretation XX Proposed Interpretation by Typology XX Holistic Digital Interpretation Methods XX Website and Forum XX Smartphone Application XX QR Codes XX Additional Digital Media XX Holistic Signage Interpretation XX Signage Design Guidelines XX Interpretation through Education XX Educational Videos XX Curricular Recommendations XX Oral Histories

Acknowledgments Mission Statement

We are greatly indebted to the many who have generously given encouragement, feedback, ad- It is the mission of the Croton Waterworks studio group to conduct in-depth research into the vice, ideas, and time to this project. We could not have conducted this study without your help. history of the Croton Waterworks system, encompassing the Old and New Croton Aqueducts, and We would like to say a special thanks to our faculty advisor, Liz McEnaney, for her guidance and to document the affiliated structures, both existing and demolished. Once documented we will unfailing optimism. evaluate the significance of these various built components of the Waterworks in order to devise a preservation plan for the system as a whole. By exploring the Waterworks through varying We would like to acknowledge the following for their contributions: lenses of significance: engineering, architecture, social history and landscape, we will develop a complete study of the Croton system’s relevance today. A study will also be made of existing David Abramson, AIA, David V. Abramson and Associates Architects legal protections for the Waterworks, in order to establish threats to the system. We will then use Anne Berman, Nancy Owens Studio our data and analysis to devise a system of preservation, focusing most extensively on, but not Charles Birnbaum, Cultural Landscape Foundation limited to, interpretive schemes. These strategies will be aimed at a wide variety of audiences Captain Scott Craven, Ossining Police Department and be designed to raise awareness of the crucial role of the Waterworks—and infrastructure in Patricia Cruz, Harlem Stage general—in the development, past and present, of City and its surrounding environs. Joan K. Davidson, J. M. Kaplan Fund They will also complement and augment already existing preservation and interpretive efforts in Lindsay Dorrance, Columbia University GSAPP order to create a holistic approach. More generally we hope to develop a preservation approach Charlotte Fahn, Friends of the Old that will serve as a model for the preservation of historic infrastructure elsewhere. Janet Foster, Columbia University GSAPP Kaitilin Griffin, Department of Parks and Recreation Duncan Hay, Meisha Hunter, Li/Saltzman Architects Robert Kornfeld, Friends of the Old Croton Aqueduct and Thornton Tomasetti John Krawchuk, New York City Department of Parks and Recreation Roz Li, Li/Saltzman Architects Liz McEnaney, Preservation Consultant and Fitch Foundation Carrie Noteboom, New York City Law Department Carl Oechsner, Author and Educator Eric Peterson, Metropolitan Waterworks Museum and Harvard University Samar Qandil, New York City Department of Environmental Protection Gary Ricci, New York State Office of Parks, Recreation & Historic Preservation Beryl Rosenthal, Metropolitan Waterworks Museum Gregory Shanck, Harlem Stage Steve Zeitlin, City Lore

—The Croton Waterworks studio group, Spring 2011

6 7 Section 1: Introduction to the Croton Waterworks Section 1: Introduction Oxford Reference Online, http://www.oxfordreference. Preservation of Historic Infrastructure com/views/ENTRY.html?subview=Main&entry=t23. e28509. 2 As preservationists, we have been taught to Studying the Croton Waterworks, New Serena McClain, Stephanie Lindloff, and Katherine Baer, “Dam Removal and Historic Preservation: research, analyze, document, and curate the York City’s first water system, in a graduate Reconciling Dual Objectives,” American Rivers, http:// built environment. Our predominant focus has level studio course in historic preservation at www.americanrivers.org/library/reports-publications/ been on what one traditionally defines as a Columbia University, required the widening of dam-removal-and-historic.html: 16. building, from skyscrapers to brownstones. our preservation lens. The system is complex, There are accepted guidelines and systems spanning multiple decades and building tech- for maintenance and preservation of those nologies. The Croton Waterworks is a unique historic structures, as well as formalized tools and mostly extant combination of a infra- for their protection. The built environment, structural system which is partially offline and however, encompasses more than Rockefeller defunct, and partially adapted to modern use. Center or the Merchant’s House Museum. The Old Croton Aqueduct has been decom- Integrated into the built environment is a no missioned, and contains more visible physical

less vital system of connection: infrastructure. markers, while the New Croton Aqueduct is Preservation Infrastructure of Historic According to the Oxford English still online and has adapted over time to meet Dictionary, infrastructure is “the basic physical modern needs. and organizational structures (e.g. buildings, Historically, infrastructure was not en- roads, power supplies) needed for the opera- tirely hidden, and in the case of the Old Croton tion of a society or enterprise.”1 More simply, Aqueduct, architectural expressions were infrastructure takes the form of something strategically placed along the Aqueduct to sig- which conveys something else. As a network, nify its importance. These structures, many of infrastructure can assume the form of a mul- which are no longer used, dot the landscape, titude of typologies, ranging from a mundane standing as historic reminders of civic need. telephone pole to a majestic . It can be Modern infrastructure, however, is by nature the outmoded remains of past systems, as designed to be as invisible as possible. We well as incorporated vestiges of past systems only see it when we are confronted with the into current ones. By nature, historic infra- necessities it provides. structure tells a story about the evolution of vi- Preservation of the Croton Waterworks Top: Route 66, one of the earliest U.S. highways tal technology and the history of the societies requires embracing the system holistically: the Middle: it has impacted and sustained. Historic infra- seen and unseen, and the commissioned and Boat entering a lock on the Erie structure is often overlooked and thus under decommissioned. Methods of documentation, Bottom left: Interior of a Metrorail station in threat. The obsolete is quickly torn down. Or, maintenance, rehabilitation, and reuse, and Washington, D.C. in some cases, especially with infrastructure means of protection are explored in the fol- that is still active, structural deficiencies may lowing pages. Ultimately, we have discovered necessitate some level of intervention to en- that it is through interpretation that the Croton sure public safety and the continuation of utili- Waterworks, and historic infrastructure in gen- ty. Many types of infrastructure were designed eral, can be most effectively preserved. with a life expectancy in mind. For instance, the Association of State Dam Safety Officials 1 “Infrastructure n,” The Concise Oxford English (ASDSO) estimates the life expectancy of a Dictionary, Twelfth edition, Edited by Catherine Soanes and Angus Stevenson (Oxford University Press, 2008), dam to be fifty years.2

10 11 Section 1: Introduction History of the Croton Waterworks of engineering who had worked on several little construction could be completed, and large canal projects, was appointed Chief then raised again in the spring when full-scale Any historic preservation and in- Wealthy Manhattanites imported their drink- Engineer. Between 1833 and 1836, Douglass building resumed. But if it failed to rise, as it terpretation effort focused on the Croton ing water in casks from more pristine sources surveyed land, determined the course of the sometimes did in the economically uncertain Waterworks necessarily relies on an in-depth outside of the city. Remaining New Yorkers aqueduct, and designed many structures. years following the Panic of 1837, the work- knowledge of the history of the system. either relied on the dubious product of the However, because of disputes with the Water ers were prone to engage in strikes. The most However, like the system itself, the history of Water Company or drew their wa- Commission, Douglass was discharged significant strike was the so-called “Croton the Croton Waterworks is extraordinarily com- ter from wells that discharged fluids of even from his duties before construction began. War” of 1840, which featured not only a work plex, and any thorough comprehension would more insalubrious character. He was followed as Chief Engineer by John stoppage, but also the intentional destruction require not only a command of innumerable As a consequence of these condi- Bloomfield Jervis, a man with no formal train- of work in progress, as well as the physical discrete pieces of data, but also fluency with tions, New York regularly fell victim to the twin ing but who had developed a reputation as a coercion of workers who were reluctant to par- the conventions of several different forms scourges of the nineteenth century city: fire skilled engineer in the construction of ticipate in the job action. This last component of history, as well as a grounding in fields as and disease. The Great Fire of 1835 and the and railroads. Jervis would go on to oversee hints at the tensions that persisted among the diverse as hydraulic engineering, real estate cholera epidemic of 1832 (a victim of whom is the construction of the first phase of the laborers themselves, who hailed from several law, and finance. Readers interested in obtain- illustrated below) were two of the most cata- Waterworks—which has come to be known different regions in Ireland, and often carried History of the CrotonHistory Waterworks ing an in-depth understanding of the Croton strophic instances of these periodic phenom- as the Old Croton Aqueduct—so it is his name their age-old resentments with them to the Waterworks’ history should consult one of the ena; occurring on the eve of the construction that is commonly associated with the design New World. Following an ineffectual interven- many excellent books or essay-length histories of the Croton system, they galvanized public of the system. It is important to note, how- tion from a New York City militia, this strike listed in the bibliography. The following brief support in favor of a public utility designed to ever, that much of what Jervis accomplished was finally put down by a Westchester posse. history seeks to highlight some of the more prevent such calamities in the future, or at was drawn directly from the designs and Indeed, the Westchester landowners significant personalities, events, and themes least lessen their severity. specifications of his predecessor, David Bates often resented the presence of the massive that are crucial to a basic understanding of When the City and State Governments Douglass. camps of mostly Roman Catholic Irish labor- the system. finally gave their formal support to the con- Construction on the system finally com- ers, whom they perceived as drunk and un- The Croton Waterworks was built in struction of an aqueduct that would draw menced in 1837. In addition to the many lo- ruly. They also resented the seizure of their response to the worsening conditions of the water from the distant Watershed gistical and engineering-related solutions that lands for the aqueduct. In 1837, a group led New York City water supply in the first decades in Westchester and Putnam Counties, Major needed to be devised in order to build such a by Theodorus Van Wyck drafted a memorial of the nineteenth century. As early as the David Bates Douglass, a West Point professor vast and complicated piece of infrastructure to the State Legislature noting that New York 1770s, many different systems for the provi- in areas that were, by the standards of the City had clearly reached the natural limits of sion of clean drinking water had been pro- day, quite remote, the public officials, engi- its own expansion, and asking that the 1835 posed for New York. Of these proposals, only neers, and contractors responsible for com- enabling legislation for the Waterworks be a handful were ever implemented, none of pleting the system also had to contend with repealed. Sincere though it may seem, this which ever proved adequate in the long term. organized resistance from both the thousands memorial and other similar expressions may The most conspicuous and notorious pre-Cro- of laborers who actually built the system as have actually been gambits calculated to raise ton system was that sponsored by the private well as the dozens of Westchester landown- the amounts that the State would have to pay 1 Manhattan Water Company, helmed by the no- ers who held the property through which the for the condemnation of Westchester lands. toriously shrewd Aaron Burr. This waterworks, conduit would run. Elsewhere, there was a great deal of grum- which pumped small quantities of fetid well The laborers, mostly recent Irish im- bling over the means by which the Aqueduct water through a network of hollowed-out logs migrants escaping economic crisis in their would cross the . Local residents, and relied on a woefully undersized , home country, were at first paid seventy-five who foresaw the communities along this was obsolete before it was completed, and cents a day, although this rate would eventu- waterway evolving into thriving independent only appears to have been devised as a front ally climb as high as one full dollar. Typically, ports, were anxious to make sure that com- for a much more profitable banking operation. wages would be cut during the winter, when merce along the river would be unimpeded.

12 13 Section 1: Introduction They got their wish, as the tall masonry arches Of course, the Croton System’s im- of the High Bridge, eventually completed in pact was not limited to public health issues. 1848, allowed for all but the highest-masted From the very beginning, many sites along of sailing ships to pass beneath unharmed. the Aqueduct—the Murray Hill Reservoir, High In addition to the High Bridge, other Bridge, Old Croton Dam—became popular key structures along the aqueduct that took destinations for sightseeing and recreation. shape during these years included the Croton Also popular were the fountains fed by the Dam (an initial version of which ruptured in Waterworks, which produced jets of water that 1841, unleashing a lethal flood), the could be shaped into a myriad of beautiful Kill Bridge, the York Hill Receiving Reservoir, configurations. Many of the structures outside and the Murray Hill Distributing Reservoir, in of the city, with their evocations of American addition to countless others. Amidst great industrial progress and not-so-subtle nods to fanfare, water finally began to flow into the classical antiquity, also became favorite sub- Murray Hill Reservoir on July 4, 1842. A mas- jects for painters inspired by the sive public celebration for the completion of School.5 the Croton Waterworks followed on October Magnificent though it may have been, of the CrotonHistory Waterworks 14. the Old Croton Aqueduct could hardly These celebrations notwithstanding, pace with the increased use of its waters and the opening of the Waterworks did not imme- the explosive growth of New York City. In the diately solve the problems it was intended to years between 1842 and 1884, this growth alleviate. Fires continued, and a cholera epi- required continuous expansion and improve- demic in 1849 killed five thousand citizens. ment on the System. This period saw the con- Temperance reformers, who never appear to struction of many iconic structures, including have been a significant driving force behind a new receiving reservoir (now the Jacqueline the construction of the system, were nonethe- Kennedy Onassis Reservoir, in ), less hopeful that the infusion of Manhattan the High Bridge Tower, and several new dams with free and clean water might result in less and in the . In or- der to gain some immediate, short-term relief rampant drunkenness. But they were dis- Above: Public celebration of the opening of the Croton appointed: breweries were among the first from water shortage, the City even sponsored Waterworks businesses to benefit from the ready supply of the construction of a small new aqueduct: fresh water.2 the so-called “48-Inch Line,” which is techni- Right: Drawing of an earth-tunneling method used in Eventually, however, Croton water cally not a part of the Croton System, was the construction of the Old Croton Aqueduct caught on, aided by a boost in water pressure named after the relatively short diameter of brought on by the completion of High Bridge its conduit. in 1848, the widespread installation of private True relief came in the form of the New bathroom fixtures, the popularization of public Croton Aqueduct, an entirely new conduit and baths, and the introduction in the 1850s of network of support structures that was con- that natural complement to the public water structed between 1884 and 1893. The new supply: the public sewer.3 By the 1880s, each conduit was much larger than its predeces- New Yorker was using an average of nearly sor, and where the conduit of the Old Croton one hundred gallons of water a day, the high- Aqueduct was built mostly as a covered, est rate in the world.4 aboveground structure following the contours

14 15 Section 1: Introduction of the land, the New Croton Aqueduct was Aqueduct was taken offline in 1955. The New buried deep underground. The ethnic com- Croton Aqueduct is still capable of provid- position of the work crews who built this part ing New York City with between 10 and 30 of the system reflects a shift in immigration percent of its fresh water, although as of this patterns and the sources of cheap, unskilled writing it is completely shut down pending the labor in the Greater New York area in the late completion of the Croton Water Filtration Plant nineteenth century: supplanting the Irish were in in . crews of African Americans and recent Italian immigrants. When it came online in 1893, the 1 Gerard T. Koeppel, Water for Gotham: A History New Croton Aqueduct provided the City with (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2000), 198. 2 Ibid. 300 million gallons of water a day, triple the 3 Ibid., 287; Kroessler 15. rate of the Old Croton Aqueduct. 4 Koeppel, Water for Gotham, 287. As part of an effort to wring every 5 Laura Vookles Hardin, “Celebrating the Aqueduct: last drop of potable water out of the Croton Pastoral and Urban Ideals,” The Old Croton Aqueduct: Watershed, dams and reservoirs contin- Rural Resources Meet Urban Needs (Yonkers: The Hudson River Museum of Westchester, Inc., 1992. History of the CrotonHistory Waterworks ued to be built in Westchester and Putnam Published to coincide with the exhibition at the Hudson Counties throughout the late nineteenth and River Museum of Westchester, October 2, 1992 early twentieth centuries. The most signifi- through February 7, 1993.), 51–55. cant of these was the , an awe-inspiring masonry structure constructed between 1892 and 1905 (pictured at left). This dam significantly enlarged the size of the Croton Reservoir, the main reservoir in the Waterworks and the body of water that fed both the Old and New conduits. The expan- sion of this reservoir also necessitated the displacement of entire communities, surviving photo documentation of which shows whole houses being picked up and transported to designated areas on higher ground. Above: Spillway of the New Croton Dam

The last major structure in the Croton Waterworks, the Croton Falls Dam and Reservoir, was completed in 1911. Even before this addition had been accomplished, however, New York City had begun construc- tion on the , a much larger system that drew water from the far-more- distant Catskill Mountain region. This system and the subsequent would eventually eclipse the Croton Waterworks in terms of amount of water provided per day. The technically obsolete Old Croton

16 17 How the Croton System Works Section 1: Introduction How the Croton System Works

18 19 Section 1: Introduction Time Line Construction begins on Old Croton Aqueduct system, 1837 1837 Panic of 1837, followed by five- including on High Bridge over year depression Yellow fever epidemic in New 1794 Harlem River York City; Bellevue Hospital 1795 Yellow fever epidemic in New 1838 established York City; 732 people die (from Photography invented New York’s Croton Aqueduct population of 50,000) opens October 14. Daylong Yellow fever epidemic in New 1798 Old Croton Aqueduct celebration culminates in York City; 2,086 people die completed (includes structures fifty-foot shower of water Aaron Burr forms Manhattan such as Old Ossining Weir, spouting from Croton Fountain 1799 in . Attending Company, brings water to New Archville Bridge, Murray Hill 1842 1842 York City Reservoir, Yonkers Weir, West the celebration are President John Tyler, former presidents Yellow Fever Epidemic in New 1803 Burnside Avenue Bridge, Sing John Q. Adams and Martin York City Sing Kill Bridge, Ventilators, Van Buren, New York State Common Council of New York Clendening Valley Crossing, 1805 Governor William H. Seward. Time Line City creates New York City Nepperhan/Saw Board of Health Bridge) New York City Police Manhattan Company sells 1808 1845 Department established waterworks to New York City Manhattan fire on Chatham 1846-48 1846 1811 U.S.-Mexican War Wilmot Proviso bans slavery in Street; approximately 100 states acquired during U.S.- buildings burn down Mexico War Yellow fever epidemic in New 1819 1848 1848 York City High Bridge completed Boston’s Cochituate Aqueduct Philadelphia’s steam-powered opens (in use until 1951) 1822 Cholera epidemic in New York Fairmount Water Works 1849 1849 City; 5,071 people die California Gold Rush begins created 1825 Exhibition of the Industry of All 1853 1853 New York Crystal Palace completed Nations (World’s Fair New York constructed next to Murray Hill 1828 Baltimore and Ohio Railroad City) Reservoir construction begins Asiatic cholera epidemic; Cholera epidemic in New York 1854 Fernando Wood inaugurated 3,515 New York City residents 1832 City; 2,509 people die 1855 die (from population of as Mayor of New York City 250,000) (Tammany Hall begins) 1833 New York City Water 1857 1857 Central Park opens Dobbs Ferry Keeper’s House Commission established completed Great Conflagration of New 1835 York City; hundreds of buildings 1858 destroyed 1861-65 Transatlantic cable laid 1836 John B. Jervis appointed Chief Civil War Engineer of Croton Aqueduct project

20 21 Section 1: Introduction Lake Manahatta (now 1890 135th Street Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis 1862 1862 Central Park South Gatehouse constructed Reservoir) constructed constructed Watershed Act passed (decommissioned 1993) on March 23. Grants Commissioner of Public Works 1865 President Lincoln assassinated powers to acquire property in Westchester, Putnam, and Cholera epidemic in New York 1866 Dutchess Counties. Measures 1893 1893 City; 1,137 die Bog Brook Dam and Reservoir Central Park Keeper’s House also include ensuring sanitary 1867 1867 completed opens constructed (demolished protection of rivers and other 1935) watercourses, lakes, ponds, and reservoirs contributing to 1869 1869 High Bridge Reservoir First trans-continental railroad water supply of New York City. completed constructed (demolished 1934) Clendening Valley Crossing John Hooper Fountain (near 1870s 1870 Croton Fountain in City Hall demolished for conversion to entrance to Viaduct connecting Time Line Park demolished 1894 siphon to Macomb’s Dam Bridge) Ninety-inch diameter pipe constructed. Fountain supplies constructed (on top of two drinking water for both horses High Bridge Water Tower 1872 1872 existing thirty-three-inch and people. 1895 constructed diameter pipes) inside 119th Street Gatehouse of High Bridge. Existing completed pedestrian walkway elevated to Titicus Dam and Reservoir 1896 accommodate new pipe. completed Middle Branch Dam and 1873 1873 1897 Amawalk Dam and Reservoir Boyd’s Corners Dam and Reservoir completed completed Reservoir completed Harlem River Speedway 1876 113th Street Gatehouse constructed (converted 1898 Manifesto for the Protection of 1877 constructed to automobile use 1919, Ancient Buildings written demolished 1940s-60s) 1878 Sodom Dam and Reservoir 1902 Murray Hill Reservoir completed Wright Brothers’ first 1903 demolished (New York Public Aqueduct Act passed on successful flight Library constructed on this June 1. Commission created site) consisting of Mayor, Controller, Bridge completed, 1883 1883 High Pumping Station Commissioner of Pubic Works connecting boroughs of 1906 1906 of the City of New York, and Brooklyn and Manhattan completed completed James C. Spencer, George W. New Croton Dam and 1906 1906 West Branch Dam and Lane, and William Dowd. Reservoir completed Reservoir completed (New) Ossining Weir 1886 Henry Ford’s Model-T 1908 1908 Dam and Reservoir constructed introduced completed

22 23 Section 1: Introduction Additional Putnam County 1966 National Historic Preservation 1911 dams completed (Croton Falls Act establishes National Diverting Dam and Reservoir, Register of Historic Places Croton Falls Hemlock Dam and High Bridge Water Tower 1967 Reservoir) designated a NYC Landmark 1912 New York State Office of Titanic sinks Parks, Recreation and Historic 1914-17 1968 World War I Preservation purchases 26.2 New York City Water miles (in Westchester County) Commission shuts down 1917 of original 41-mile Old Croton Croton Aqueduct as precaution Aqueduct from New York City 1970 during World War I High Bridge designated a NYC Scientific American editorial Landmark M. Paul Friedberg designs says proposed High Bridge 1923 Delacorte Fountain for City demolition is “an act of Hall Park as interpretation of vandalism without precedent Time Line High Bridge Aqueduct & Tower 1972 1972 original fountain erected on in the history of our country” placed on National Register of site for opening of Old Croton 1924 Archville Bridge demolished Historic Places Aqueduct. Fountain remains in (reconstructed 1998) Five of High Bridge’s original City Hall Park until 1999 when moved to (Bronx). 1927 masonry arches replaced with single steel span; makes 1972 UNESCO World Heritage Harlem River more navigable Convention held in Paris for larger ships Site of Old Croton Dam placed 1973 1929 on National Register of Historic Crash Places Old Croton Aqueduct (from 1930 Hoover Dam construction 1974 Westchester County to New begins York City line) placed on 1931 Athens Charter composed National Register of Historic 1933 Golden Gate Bridge Places 1979 construction begins Burra Charter composed Highbridge Pool opens on site 1936 1981 1981 135th Street Gatehouse of High Bridge Reservoir High Pumping Station 1939-45 designated a NYC Landmark designated a NYC Landmark World War II West Burnside Avenue Bridge 1983 135th Street Gatehouse 1940s partially demolished for placed on National Register of Historic Places conversion to siphon U.S. Government establishes 1984 1964 Venice Charter written National Heritage Areas New York City’s Landmarks 1965 Law establishes Landmarks Preservation Commission

24 25 Section 1: Introduction Old Croton Aqueduct (from Typologies Westchester County to 1992 1992 Hooper Fountain designated Manhattan side of High a NYC Landmark (along with Bridge) named a National Macomb’s Dam Bridge) The Croton Waterworks is a complex system Historic Landmark relying on a multitude of structures that serve both functional and aesthetic purposes. One 1993 Nara Document on of the first steps in our investigation of the Authenticity written 1997 Croton system was to research these different Verona Charter composed types of structures in order to understand how they—and the overall system—work. We organ- Jerome Park Reservoir placed 2000 2000 119th Street Gatehouse ized the structures of the Croton Waterworks on National Register of Historic designated a NYC Landmark into sixteen typologies. Places 2003 Nizhny Tagil Charter composed Berm 2005 2005 Generally speaking, a berm is a space that Helsinki Statement written Vienna Memorandum created separates two distinct areas. The conduit of Typologies 2005 Xi’An Declaration written the Old Croton Aqueduct was actually built aboveground. To protect it from the elements, 2007 Highbridge Pool Complex it was covered with an earthen berm that also designated a NYC Landmark allowed for the conduit’s path to be immedi- New York City Landmarks ately distinguishable. In the case of the Old 2011 2011 Dublin Principles written Preservation Commission Croton Aqueduct, the berm functions as an approves plans for High elevated path with the system’s pipes under- Bridge rehabilitation, due for neath. People have used the berm as a scenic completion in 2013 walking path from the Aqueduct’s completion to the present.

Bridges were crucial elements of the Croton Waterworks. They directed the conduits over Top: Berm of the Old Croton Aqueduct passing through obstacles such as bodies of water and roads, the Bronx utilizing arches to allow the water or streets Bottom: High Bridge to pass underneath. The water pipes run- ning along the bridge were often covered up and topped with walking paths. The bridges ranged in style from the picturesque Archville Bridge to the High Bridge’s evocation of a Roman aqueduct to the more utilitarian steel- arched bridge over the New Croton Dam.

Culverts Culverts are stone-arched openings built into the base of aboveground portions of the Old

26 27 Section 1: Introduction Croton Aqueduct that allowed streams or caretaker. These caretakers lived in keepers’ other preexisting bodies of water to flow un- houses, fairly modest structures built in the derneath the conduit. They were sometimes Italianate style, which was popular during associated with weirs, which could send over- their period of construction in the 1840s and flow water into streams as necessary by using 1850s. The keeper’s house at Dobbs Ferry—a systems with culverts. brick structure—is the only extant example of this typology. Dams Dams intercepted the natural flow of water Parks and impounded the water into reservoirs. Parks were a crucial beautification and tour- The dams of the Croton Waterworks ranged ism feature of the Croton Waterworks, pro- from small, picturesque ones in Putnam and viding a way for people to interact with the Westchester counties to the one-hundred-foot- system. Multiple parks lined the Waterworks, high New Croton Dam—constructed between offering a buffer between the protected water 1892 and 1906—with its iconic steel-arched and the communities it passed through. Parks bridge. such as point to the tourism Typologies component of the Croton system, reminding Fountains us that people would visit parts of the system Fountains built for the Croton Waterworks for pleasure. could be both functional and symbolic. Some fountains provided drinking water for people, Pumping Stations horses, dogs, and cats at a time when horses Pumping stations were usually constructed were still one of the main forms of transport adjacent to water towers, as an essential in New York City. Other fountains were largely mechanism for pumping water to high-eleva- symbolic, embodying the purpose of the tion areas. These stations included engines Croton Waterworks: to provide the people of that were capable of pumping approximately New York City with ample fresh water. ten- to twelve-million gallons of water each day. As demand for Croton water grew, so did the need for additional pumping stations Gatehouses are some of the largest struc- Top: New Croton Dam south of the High Bridge Tower. Top: Keeper’s House at Dobbs Ferry tures built for the Croton Waterworks, aside Bottom: 135th Street Gatehouse Bottom: Central Park Reservoir (Jacqueline Kennedy from reservoirs. In addition to visually mark- Reservoirs Onassis Reservoir) ing the paths of the Aqueducts, gatehouses Reservoirs collected and stored the millions provided access to the underground conduit of gallons of water that were conducted by the pipes. This would enable workers to be able to Aqueducts. There were three major types of regulate the flow of Croton water more easily. reservoirs utilized in the Croton system. First The gatehouses were constructed primarily of were reservoirs located in Westchester and dolomitic limestone in a fortress style. Putnam counties, which were dammed water sources that provided the Aqueduct conduits Keepers’ Houses with their initial supply of water. Second were The Old Croton Aqueduct was subdivided the receiving reservoirs, which were inter- into regions, each of which was assigned a mediate reservoirs located downstream that

28 29 Section 1: Introduction could offer an emergency supply of water Ventilators in the case of the system’s failure. Lastly Ventilators are chimney-like structures, rang- were the distributing reservoirs, which were ing between approximately fourteen and the final stop in the system before the water twenty feet in height, that were built along the was distributed to individual New York City path of the Old Croton Aqueduct’s conduit. neighborhoods. The reservoirs of the Croton They were designed to relieve the buildup of Waterworks ranged in architectural style potentially destructive pressure within the from the organic, picturesque Jacqueline tunnels, and to allow the precious water to Kennedy Onassis Reservoir in Central Park to breathe. Ventilators were placed roughly every the fortress-like, Egyptian Revival Murray Hill mile for thirty-three miles along the Aqueduct, Reservoir. and every third one included a door allowing servicemen to access the conduit. The majori- Shafts ty of these ventilators still exist in Westchester Shafts are a building typology introduced County, while very few seem to have been to the New Croton Aqueduct conduit. These built throughout the Bronx and Manhattan. structures filled the niche of the Old Croton Ventilators were often constructed to resem- Typologies Aqueduct’s ventilators in providing circulation ble and would have been impor- to the water underneath. More importantly, tant local landmarks. However, many varia- they also provided access for workers to the tions exist between ventilators. underground conduit so that repairs could be made. These shafts were built as some of Water Towers the few visible structures of the New Croton The Old Croton Aqueduct’s first water tower, Aqueduct, and they stood as prominent mark- built on the Manhattan end of the High Bridge ers for the system. They were often embel- in 1845, was constructed to address issues lished with architectural ornamentation, such of water availability in northern Manhattan. as cornices, in order to highlight the water These locations, often at higher elevations system they represented. than other portions of the city, could not be fed by the simple gravity fed system. To solve Siphons this issue, water towers would serve as boost- Siphons were a crucial engineering technique Above: Ventilator along the Old Croton Aqueduct’s path er towers, supplying enough water pressure to Above: Water tower at 98th Street used in the Croton Waterworks. A siphon oc- reach additional neighborhoods. curs when liquid flows uphill then downhill again on an upside-down, U-shaped trajectory. Weirs The falling liquid at the top of the U pushes Weirs are structures that regulated the flow the liquid in front of it uphill to continue flow- of water through the Aqueducts. Early weirs ing on the other side. One of the great ad- were constructed in the 1830s and 1840s vancements of the New Croton Aqueduct was for the Old Croton Aqueduct. These weirs had its use of inverted siphons. Inverted siphons the ability to let off excess water from the are right-side-up, U-shaped pipes in which the conduits. However, they were not capable of water flowing down the U pushes the water up diverting the water completely. They utilized on the other side. a system of boards that could be lowered to adjust the volume of water that could pass

30 31 through. In the 1880s, new weir technology was introduced. These weirs were capable of diverting water from the system into streams, which would keep any water from going fur- ther south in the conduit. This would allow for repairs in the conduit, which were exceedingly difficult beforehand. Style was an important element of weir construction as well. Many weirs along the Croton Waterworks were con- structed in the Egyptian Revival style, provid- ing a link to ideas of permanence and water control associated with Ancient Egypt. Section 2: Preservation Support Structures Aside from the typologies outlined, there are also other miscellaneous structures that sup- Above: New Ossining Weir port the Croton Waterworks. Examples of such structures are coal sheds and coal ramps, such as those located by the High Bridge in Manhattan.

32 Section 3: Preservation Statement of Significance Croton Waterworks reflect social and cultural instance, contributes little from the perspec- conditions of a particular moment in the his- tive of engineering, but is nonetheless found tory of the greater New York area. to be significant on the basis of architecture The significance of the Croton Waterworks of architectural taste in the and social/cultural history. as a whole is established on the basis of its during one of the most significant periods of Landscape Although our holistic approach encour- contributions to and/or impact on the follow- the country’s growth. Although built to serve The construction of the Croton Waterworks ages the preservation of all components of ing four categories, described below in no utilitarian purposes, the fine craftsmanship altered the contour and character of a con- the system, we recognize that the rubrics es- particular order: and attention to detail apparent in many of tiguous ribbon of land connecting New York tablished above will lead to certain structures’ these structures testify to a deep concern and City, the Bronx, and Westchester County. At being deemed more significant than others. Engineering appreciation for architecture. the same time, however, the nature of the We further recognize that in a system as vast The Croton Waterworks represents a feat of landscape itself played an integral role in the as the Croton Waterworks, there will be many engineering that is truly extraordinary—both Social/Cultural History functional and aesthetic properties of the somewhat mundane structures that cannot be for its sheer scale, and also for the technolo- From the deadly cholera epidemics whose ef- system. The resulting landscape has been counted among the immediate priorities for gies developed in the course of its construc- fect on the urban populace marshaled public a unique fixture of these communities, and preservation. In the event that one of these tion. Many of these systems—such as the and legislative support behind the construc- in some cases a decisive factor in their eco- relatively insignificant structures is slated for Statement of Significance calming pool at the base of the Old Croton tion of an aqueduct; to the lives of the labor- nomic rebirth. This landscape thus provides dismantling or demolition, we encourage for Dam and the overhead cableway used in the ers of varying ethnicities who constructed the a vital link to the history of the region, and procedures to be put in place that call for the construction of the Sodom Dam—came to be system under frequently abject conditions; demonstrates the interrelationship of urban documentation of the structure, and for the accepted as standards in similar construction to the protestations of the Westchester land- and rural areas. creation of interpretation on a scale com- projects for years to come. owners who objected to the construction and mensurate with the structure’s significance. work crews in their pastures; to the new era These categories may be used to determine For instance, if a portion of the conduit along Architecture of public sanitation that was touched off with the significance of the individual structures the Old Croton Aqueduct becomes structurally The Croton Waterworks includes a diversity of the completion of the system; to the post-con- that comprise the Waterworks. It should be unsound, we would be sure to preserve the structures carefully executed in a wide range struction developments that saw many of the noted, however, that an individual structure integrity of the earthen berm that marks its of architectural styles—including Egyptian structures along the Waterworks becoming need not be found significant in all categories location. Revival, Classical, Romanesque, Gothic, and desirable venues for socializing, sightseeing, in order for it to be considered significant as a Italianate. Taken as a whole, the architec- and recreation—all aspects of the conceptual- whole. The keeper’s house in Dobbs Ferry, for ture of the system illustrates the evolution ization, construction, and development of the

Facing Page: Cross section of the Old Croton Dam, il- lustrating the engineering significance of the system

Left: An 1850 painting of the Croton Water Reservoir, an architecturally significant feature of the system.

34 35 Preservation Challenges Section 3: Preservation

Multiple Stakeholders Lack of Awareness or Understanding of Stewardship and interpretation of the Croton Historic Heritage Waterworks are complicated by the number The actions of those who cause damage to of stakeholders involved in the system at the Croton Waterworks—through inappropriate the national, state, local, and individual site use, littering, or vandalism—may stem from a levels. For example, the federal government is lack of understanding about the system’s his- a stakeholder through its 1992 nomination of toric significance. Consequently, collaboration the Old Croton Aqueduct as a National Historic among historic commissions, preservationists, Landmark. The New York State Office of Parks, designers, engineers, planners, and volun- Recreation, and Historic Preservation main- teers is ultimately the best tool for preventing tains the Old Croton Aqueduct State Historic degradation or loss of the site’s original fabric. Park, which is a linear park running along Through such collaboration, stakeholders who twenty-six miles of the Old Croton Aqueduct’s may have initially been on opposing sides of Challenges path. In New York City, the Parks Department, the issue can find common ground in encour- the Department of Environmental Protection, aging the understanding and appreciation of and the Department of Transportation all have the Croton Waterworks. some responsibility for parts of the Croton

Waterworks. Lastly, many private organiza- Inappropriate Zoning or Land use tions, including the Friends of the Old Croton Though private yards occasionally creep onto Aqueduct, Groundwork Hudson Valley, and Croton land, much of the encroachment over even groups like Harlem Stage, a performing or on top of the Croton Waterworks is munici- arts organization that has adaptively reused pal in nature. Land use and development can a gatehouse at 135th Street, have an inter- be legally controlled through zoning and legis- est in caring for specific parts of the Croton lation to make buffer zones around the aque- Waterworks. duct . Any proposed federally sponsored

Above: Workers sinking Shaft 26 of the New Croton Aqueduct, indicating the labor history that is just one aspect of the Croton Waterworks’ social/cultural signifi- cance

Right: The berm of the Old Croton Aqueduct, a feature that is ingrained in the landscape

36 37 Section 3: Preservation project near the Waterworks should trigger a integrity of the Croton Waterworks compro- Section 106 review, where reasonable alter- mised. Clearly, cost and manpower are essen- natives can and should be considered. tial components to the maintenance equation. Perhaps more attention on a national and Man and Nature global level will bring with it higher funding for Along the aqueduct trail, trees small and large more careful maintenance. are encroaching on berms. These trees not only block the path aboveground, but their roots can permanently damage the aque- duct itself underground. In the Bronx and Manhattan, sections of the Croton Waterworks are heavily littered with trash, and in some cases, the path is enclosed by fences that further encourage littering and

mistreatment. Several of the stone ventilators Challenges along the path of the Old Croton Aqueduct have spray paint graffiti on them. The paint, barbed wire, and trash should be removed, and fences that currently keep people away from the path of the Waterworks should be moved back to the outside edge of a buffer zone on either side of the path.

Inappropriate and Inconsistent Treatment Throughout the Croton Waterworks’ history, there have been treatment programs that arguably have damaged the historic integrity of the system, including the 1927 adapta- tion to the High Bridge, the complete removal Top Left: Trash by the trail in the Bronx of the receiving reservoir in , the paving of walkways atop the aqueduct berm, Top Right: Lack of interpretation at the New Croton and current plans to add eight-foot-high fenc- Dam ing to the High Bridge. Standard treatment guidelines have never been developed for the Bottom Left: An inadequately paved stretch of the trailway in Yonkers Croton Waterworks, leading to inconsistencies in its care. A charter of recommended holistic Bottom Right: Graffiti on a ventilator in Yonkers treatment should be written specifically for the Croton Waterworks.

Deferred Maintenance The deterioration of many elements, both at the hands of man and nature, has left the

38 39 Section 3: Preservation Designations and Protections All state agencies must consider environmen- the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation tal impact equally with social and economic (ACHP) a “reasonable” chance to “comment” Some designations offer legal protection and 2000: Jerome Park Reservoir (Bronx, NY), factors during discretionary decision making on the federal action. The review process some simply acknowledge the Waterworks’ reference number 00001014 when they are considering work near a histor- does not necessarily guarantee the protection significance, but designations can also help ic, archeological, or cultural site. SEQR review of the historic site, but it demands that the to heighten public awareness and promote National Historic Landmark (National is required for projects that might affect these federal agency follow a list of regulations (out- education and action. Designations can also Park Service) sites.2 lined in “Protection of Historic Properties” (36 affect zoning as well as state and federal con- 1974, 1992: Old Croton Aqueduct, OMB CFR, part 800) in its evaluation and analysis structions near the Waterworks. The Croton number 1024-0018 (This designation National/Federal Protection of the proposed federal action. Waterworks is well designated; some designa- includes the submerged portion of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA): Any project with federal involvement tions include the whole system, some just its Aqueduct between the Old and New All federal agencies must consider the en- or funding, whether it be by an action us- components. Croton Dams, as well as the Bronx portion vironmental impact, just as with SEQR, on ing federal funds, or an action that requires of the Aqueduct running from Westchester any historic, archaeological, or cultural site. federal permits, licensing or federal approvals, New York City Landmarks (Landmarks to the Manhattan end of High Bridge. This “NEPA requires analysis and a detailed state- triggers the Section 106 process. The project Preservation Commission) was not previously included on the 1974 ment of the environmental impact of any leaders must first map out the “area of poten- Designations and Protections 1967: High Bridge Water Tower, 5 LP-0319 National Register nomination.) proposed federal action that significantly tial effects” (APE). Then, the federal agency 1970: High Bridge, Aqueduct, and affects the quality of the human environment. must determine whether its activity has an Pedestrian Walk, LP-0639 Local Protection The federal government is required to use all “undertaking,” that is, a federal action that 1981: 135th Street Gatehouse, List 141: New York City Landmarks Law 1965: practicable means and measures to protect could negatively impact historic properties. If LP-1035 This law was “enacted in 1965 in order to environmental values consistent with other not, the review process is complete, but if so, High Pumping Station, List 145: LP-1080 protect historic landmarks and neighbor- essential considerations of national policy to it must continue. 2000: 119th Street Gatehouse, List 312: hoods from precipitate decisions to destroy avoid environmental degradation; preserve The project leaders must then con- LP-2051 or fundamentally alter their character. The historic, cultural, and natural resources; and tact the State Historic Preservation Officer law also established the creation of a perma- ‘promote the widest range of beneficial uses or the Tribal Historic Preservation Officer to Historic Civil Engineering Landmark nent Landmarks Preservation Commission. of the environment without undesirable and allow them to consult in the case as well. (American Society of Civil Engineers) The Commission is authorized to designate unintentional consequences.’ Therefore, the They should also identify any other parties, 1975: Croton Water Supply System a building to be a ‘landmark’ on a particular NEPA makes environmental protection a part including the public, who should be involved ‘landmark site,’ or to designate an area as a of the mandate of every federal agency and and make certain to allow them their say, or National Register of Historic Places ‘historic district.’ The legal definition of a land- department.” they will not be completing their Section 106 (National Park Service) mark stipulates that the building must be at If a federal agency or federally funded obligations. *By default of the National Register process, least thirty years old, and have either histori- project comes near a historic district or site, During the Section 106 review, it must the following listings are also designated on cal or architectural merit, as determined by particularly one listed in the NRHP (bingo), be determined whether or not the project the New York State Register of Historic Places: the Commission...The owner of the designated like the Croton Waterworks, the agency is re- will have adverse effects on the historic site. 1972: High Bridge, Aqueduct, and Water landmark, in this case, New York City and New quired to determine the environmental impact These can be direct effects or indirect effects; Tower, reference number 72001560 York State, is legally required to maintain the on the area of their proposed work with either examples might be visual intrusion, noise, 1973: Old Croton Dam Site, reference building’s exterior ‘in good repair,’ and to se- an Environmental Assessment (EA) or an loss of access, traffic, loss of setting or con- number 73001289 cure Commission approval before any exterior Environment Impact Statement (EIS).3 text, etc. All parties concerned are allowed 1974: Old Croton Aqueduct, reference alterations are made.”1 National Historic Preservation Act of to weigh in on the process. The goal of the number 74001324 1966 (NHPA) has a component to it titled Section 106 review is to find ways to avoid, 1983: 135th Street Gatehouse, reference State Level Protection “Section 106.” Section 106 requires federal minimize, or mitigate the adverse effects of number 83001721; High Pumping Station New York’s State Environmental Quality agencies to weigh the effects of their actions the project. (Bronx, NY), reference number 83003882 Review Act (SEQR): on historic properties. They must also allow Section 106 is the regulatory heart of

40 41 Section 3: Preservation NHPA; while it requires any federal agency or http://www.dec.ny.gov/permits/51406.html. 3 Charters and Declarations federally sponsored action’s careful review of “NEPA Activities in Site Selection,” U.S. General historic properties, it ultimately does not pre- Services Administration, http://www.gsa.gov/portal/ content/104829. One method of protection for historic sites was to ensure integrity, offer preservation as- vent the federal agency from taking harmful 4 “Section 4(f) of the Department of Transportation actions on historic properties. It only requires Act,” National Trust for Historic Preservation, http:// is a charter. Over the last 134 years, various sistance, and demand protection for historic 2 the review and careful consideration of alter- www.preservationnation.org/resources/legal-resourc- groups interested in preserving historic struc- sites and their surrounding areas. Since then, natives. Consultation within the groups typi- es/understanding-preservation-law/federal-law/trans- tures, landscapes, and cultural heritage have several charters and declarations have been cally results in a Memorandum of Agreement portation-act.html. created charters to establish a systematic written that each address a particular area of (MOA), where the federal agency agrees to approach of protection for important historic heritage, landscape, architecture, industry, or proceed with its undertaking in accordance sites. Initially architecture-based, the preser- infrastructure. with the MOA. vation effort to protect through charters has In 1956, the United Nations expanded to now include cultural heritage, Environmental, Scientific, and Cultural Department of Transportation Act 1966 landscapes, bridges, roads, industry, and even Organization (UNESCO) founded its (DOT): historic cars. Focusing on authenticity and International Centre for the Study of the This is the strongest tool in the federal preser- integrity, documents and declarations politely Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Charters and Declarations Charters vation toolbox. It requires “substantive pro- demand that all who consider work on historic Property (ICCROM) to promote preservation of tection for historic resources” by prohibiting structures or areas of heritage follow their cultural heritage worldwide, and through in- federal approval or funding of transportation recommendations. Charters are not legally tergovernmental cooperation they offer train- projects (like a highway) that requires the use enforceable; rather, they are establishments ing, information, research, cooperation, and 3 of any historic site…unless there is no feasible of standards for those working in the fields of advocacy of preservation. and prudent alternative to the project, and the conservation and preservation. Just a few years later, the Second project includes “all possible planning to mini- William Morris’s 1877 “Manifesto Congress of Architects and Specialists of mize harm” to the historic site. By use, they of the Society for the Protection of Ancient Historic Buildings met in Venice in 1964, mean not only the actual taking of historic Buildings” is the first cohesive attempt to where they adopted thirteen resolutions. The land for the project (typically, a highway), but promote protection of old buildings in a docu- first of these resolutions created the Venice any adverse affects that would substantially ment. Most of the Manifesto’s doctrine es- Charter, while the second resolution—spon- impair the historic site (traffic noise, pollution, tablishes the importance of protection and sored by UNESCO—created the International preservation; its last two paragraphs offer Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS),

etc). Any federal transportation agencies must conduct a 4(f) assessment on any federal clues on what and how to protect “anything... a non-governmental organization, to oversee transportation project. Section 4(f) requires artistic, picturesque, historical, antique, or the implementation of the Venice Charter. the DOT to avoid harming such resources, un- substantial: any work...which educated, artis- Each member of Paris-based ICOMOS must less no “feasible and prudent alternatives” ex- tic people would think it worthwhile to argue be qualified in conservation or be a practicing ists.4 There is one caveat: the Secretary of the for.” His elitist approach was an important landscape architect, architect, archeologist, DOT may determine a “de minimus impact” if beginning for preservationists; he thought that town planner, engineer, heritage adminis- a Section 106 review has found no adverse we should “protect our ancient buildings, and trator, art historian, or archivist. The Venice effect on an historic site. hand them down instructive and venerable to Charter stressed the importance of documen- those that come after us.”1 tation, especially of any interventions; the In Athens in 1931, the First importance of setting and original fabric; and 1 “New York City Landmarks Law,” The New York International Congress of Architects and the importance of contributions from any and Preservation Archive Project, http://www.nypap.org/ Technicians of Historic Monuments devel- all historic periods to a site’s heritage. It gave content/new-york-city-landmarks-law. oped the Carta del Restauro, which called very specific guidelines for conservationists 2 “Archeological and Historic Resources,” New York for international standards and oversight of and preservationists on how to treat historic State Department of Environmental Conservation, restoration projects of historic sites. Their goal sites.4

42 43 43 Section 3: Preservation In 1972, UNESCO adopted the World the heritage of the site. If we use an ancient partially applied to the Croton Waterworks, 11 ICOMOS, Xi’an Declaration on the Conservation of Heritage Convention (WHC), and from it, the site today, we enhance it by its use, while none of them handle all of the complexities the Setting of Heritage Structures, Sites and Areas World Heritage Committee, whose members potentially arousing awareness in the public, and challenges of preserving historic infra- (2005), http://www.international.icomos.org/charters/ represent 21 of their 142 member countries. particularly the young, of its cultural and com- structure. We have provided a chart on the xian-declaration.pdf. The WHC declared that any great historic site mon value.7 folowing page to illustrate the inadequacies is important not only to the country in which Both the 2003 Nizhny Tagil Charter for of the various charters and declarations that it resides, but also to the world. The commit- the Industrial Heritage and the 2011 Dublin were studied. Therefore we must seek out tee’s responsibility is to select World Heritage Principles focus on industrial heritage sites, alternate methods of preservation, aimed Sites (WHS); there are currently 911 of these which are defined in Nizhny as remains of at the treatment of historic infrastrucutre sites, 4 of which are aqueducts. The Croton “historical, technological, social, architectural specifically. Waterworks’ impressive combination of na- or scientific values.”8 Unlike some of the other ture with man’s knowledge and skill could well charters, these two focus on the modern era. 1 William Morris, “Manifesto of the Society for the merit its designation as a WHS. Dublin includes the landscape surrounding Protection of Ancient Buildings,” taken from William Morris, “The Principles of the Society As Set Forth upon The 1979 Australian Burra Charter industrial sites in its preservation goals, while Its Foundation,” Builder 35 (25 August 1877), http:// details preservation of places of cultural sig- Nizhny includes any industrial underground

www.spab.org.uk/what-is-spab-/the-manifesto/. and Declarations Charters nificance. With a comprehensive list of defi- elements.9 Both of these documents are ap- 2 First International Congress of Architects and nitions and carefully noted detail, it strongly plicable to the Croton Waterworks, as much of Technicians of Historic Monuments, Carta del Restauro advocates significance of authenticity, existing its trail is underground and unseen. (1931), http://www.icomos.org/docs/athens_charter. html. fabric, conservation, and a cautious approach While the 2005 Helsinki Statement re- 3 International Centre for the Study of the to “changing as much as necessary but as lit- iterates the importance of preserving architec- Preservation and Restoration of Cultural tle as possible.”5 It requires the significance of tural heritage, the 2005 Vienna Memorandum Property (ICCROM), http://www.iccrom.org/ any historic site to be defined, and any plans focuses on the urban landscape of heritage eng/00about_en/00_00whats_en.shtml. 4 for conservation to be established and justi- sites, most notably, World Heritage Sites. It Second Congress of Architects and Specialists of Historic Buildings, Venice Charter (1964), http://www. fied prior to intervention. recommends that the concept of the “historic international.icomos.org/charters/venice_e.htm. Stressing the importance of cultural urban landscape be included in the nomina- 5 ICOMOS, Burra Charter: The Australia ICOMOS Charter heritage in a global world, the Nara Document tion and evaluation process” in all nomina- for Places of Cultural Significance (1979), australia. on Authenticity—written in Japan in 1993— tions to the World Heritage list.10 icomos.org/wp-content/uploads/BURRA_CHARTER.pdf. 6 UNESCO, Nara Document on Authenticity (1993), says the “cultural heritage of each is the cul- Lastly, the 2005 Xi’an Declaration on http://whc.unesco.org/uploads/events/documents/ tural heritage of all,” but the responsibility for the Conservation of the Setting of Heritage event-443-1.pdf. cultural heritage and its management belongs Structures, Sites and Areas broadly defines 7 European Network of Ancient Places of Performance, first and foremost to the “cultural community setting to include the environment surround- Verona Charter (1997), http://www.coe.int/t/ that generated it, and subsequently, to that ing a site and recommends pursuit of legisla- dg4/cultureheritage/heritage/resources/Texts/ which cares for it.” Cultural heritage preserva- tion to create buffer zones around heritage Verone_EN.pdf. 8 International Committee for the Conservation of the tion must be as authentic as possible, deriv- sites to better protect them while controlling Industrial Heritage (TICCIH), Nizhny Tagil Charter for the ing authenticity from sources including form, impact from ongoing transformations that sur- Industrial Heritage (2003), http://www.international. design, materials, uses, functions, traditions, round them. Xi’an also recommends that any icomos.org/18thapril/2006/nizhny-tagil-charter-e.pdf. techniques, locations, setting, spirit, and new development near the site be assessed 9 ICOMOS/TICCIH, The Dublin Principles: Joint ICOMOS- feeling.6 for impact on the site, and then closely moni- TICCIH Principles for the Conservation of Industrial Heritage Sites, Structures, Areas and Landscapes The 1997 Verona Charter considers tored thereafter to minimize any damage to (DRAFT -2011.03.10), per Professor Pamela Jerome. 11 the modern purposing of ancient places of the site’s integrity. 10 UNESCO, Vienna Memorandum on World Heritage performance to be a type of sustainable devel- While all of these documents aid in and Contemporary Architecture: Managing the Historic opment, as long as it is done with respect for the protection of historic sites, and could be Urban Landscape (2005), http://whc.unesco.org/up- loads/activities/documents/activity-47-2.pdf.

44 45 Section 3: Preservation Does this Does this Does this Does this Does this charter charter Does this Preservation Plan/Guidelines charter provide charter protect charter protect recognize document charter protect CHARTER OR LANDMARK guidelines all active site when previously technical and unseen for modifying and inactive public access is demolished mechanical components? Portions of the Croton Waterworks have been long-term protection of this irreplaceable his- components? components? blocked? structures? components? recognized for their historic, cultural, social, toric resource. Protection of Ancient Yes No No Yes No No and engineering significance through desig- Buildings (1877) nations and listings, including the National Documentation Register of Historic Places, National Historic Documentation is an essential tool in historic Athens Charter (1931) Yes Yes No Yes No No Landmarks, and as multiple individual New preservation. The initial purpose of document- York City Landmarks. Many of these listings ing a structure and its historic context is to re- Venice Charter (1964) Yes Yes No Yes No No lack legal and regulatory measures to pro- cord existing features, taking note of its histor- tect against the demolition and/or neglect ic, engineering, architecture, landscape, and World Heritage Site No No No No No No of structures, and, as a result, neglect and social significances. Formal documentation (1972) abandonment has led to the dilapidation and includes measured drawings, many of which

Burra Charter (1979) Yes Yes No Yes No No misuse of parts of the Waterworks. have already been created by the Historic In the section that follows, we propose American Engineering Record (HAER) for the Plan/Guidelines

Nara Document on additional modes of protection for the system Old Croton Aqueduct; photography; archival No No No No No No Authenticity (1993) that emphasize documentation, maintenance, research; written reports; and historic images rehabilitation and reuse, and finally, inter- and drawings. The Secretary of the Interior’s Verona Charter (1997) Yes No No Yes No No pretation. Also included is a list of potential Standards for Architectural and Engineering amendments to current designation, as well Documentation should be followed in docu- Nizhny Tagil Charter Yes No Yes Yes Yes No as a proposal for an infrastructure-centric mentation efforts to ensure quality of content, (2003) charter/declaration. materials, and presentation. These standards

Dublin Principles (2011) Yes No Yes Yes No No There is no single methodology for govern the HABS/HAER documentation pro- protecting historic infrastructure, as systems cesses and emphasize the following:

Helsinki Statement vary dramatically in size, scale, and visibility 1. Documentation of the site/structure No No No Yes No No (2005) (seen and unseen). Examples of infrastructure should illustrate its significance; for in- range from telephone poles and bridges, to stance, if the structure is significant for Vienna Memorandum Yes No No Yes No No (2005) sewers and aqueducts. Updating the function- engineering and contains extant mechani- al capacities of infrastructure often outweighs cal equipment, that equipment should be Xi’An Declaration (2005) Yes No No Yes No No preservation as a priority, and oftentimes documented in addition to exterior eleva- infrastructure is replaced and outmoded sys- tions, and plans.

National Heritage Area No No Yes No No No tems are demolished. 2. Documentation should meet quality How do we set standards and establish standards as set by HABS/HAER; for in- guidelines for how to preserve historic infra- stance, cited extensive historical research. New York City Landmarks No No Yes Yes No No structure? We will answer this question as it 3. Documentation should be produced in relates to the Croton Waterworks, a unique a medium that is easily reproducible and National Register of No No Yes Yes No No 1 Historic Places and mostly extant example of a historic infra- comprehensible. structural system. These factors-- along with Despite HAER documentation in the 1970s National Historic No No Yes Yes No No the fact that the system is significant for its of the Westchester portion of the Old Croton Landmark engineering, architecture, landscape, and Aqueduct, we propose a current and complete social history— warrant the development of documentation survey of the Old and New a preservation plan, which is integral to the Croton Aqueduct systems, referred to in this

46 47 Section 3: Preservation document as the Croton Waterworks. This as its goal.”2 The primary aims of preserva- in preservation of any structures within the Parks. Maintenance efforts may need to be evaluation would consider the entire system, tion maintenance include regular upkeep, Croton system are referred to the “Standards coordinated by localized community efforts and the level of documentation for each retaining of historic materials, preservation of for Preservation and Guidelines for Preserving rather than one overriding authority. Within individual element will be based on the level historic character, addressing of deterioration, Historic Buildings,” which emphasizes the these localized maintenance teams, regular of significance we have established for it. For use of traditional repair methods, and utiliza- following: inspections will facilitate ongoing care and instance, structures with a high level of sig- tion of the gentlest means of cleaning possi- 1. A property should be used as it was the achievement of preservation goals. A nificance might be drawn, while those with a ble.3 According to Norman Weiss, “In terms of historically, or given a new use that sampling of maintenance tasks specific to the lower level of significance may only be docu- the duration of interaction with the structure, maximizes its significance and distinct Croton system would include routine weeding, mented through photography. While documen- maintenance emerged as the most significant characteristics. rock maintenance along the Aqueduct berm, tation by HAER would be an ideal situation, component of the conservation process.”4 2. The historic character of a structure and the exterior cleaning of ventilators. documentation may be conducted by trained The National Park Service’s “Standards must be maintained. stakeholders for their archival purposes. In for Preservation and Guidelines for Preserving 3. The property’s physical features should Rehabilitation and Reuse the latter case, we encourage following the Historic Buildings” are essentially a variety of be stabilized, consolidated, or conserved In the case that more attention and resources above-mentioned guidelines, perhaps through treatments all rooted in building maintenance. in a way that is “physically and visually can be devoted to various structures along a standard/criteria/survey form, and recom- When considering a maintenance approach, compatible, identifiable upon close inspec- the Croton Waterworks, we propose a program Plan/Guidelines mend that documentation be housed in a the Croton Waterworks is especially challeng- tion, and properly documented for future of rehabilitation. The National Park Service’s location accessible to all, for instance, online. ing, as some of the buildings/structures are research.” “Standards for Rehabilitation and Guidelines The bank of knowledge provided by still online and in service, while some are no 4. Historically significant changes to a for Rehabilitating Historic Buildings” (codified documentation would allow interested par- longer functioning. Therefore, there is a poten- property should be considered in their own in 36 CFR 67 for use in the Federal Historic ties, within and without the preservation tial need for two levels of maintenance plans, right and preserved. Preservation Tax Incentives program) address- community, access to information about the one for structures that are online and one for 5. Distinctive features that characterize es the most prevalent treatment for many Croton Waterworks’ significance and current the stabilization of offline structures. Once a the structure should be preserved. types of historic infrastructure. Rehabilitation state. Due to the nature of active infrastruc- treatment type has been chosen (preserva- 6. Existing historic features will be evalu- is defined there as “the process of returning a ture sites, documentation may be the only tion, rehabilitation, restoration, or reconstruc- ated to determine the level of necessary property to a state of utility, through repair or way researchers would be able to learn more tion), a suitable course of action consists of intervention. If necessary, repair and alteration, which makes possible an efficient about certain aspects of the Waterworks that maintaining, replacing, or repairing historic replacement should match the old compo- contemporary use while preserving those are closed to the public for security reasons. materials. For the Croton Waterworks, we sition and design. portions and features of the property which While the following stages in our preservation propose the preservation and rehabilitation of 7. Chemical or physical treatments should are significant to its historic, architectural, and plan will actively seek to mitigate deterioration structures wherever possible. Due to funding be as gentle as possible. cultural values.”7 These standards emphasize and neglect, documentation can provide a limitations and the perception that historic 8. Archeological resources should be “pro- the following: valuable and lasting record of how the Croton infrastructural elements are defunct, preser- tected and preserved in place.”6 1. The property should be either used as it Waterworks looked, worked, and related to its vation would be the first course of action. We propose that the Standards be consistent- was historically or with a new use that re- surrounding landscape at a particular period According to the Standards, preser- ly followed for every component of the Croton quires minimal change and does not alter in time. vation is defined as “the act or process of Waterworks, including the unseen elements. the historic character of the property. applying measures to sustain the existing One of the challenging aspects of preserv- 2. Alterations “that create a false send Maintenance from, integrity, and materials of an historic ing the Croton Waterworks is its size, as well of historical development...will not be Routine maintenance of the entire Croton property.”5 This initial stage identifies, retains, as the enormity of managing the plethora of undertaken.” Waterworks system is a basic, yet costly and and preserves historic features and materials. stakeholders involved along its span. Because 3. Both historically significant changes and time-consuming, component in its preserva- Therefore, active campaigns to stabilize the the system is so long, it is critical that there distinctive original characteristics are to tion. According to the National Park Service’s structures of the Croton Waterworks would be a well-written maintenance plan avail- be retained. guidelines for caring for historic building feature ongoing maintenance and repair of able to all stakeholders working along the 4. Deteriorated historic features should be exteriors, “Maintenance has preservation exterior and interior systems. Those involved system – including both State Parks and NYC repaired rather than replaced, and where

48 49 Section 3: Preservation replacement is necessary, materials and as is the case for the Old Croton Aqueduct encompasses most of the Westchester County believe that the Croton Waterworks matches design should be researched and expertly portion of the system, extant machinery is portion of the Old Croton Aqueduct. However, those other sites in national- and worldwide- matched. Any chemical or physical treat- rare. If a good candidate were identified, such this designation falls short of taking the entire level historical, engineering, architectural, ments should be as gentle as possible. as a pumping station or a weir with engineer- system into consideration. Later, in 1992, the and cultural value. While this designation also 5. Archeological resources should be “pro- ing integrity, restoration could be a course of National Register designation was amended does not have legal “teeth,” a comprehensive tected and preserved in place.” action. Another possible restoration project to designate the Old Croton Aqueduct as a management plan is required for designation, 6. Any new additions or construction can- would be the berm and conduit beneath. National Historic Landmark. This amendment and the production of this document would be not destroy historic building materials, Reconstruction of properties that have been introduced the submerged portions between an important undertaking for the entire Croton features, or spatial relationships that char- severely damaged or lost is not yet a consid- the Old and New Croton Dams, as well as the Waterworks. acterize the structure. All such new work eration because of the extensive and extant Aqueduct beginning in the Bronx and ending Lastly, in order to further protect the should be reversible.8 variety of typologies present in the Croton on the Manhattan end of the High Bridge, into Croton Waterworks, and historic infrastructure Adaptive reuse is essentially the process of Waterworks system. However, the potential to its designation. Though this was a step in the more broadly, we call for the first meeting finding a new use for an old building. This “re- bring the entire system back online, through right direction, it still fails to take into consid- of a Croton Congress, in order to construct cycling” of buildings has long been a historic restoration and reconstruction, has been eration those portions of the Aqueduct that the “Croton Declaration of Principles and preservation tool to protect structures whose suggested in conversations with experts. The continue into Manhattan. We propose that the Recommendations for the Preservation, Plan/Guidelines original utility is outmoded. While reuse has thought of the entire Croton Waterworks sys- designation consider the system holistically, Conservation, and Restoration of the Historic mainly been utilized to preserve more tradi- tem once again supplying water to New York is and be amended to include all the Croton Infrastructure.” For a full proposal, see page tionally “inhabitable” structures, the reuse an exciting one, and speaks to the longevity of structures in Manhattan. __. of infrastructure has become increasingly historic infrastructural systems. Other proposed designations include While all of the protective measures popular. Structures that are part of the Croton nominating the Croton Waterworks as a within this preservation plan are to be con- Waterworks that are no longer in service can Proposed Designations National Heritage Area (NHA), an important sidered, we have explored interpretation as gain new life through reuse. Though many designations already exist federal designation granted by Congress. An our primary method for preserving the Croton Already, some structures within the that encompass both individual structures NHA can span large geographical areas and Waterworks. We have found that interpreta- Croton Waterworks system are being reused. as well as larger, more continuous portions enlists local community members along the tion serves as an engaging and flexible protec- The 135th Street Gatehouse in Manhattan of the Croton Waterworks, a more compre- designated span in preservation efforts. This tive approach to historic infrastructure. The underwent extensive renovations and is now hensive protective document is necessary. designation option has proven successful for driving force behind our work is our belief that a theater space, Harlem Stage. Other struc- Currently, individual structures designated by several other infrastructural systems, such as protection and interpretation are mutually tures that were reused along the Waterworks the New York City Landmarks Preservation the Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor, dependent as integral elements of an overall include the 113th Street Gatehouse in Commission and the National Park Service and may be a novel approach to preserving preservation scheme. Our preservation plan Manhattan, which has been appropriated by only represent roughly 4 percent of the entire the Croton system. While a NHA does not pro- identifies measures within established his- a nursing home for their use. These exam- built system. Even taking into consideration vide legal “teeth,” the entire system would be toric preservation standards and discourse ples, along with others, point to the viability of what has been lost due to demolition, total recognized within it various contexts, includ- to protect infrastructure. However, certain historic infrastructure to be reintegrated into representation by individual landmarks and ing the development of communities along complications arise when these frameworks community use. historic sites is staggeringly low, especially in its path and neighboring historic sites. This are applied to the Croton Waterworks holisti- At this stage in the preservation pro- Manhattan. It is imperative for the continued designation would also provide the Croton sys- cally. Therefore in the following section we will cess we have not explored many cases where protection and maintained integrity of the tem with limited financial and administrative present a survey of existing interpretation of restoration or reconstruction would be the waterworks to include what has subsequently assistance for the execution of management the Croton Waterworks, as well as a range of advised course of treatment. Most modern been left out in Manhattan, as well as what and preservation plans. proposed interpretation. interventions into the historic landscape of comprises the New Croton System. We also encourage designation of 1 the Croton Waterworks have taken the form The most far-reaching of the exist- the Croton Waterworks as a UNESCO World National Park Service, Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for Architectural and Engineering of updated infrastructural systems. Where the ing Croton designations was the National Heritage Site. Four of the world’s aqueducts Documentation, http://www.nps.gov/history/local-law/ mechanical systems have not been replaced, Register of Historic Places of 1974, which already join this venerable list of sites, and we arch_stnds_6.

50 51 2 National Park Service, “Maintaining Historic Building Exteriors” (May 2006): 3. 3 Ibid. 4 Norman Weiss, “Preventative Maintenance in Historic Structures,” in Conservation of Historic Stone Buildings and Monuments (Washington DC: National Academies Press,1982), 282. 5 National Park Service, “Standards for Preservation and Guidelines for Preserving Historic Buildings,” http://www.cr.nps.gov/hps/tps/standguide/preserve/ preserve_index.htm. 6 Ibid., http://www.cr.nps.gov/hps/tps/standguide/pre- serve/preserve_standards.htm. 7 National Park Service’s “Standards for Rehabilitation and Guidelines for Rehabilitating Histovric Buildings,” http://www.cr.nps.gov/hps/tps/standguide/rehab/ Section 3: Interpretation rehab_index.htm. 8 Ibid., http://www.cr.nps.gov/hps/tps/standguide/re- hab/rehab_standards.htm.

52 Interpretation of the Croton Waterworks Considerations and Challenges Section 4: Interpretation

Interpretation is a key element in the preservation of the Croton Waterworks. It may be used to Interpreting the entire forty-one-mile-long houses (of which only one remains, in Dobbs support the maintenance of the system, full restorations of particularly significant buildings, and Croton Waterworks system, from Westchester Ferry), the West Burnside Avenue Bridge public education of its layered history and significance. County to New York City—including both struc- (large fragments of which remain on either While interpretative efforts for the Croton Waterworks have been carried out in the past, tures and landscapes—is a challenging issue. side of West Burnside Avenue in the Bronx), the presence and means of this interpretation is quite varied, discontinuous along the length It is important to understand the variety of the Clendening Valley Crossing (demolished in of the system, and not always easily accessible (either from a street or from the Westchester sites associated with the Croton Waterworks, the nineteenth century), Murray Hill Reservoir County trail). Furthermore, gaps exist in the extant and visible fabric of the Waterworks, which to be able to group these sites into larger (of which fragments remain, and can be seen often leads to a lack of public understanding of the characteristics, extent, and significance thematic typologies, and to ultimately connect in the main branch of the New York Public of the Croton Waterworks. It is for these reasons (and many more) that existing interpreta- these sites through interpretative measures, Library that now occupies the reservoir’s site), tion must be adequately assessed and new interpretative measures discussed and eventually enabling the Waterworks to be understood in and York Hill Reservoir (fragments of which implemented. a holistic manner. are scattered around the Great Lawn and Questions have surfaced as to how to incorporated into the police precinct building interpret unseen or underground portions of in Central Park).

the Waterworks, structures still in use, frag- Considerations and Challenges ments of demolished structures, and even Structures that are Accessible or entirely demolished structures. As a result, Inaccessible to the Public the classification of a site as existing/de- Many of the Croton Waterworks sites, par- molished, accessible/inaccessible, active/ ticularly those associated with the Old Croton decommissioned, or subgrade/abovegrade Aqueduct, are located in areas where mem- is a crucial first step that must be completed bers of the public may interact directly with in order to obtain a full understanding of the the exterior of a structure (and even enter circumstances that one may face in interpret- the structure, in some cases) or come close ing these sites. For a system as varied and to more landscape-oriented features such as expansive as the Croton Waterworks, these dams and reservoirs. Other structures are considerations (among others presented in only visible from a distance (head houses later pages) will aid in the determination of over the shafts associated with the New the best use and type of interpretation. Croton Aqueduct), surrounded by layers of fencing (Jerome Park Reservoir), or on pub- Structures that are Existing or Demolished licly inaccessible property (York Hill Reservoir The extant structures of the Croton fragments in the police precinct building in Waterworks, even without clear interpreta- Central Park). tion components associated with them, are at least visible to passersby. There are many Structures that are Active or components of the Waterworks that have Decommissioned been demolished, however, that are still The structures associated with the New considered to be of enduring significance Croton Aqueduct, which is still in use, are to the system’s engineering, architectural, considered “active” components of the sys- landscape or social/cultural history. Examples tem. The first priority of the municipal agen- of demolished structures that remain signifi- cies (such as the New York City Department cant to the Waterworks include the keepers’ of Environmental Protection) responsible for

54 55 Section 4: Interpretation these structures is the safe and efficient func- itself. The New Croton Aqueduct’s shafts are tioning of the system. Also, because security another example of a subgrade feature that 3. The difficulty of on-site interpretation, concerns related to the water supply of New helps to tell the story of the construction and particularly in New York City, has become York City are so high, many sites are kept en- maintenance of the system. Aboveground apparent. This is not only a result of security tirely off limits to the public. Information con- structures and landscapes are inherently visi- concerns related to portions of the system cerning the inner workings and structural sys- ble, and include sites such as the High Bridge, still in use (which extends from Westchester tems of these buildings/sites is also not made the Manhattan gatehouses, and ventilators. County to New York City), but is also due to the available to the public. Decommissioned However, it is crucial to remember that any necessary cooperation between various New structures are more frequently available for of these “aboveground” structures also often York City agencies and parks conservancies public accessibility and on-site (and off-site) feature subgrade components (in order to link that own or maintain different pieces of land interpretation, largely due to the absence of up with the underground conduit). associated with the Croton Waterworks, the security concerns. community boards that must approve plans, Challenges Encountered in Interpreting and the Public Design Commission of the City Structures that are Subgrade or the Croton Waterworks of New York’s guidelines for city signage. Aboveground The following is a list of critical issues that In many locations, the Croton Waterworks were encountered while researching, analyz- 4. The implementation of uniform signage conduits are underground, and no obvious ing, and creating interpretative measures that is instantly recognizable by the public as Considerations and Challenges traces are visibly present. This is particu- for the Croton Waterworks. This list is by no being associated with the Croton Waterworks larly the case with the conduit of the New means comprehensive or complete; its pur- along the length of the system is an issue Croton Aqueduct, which was constructed pose is to provide additional ideas and issues that must be addressed. The standardiza- deep underground and is thus publicly inac- to consider in working toward the creation of tion of signage is particularly difficult when cessible and hidden from view for the entire a holistic interpretative plan for the Croton so many parties are involved and/or invested length of the system. The Old Croton conduit Waterworks. in its care (see also Challenges to the Croton is underground primarily in New York City. A Waterworks, on page __). more clearly defined difference between the 1. The balance of public education/interpreta- visibility of the Old versus the New Aqueduct tion and maintenance of scenic viewsheds, 5. The incorporation of temporary, short-term, conduits is illustrated as the Aqueducts cross particularly in Westchester County, has be- and/or evolving signage programs that are the Harlem River between the Bronx and come increasingly important. The definition of both dynamic and current is an important Manhattan. The conduit associated with the what a scenic viewshed might encompass in next step in the interpretation of the Croton Old Croton Aqueduct is carried across the river New York City has yet to be determined. Waterworks and should continue to be inside of the High Bridge, while the conduit addressed. associated with the New Croton Aqueduct is 2. The possible incorporation of interpretative buried deep beneath the river, its presence features into the reuse of Croton Waterworks completely imperceptible. structures—such as the 135th Street In certain locations in Westchester Gatehouse (adaptively reused as Harlem County and the Bronx, a berm indicates the Stage) and the 113th Street Gatehouse presence of the Old Croton Aqueduct channel. (renovated as part of the Amsterdam Nursing The berm serves as a halfway point between Home)—leads to the question of how to in- a subgrade and aboveground feature, since a corporate signage, for example, into publicly somewhat clear indication of the presence of accessible or inaccessible sites/spaces, the Aqueduct is provided, yet one cannot see particularly for those sites no longer used for through the earthen covering into the conduit Croton-specific purposes.

56 57 Documentation, Analysis, and Methodology of Section 4: Interpretation Existing Interpretation We examined current interpretation measures is that a site’s signage does not always pro- along the length of the Croton Waterworks, vide adequate information that connects the with an emphasis on interpretation of specific specific structure with the significance of the structures and landscapes that tell the story system as a whole. In addition, an important of the system. The reason for the investigation realization was that not all signage is located was twofold: to document existing interpreta- at specific structures, but at intermittent tion and to assess its condition, effectiveness, points along (and even off) the trail, particu- and longevity. A methodology for this examina- larly in Westchester County and the Bronx. tion (to be used in the analysis of existing and Also, there is often no on-site interpretation future interpretation of the system) is subse- at locations where a Croton structure no quently presented in order to provide more longer exists (such as the site of the Murray specific information about the process of Hill Reservoir) or is in disrepair (such as the documenting and assessing the effectiveness 119th Street Gatehouse). However, even sites Existing Interpretation of interpretative measures. that are that are maintained and easily acces- sible (such as the New Croton Dam and the Documentation and Analysis of Existing North Gatehouse in Central Park) often lack Interpretation on-site interpretation. Additional sites contain An assessment of the existing Croton plaques commemorating the construction of a Waterworks interpretation was conducted with structure, yet do not provide historical infor- the purpose of determining where the inter- mation or an explanation of the significance of pretative techniques are located, what they the structure or system (such as the Archville encompass, which measures are most and Bridge and the Old Croton Dam). least effective, which structures are not cur- It has also become evident that most rently interpreted, where potential exists for existing interpretative features associated new interpretative projects, and what interpre- with the Waterworks not only revolve solely tation should be updated and/or expanded. around the Old Croton Aqueduct, but almost Above: Many different types of signage have been We studied each interpretative meas- always take the form of signage, commis- posted at the New Ossining Weir by multiple agencies ure to determine its particular type, the or- sioned by various organizations and incon- over the past couple of decades, and these signs often ganization that commissioned it, the intended sistently designed and maintained. While have overlapping information. audience, materials used, current condition, the intended audiences for these interpreta- Right: A New York City Department of Parks and its visibility and accessibility, and its effective- tion methods include visitors (to the trail in Recreation sign in Central Park has been analyzed to ness. Primary goals were to determine how Westchester and the Bronx as well as other show what types of information it conveys. successful the current interpretation schemes particularly significant sites in Manhattan) as are in reaching their intended audiences, and well as the people living around the system, to decide whether the historical significance local populations remain largely uneducated of both the individual structure and the sys- about the presence and significance of the tem as a whole was clearly communicated. Croton Waterworks. This prevents local invest- One of the most apparent themes ment in the preservation and celebration of revealed in the existing interpretation analysis this historic infrastructure.

58 59 Section 4: Interpretation The New York State Heritage Area Associated Structure and Location reproduction, if necessary), the cost of pro- 3. The interpretation is kept up-to-date and Museum in Ossining is the only museum If the interpretation is structure- or site-spe- duction (and reproduction, if necessary), and in good condition dedicated to the Croton Waterworks, although cific, the structures or site associated with the material’s durability. These materials may 4. The interpretation is easily visible and its focus is on the Old Croton Aqueduct, not the interpretative measure should be noted include wood, plastic, metal (specific metal accessible the entire system. The museum contains along with its location. If the interpretation is should be noted), fabric, paper, and so on. scale models of individual parts of the sys- system-wide, this should be noted, along with tem, as well as signage that educates visitors whether the feature has a physical location Condition about various aspects of the system’s history (for a museum), where it may be distributed An assessment of the condition of the par- and significant sites and provides a neces- (map, educational curriculum), or if it is acces- ticular interpretation is necessary to evaluate sary form of off-site system interpretation. sible via the Internet (website, podcast). its durability and effectiveness. If it is in good However, the museum is located off the Old condition, the material may serve as a model Croton Aqueduct trail, and does not incorpo- Commissioning Organization for further interpretative schemes. If deterio- rate any of the actual infrastructure of the The person or organization that commissioned rated, it will need to be replaced using more system—a fundamental consideration, par- the interpretative measure should be identi- durable materials. ticularly when dealing with a system in which fied in order to keep a record of the multiple so much original fabric remains. parties involved in the interpretation and pres- Visibility ervation of the Croton Waterworks. If the interpretation is on-site, a determination Existing Interpretation Methodology for the Analysis of Existing of the level of public visibility is necessary in Interpretation Property Owner addition to a notation of where on the site or Based on the preceding analysis, we present The owner of the property on which the as- structure the interpretation is located. below a methodology for use in document- sociated structure or interpretative feature ing, assessing, and analyzing existing and sits should be identified in order to keep a Accessibility future interpretation measures for the Croton record of the multiple parties involved in the If the interpretation is on-site, a determination Waterworks. The methodology may be used interpretation and preservation of the Croton of the level of public accessibility is neces- to determine if an interpretative measure is Waterworks. sary. Accessibility may include whether or not present for a specific site as well as for sys- the interpretation may be approached at any tem-wide interpretative schemes. Intended Audience time of day. If the interpretation is off-site, Identification of the intended audience who its physical location in relation to the Croton Interpretation Typology will make use of the interpretation is crucial in Waterworks structures should be noted, as A determination of the specific type of inter- evaluating the potential scale of the dissemi- well as its hours of operation. If the interpreta- pretation is the first step in the documenta- nation of information through the interpreta- tion is provided via the Internet, for example, tion and assessment of interpretative fea- tive element. This audience may consist of this should be mentioned, as well as how easy tures. The interpretation should be classified out-of-town visitors, local populations, various or difficult it is to find out about these meas- as either on-site or off-site. If on-site, the age groups, and so on. Therefore, all of the ures and access them. category of interpretation should be specified, possible audiences who may benefit (or who such as whether the feature is a sign, plaque, do not benefit) from a particular type of inter- Determination of Effectiveness or walking tour, and if individual site informa- pretation should be noted. The determination of the effectiveness of the tion is provided in addition to system-wide interpretation involves deciding if: information. If the interpretation is off-site, the Materials 1. The intended audience is being reached category should also be identified and may in- In addition to noting the specific material type 2. The interpretation clearly communi- clude such typologies as a museum, website, used in the interpretation, additional features cates the history and significance of the map, podcast, and so on. to note include the ease of production (and individual structure/site and the system as a whole

60 61 Section 4: Interpretation Proposed Interpretation by Typology (masonry and roof restoration, removal of a link between the urban environment and its window infill, interior surveying) of the build- regional resources. The interior space would ing and lot, followed by a Croton Fountain be used for programming, including (but not Interpretation recommendations for seven of Gatehouses Design Competition, which would eventu- limited to) temporary exhibitions and events the Croton Waterworks typologies are present- Due to the large size and durability of the ally lead to the construction of the winning exploring this urban-rural relationship. The ed below. This list is meant to provide ideas gatehouses (located in Manhattan), these design in the gatehouse’s yard. The original Center would also incorporate an exploration for “interpretation by typology,” the purpose of structures will best support adaptive reuse. Croton Fountain was erected in City Hall Park of historic infrastructure, particularly water which is to supplement the holistic interpreta- The 135th Street Gatehouse has recently in 1842 to celebrate the opening of the Old systems, for which the urban-rural link is often tion plans presented later in this volume with been renovated and reused as the home Croton Aqueduct. Despite its dismantlement invisible to the public. The gatehouse’s out- ideas for interpretive features, which will aid for the Harlem Stage. The 113th Street in 1870 (to make room for the new Federal door space would also be incorporated into in the connection of structures within each Gatehouse was renovated in the early 1990s Post Office), the tradition of celebrating the the proposed program and could be used for typology. for use as part of the Amsterdam Nursing Croton Waterworks through fountains has con- previously stated events as well as weekly Home. Gatehouses that remain unused in- tinued elsewhere along the system. In 1972, farmers’ markets (featuring regional farms Culverts clude the 119th Street Gatehouse, the Central M. Paul Friedberg designed and installed a and vendors). Especially important to this re- The documentation of culverts is a difficult Park North Gatehouses and the Central Park contemporary Croton Fountain in City Hall use proposal is the involvement of stakehold- and continuous process due to the large num- South Gatehouse. Due to its incredibly large Park that was in place until 1999. The instal- ing organizations located in New York City and ber (and various sizes) constructed for the Old scale and prominent location near “Museum lation of a new Croton Fountain behind the Westchester County. Proposed Interpretation by Typology Croton Aqueduct. “Culvert Hunting” is a fun, Mile” along , the Central Park 119th Street Gatehouse would continue this engaging, and educational game for all ages, South Gatehouse would provide an ideal trend of publicly visible tributes to the Croton Shafts which will ultimately aid in the documentation space and location for a Croton Waterworks system and make for an engaging interpretive The Croton Waterworks shafts are associated and location of all 114 culverts present along Museum. The High Pumping Station in the program. For the entire structure, a new use with the construction and maintenance of the Old Croton Aqueduct. Bronx could also provide space for another is proposed that will focus on the historic and the New Croton Aqueduct, which is still ac- Croton Waterworks Museum with a deeper current connection between New York City tive. Although many of the shafts have been Ventilators focus on the engineering of the system (par- and its rural resources in Westchester County. either filled in or are capped with masonry Ventilators were originally placed at every mile ticularly if any of the internal structure and Both the interior and exterior space may be headhouses, and are relatively inaccessible along the length of the Old Croton Aqueduct. mechanisms still exist). utilized as a Croton Waterworks New York City- to the public due to their active nature, they Although all have been demolished in New A more in-depth discussion of a re- Westchester Center, with the goal of fostering can nonetheless be interpreted. Projections York City, many are extant along the Old use plan for the 119th Street Gatehouse is Croton Aqueduct Trail in Westchester County. now presented: The abandoned 119th Street These ventilators may be used as part of a Gatehouse stands out as fertile ground for Right: Axonometric of the 119th Street Gatehouse, circuit-training course, with an associated interpretative planning due to its location near a New York City landmark that is located across the map or signage developed. Columbia University, on the southeast cor- street from Columbia University QR codes will also be proposed for ner of 119th Street and Amsterdam Avenue, placement on small-scale signage at (possi- as well as its structural integrity (exterior), bly) each ventilator, which will connect a visi- size, and relation to both the Old and New tor to online information regarding the struc- Croton Aqueducts. The need for interpreta- tures. As part of “The Ventilator Voyage,” each tion and reuse of the building would promote ventilator may be numbered in sequence, with the understanding of New York City’s historic each QR code linking to one piece of a com- infrastructure and the Croton Waterworks in plete text or vocal explanation of the history/ particular, as well as the potential for using significance of the ventilators. The entire story decommissioned structures for new purposes. will not be told until all ventilators have been Proposed long-term interpretation plans visited! for the site include an initial stabilization

62 63 Section 4: Interpretation via monitors may be utilized at some sites to along with a brief history/significance state- show their interiors, particularly for a shaft ment of the structure), blue searchlights like Shaft 25. Off-site interpretation would could be put in place to mark the sites of include information on the Croton Waterworks these once-crucial features of the Croton website or diagrams/photographs in a mu- Waterworks system. seum environment.

Siphons Due to the below-grade nature of siphons, projections on the ground or painted lines showing the length, depth, and shape of the siphons would be effective means of telling the public about these unseen features.

Keepers’ Houses Although six keepers’ houses once existed along the length of the Old Croton Aqueduct, Proposed Interpretation by Typology only the keeper’s house in Dobbs Ferry is extant. Interpretation of both the demolished and extant structures is important to telling the story of how the aqueduct “keepers” lived. The conversion of the Dobbs Ferry Keeper’s House into a historic house museum would aid in educating the public about the human aspect of the Old Croton Aqueduct’s construc- tion and maintenance. For the demolished structures, “On This Site” signage (with a historic photograph or drawing along with a brief history/significance statement of the structure) could be combined with a physi- Above: A proposed architectural competition poster calling for a new fountain design for the 119th Street cal artistic/architectural interpretation of the Gatehouse houses (like Robert Venturi’s Franklin Court in Philadelphia).

Water Towers Two water towers are known to have existed along the length of the Old Croton Aqueduct: one at 98th Street (between Amsterdam Avenue and Columbus Avenue), which is now demolished and High Bridge Water Tower, which is extant. Besides “On This Site” sig- nage (with a historic photograph or drawing

64 65 Holistic Digital Interpretation Methods Website and Forum Section 4: Interpretation

Digital media has expanded the versatility and availability of interpretative strategies. These Recognizing the prevalence and power of Alumni Weekend. Despite an engaging dis- outlets provide on-demand access to immense amounts of information, completely reshaping digital media as a means of outreach and cussion at the event, we believed that the the way we encounter the world around us. In particular, the Internet, social networking services, raising awareness, our group created two conversation should continue and decided and cell phones have drastically transformed how knowledge and experience are exchanged. No websites and a social media account on to engage the community in an open space longer are we required to physically visit a building or travel to a museum in order to engage with Facebook in order to establish an online pres- without constraints on time or place. Croton and learn more about it. ence. These resources are available to anyone Conversations is aimed at generating discus- We believe that the Croton Waterworks can benefit tremendously from these types of with Internet access, which has allowed our sion about infrastructure-related preserva- digital media. We recommend a variety of digital interpretative strategies that will work to en- group to address a broad and diverse group tion, regulatory challenges, and existing and gage and educate those who use them. In the following pages, we will outline how a smartphone of individuals and organizations. Our partici- proposed methods of interpretation for the application, an informative and interactive website and blog, and the use of quick response pation in these online forums aims to fulfill Croton Waterworks. The site is organized as (QR) codes can be integrated into a holistic interpretative approach. In addition, we acknowl- two specific needs: to make our research and an open forum in order to welcome those from edge many other existing or in-development tools that may prove useful in future interpreta- progress available to the general public and to outside the Columbia community to comment. tion schemes for the Croton Waterworks. For example, Google has recently introduced Google encourage public discourse of the Waterworks To reach potential audience members, we cre-

Goggles and Google City Tours, two applications that have already become indispensible tools system. These media also provide an off-site ated an email campaign through MailChimp Website and Forum for interpretation. Other potential resources include Broadcastr, a website and application dedi- means of interpretation. and distributed emails prompting contacts to cated to providing location-based stories, and GPS My City, another application that provides “join in the conversation” with a link to our informative walking tours. It is through this multitude of digital media technologies that we envi- The Croton Waterworks Website site embedded within the message. sion the Croton Waterworks reaching more people than ever before. The Croton Waterworks website has served as The Croton Conversations forum has a repository for historical research focused on allowed us to collect ideas for interpreta- system functionality, typologies, and individual tion and receive a range of feedback on our structures. The website also functions as a proposed plans. For instance, many people point through which the public can access our responded with suggestions for alternatives group mission statement, images, statement to smartphone technology such as foldable, of significance, videos, maps, oral histories, wallet-friendly maps, a deck of cards, and ref- and Croton-related stories. We have included erences to reading material. These ideas were a varied program of references for visitors to helpful to our interpretative plan and gave us access. These range from links to institutions a sense of the types of resources that people like the Fairmount Water Works Interpretive would actually put to use if made available. Center and the Waterworks Museum in Berlin to relevant news stories like NPR’s urban ex- ploration coverage and The New York Times’ exposé on hydrofracking. The site also con- tains a “Did You Know” section that highlights fun facts and stories such as the recipe for a Croton cocktail and Miru Kim’s photographic installations.

The Croton Conversations Forum Croton Conversations is an online forum that grew out of our presentation at the GSAPP

66 67 Section 4: Interpretation Website and Forum

This Page: Sample webpages from the Croton Waterworks website

Facing Page: Sample webpages from the Croton Conversations forum

68 69 Smartphone Application Section 4: Interpretation

It is currently estimated that there are more Image Results than 83 million mobile phone web users in Each structure would have numerous histori- the United States, 31 percent of whom own cal and contemporary photos to help illustrate smartphones, a number that is projected to the magnificent works of architecture and en- increase to nearly 50 percent by the end of gineering found along the Croton Waterworks. 2011.1 These brief yet telling statistics sub- The application would also encourage users to stantiate the need for digital interpretative submit their own pictures taken at any struc- strategies. To address this, we have developed ture or area of the system. our own smartphone application dedicated to the Croton Waterworks. Such a platform Walking Tour could either be used as it is presented here, The most interactive feature of the applica- or referenced as a simple template for future tion would be a walking tour. With this option, software development. This specific mockup visitors could plan their own personal walking

allows and encourages users to engage with tour by custom-choosing structures or areas Application Smartphone the history of the Waterworks through general of interest. This feature would also enable information options as well as more interac- users to select specific structures and learn tive approaches, as illustrated through a about their history, much in the same way as walking tour component. It is also designed to the general search feature. This option may promote the sharing and exchange of informa- prove the most successful in actually bringing tion across various platforms. people to the system.

History of the System Links App users could choose to learn about the A links section would allow users to explore overall history of the Croton Waterworks, while the Croton Waterworks beyond the smart- also having the ability to access informative phone application, by accessing relevant web- videos and images. sites like those of the National Park Service, the Friends of the Old Croton Aqueduct, and Top Left: The Croton Aqueduct App Logo and Search the System the New York City Department of Parks and Homescreen Users could discover the history of individual Recreation, among others. Top Right: App navigation diagram for the “Search by features of the Croton Waterworks, searching Name” feature by feature name, area, or typology. 1 Nielsen Media, “State of the Media 2010: U.S. Bottom Left: Navigation diagram for the “History of the Search by Name Results Audiences and Devices,” NielsenWire (2010); see also System” feature Searching for specific structures would allow Roger Enter, “Smartphone to Overtake Feature Phones in U.S. by 2011,” NielsenWire (26 March 2010). Bottom Right: Navigation diagram showing the vari- users to read about their history, while also ous ways to search for information about the Croton having access to structures’ fiches, designa- Waterworks within the app tion reports, and audio or video recordings. These same options would be available when searching by area or typology.

70 71 QR Codes Section 4: Interpretation

QR, or “quick response,” codes have in- creased in popularity in America as of late, but have been around for more than a decade in Japan. They are similar to bar codes, and can be scanned by a smartphone’s camera to link to a specific web page. Since many smart- phones come with QR-scanning abilities auto- matically included, they would allow people to find out about the Croton Waterworks without any prior knowledge of its existence. These QR codes can link to text pages, an audio file, or even a video on YouTube. The two codes on the center and bottom right link to the

Croton Waterworks website and an interpre- QR Codes tive Croton video, respectively. QR codes have begun to be used for interpretation of historic sites in the United States. For example, QR code signs can be found all along the Augusta Canal National Heritage Area in Georgia (top right). QR codes are readable at many sizes, and simply require a flat surface to be placed on. What’s better is that QR codes are inex- pensive and can be placed in many different locations along the Croton Waterworks, and could be especially useful in urban locations where aboveground signs of the system are not apparent. QR codes can also be printed on vinyl decals to attach to the ground or a vertical surface, or they could be painted us- ing a temporary paint directly on the sidewalk or street. QR codes promise to become an indispensible tool for all types of interpretative programs. Top: App navigation diagram showing how images could be provided for each site

Center: Diagram showing the various features of the “Walking Tour” part of the app

Bottom: Navigation diagram of the “Links” feature

72 73 Additional Digital Media Section 4: Interpretation

Broadcastr Google Goggles is image recognition software Broadcastr is a developing social media for phones. Goggles allows users to take a platform that allows for location-based story picture of a building, logo, book, artwork, and recording and archiving. Essentially, it enables so on, and quickly identify what it is they are a user to record anecdotes, local lore, walk- looking at. For instance, Google Goggles can ing tours, reviews, and oral histories to a large quickly identify a picture of the Empire State location-specific database, which can then be Building and provide a list of informative links accessed and enjoyed by anyone. The Croton and images relevant to that very building. Waterworks can benefit from this in a variety This software is still relatively new and con- of ways, such as the recording of site-specific tinues to be fine-tuned. However, some struc- information based on a structure’s history, or tures of the Croton Waterworks, such as the of anecdotal stories for the system in general. Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Reservoir and Broadcastr’s webpage states, “Users can take the New Croton Dam, have proven recogniz-

a GPS-enabled walk as stories about their able by this program. Additional Digital Media surroundings stream into their headphones, http://www.google.com/mobile/goggles like a museum tour of the entire world. Users can record their own content, create playlists, Google City Tours follow their friends, and share on Facebook.” Another innovation from Google is Google http://beta.broadcastr.com/ City Tours, a web-based technology that cre- ates and manages travel itineraries for most GPS My City major cities. However, what is most important A simple and effective alternative to an about this software is its ability to upload iPhone or iPod Touch application, built from and customize a user’s own Google Map, the ground up, is GPS My City, which has including specific sites and structures, to already developed a software platform dedi- create his or her own itinerary. For example, cated to walking tours. What is unique about a Google Map containing all or some of the GPS My City is that the framework is already Croton Waterworks’ structures could be up- in place, requiring only textual and graphical loaded and then made into a walking tour or information to be submitted. Essentially, users multi-day adventure. With users’ information, are able to author their very own walking tour Google will produce maps and directions to without the daunting task of having to physi- and from sites, and will also provide informa- cally code it themselves. This type of applica- tion about those structures. tion can also offer directions, maps, audio, http://citytours.googlelabs.com/ and video features. http://www.gpsmycity.com/

Google Goggles Still a work in progress, Google Goggles is one of the most innovative digital technolo- gies to be developed recently. Simply put,

74 75 Holistic Signage Interpretation Section 4: Interpretation

As a continuation of our holistic approach to visually consistent signs, we also wanted to the interpretation of the Croton Waterworks, take into consideration the varied sizes of we have developed a universal signage sites as well as the different locations of struc- scheme using a method of branding for the tures along the system. An appendix on page system in order to help connect the fragment- __ outlines many of the Croton Waterworks’ ed sites of New York City to the picturesque structures and their respective recommended berm in Westchester County. One of the major types of signage. We believe that providing problems with existing signage along the written and visual information on-site along Croton system is that many different meth- with our website and QR code for those who ods of branding have been employed. For do not have time to read the sign—or for those instance, the NYC Department of Parks and who want to learn more—will allow for large- Recreation use their own logo on signs, while scale dissemination of Croton information to many signposts in Yonkers and the Bronx have both locals and tourists.

only the letters OCA (Old Croton Aqueduct) on Instead of designing a new large Holistic Signage Interpretation them. Our goal is to enable people to imme- signage scheme, we would like to work with diately recognize a structure as being part of Croton signs that have recently been proposed the Croton Waterworks. by the New York City Department of Parks One of our plans to visually connect and Recreation, designed by Nancy Owens the entire Croton System is through the paint- Studio. These signs are three-dimensional ing of a temporary blue line through the assemblages consisting of three connected streets of New York City and on the Croton trail panels that form a triangle. Each panel is 7’- through the Bronx and Westchester County to 6” tall and 15 3/4” wide, and their size and show the uninterrupted path of the conduit design will easily grab the attention of pas- of the Old Croton Aqueduct. Similar projects sersby. These signs are already funded, but have been permitted by the Department of are still pending approval from the Landmarks Transportation (DOT) in the past, as long as Preservation Commission as well as commu- the line is temporary. However, the paint used nity boards and park conservancies. Thirteen Studio’s designs—but these panels will not and a more muted sage green for the signs for the line can last from six months to a year, signs have been proposed in all, encompass- form one mass. This will allow the signage in less dense areas. In Westchester County, which means potentially millions of people ing some of the major Croton Waterworks to be less invasive, as the space taken up by there is a larger focus on viewshed, as many could learn about the Croton Waterworks sites in New York City. We propose to employ them could be broken up. Each medium-scale natural elements have been preserved sur- when they discovered the blue line. The DOT this specific signage system for certain sites panel will stand 33” high and 13” wide. The rounding Croton structures. Therefore, muted recently participated in a similar project in in Westchester County as well, such as at the color palette of this signage type will be cru- colors that would not be too distracting from which a line was painted in Lower Manhattan New Croton Dam in Croton-on-Hudson and at cial. We will use a palette that relates to the nature would be most appropriate for these that exposed the old shorelines of Manhattan the Sing Sing Kill Bridge in Ossining. colors used on Nancy Owens Studio’s signs, sites. In New York City, the primary goal is and the extent of the city’s infill. An important component of our sig- which includes primarily green and brown for people to notice the signs, as the Croton We are also proposing a signage nage plan is the addition of a medium-scale earth tones. Since the Croton Waterworks Waterworks is generally less visible and less scheme with three different types of signs, signage type that would be as informative runs through very different environments, known within the city. which may be assigned to individual sites as the large signs, but on a much smaller we propose differentiating the coloration of The signs use two typefaces: based on appropriateness. In addition to physical scale. These signs will consist of a city signs from the more rural signs, using a Clarendon and Bau. Clarendon is used for visually connecting the waterworks through three-panel system—similar to Nancy Owens brighter spring green for the urban signage the larger titles and text elements in order to

76 77 Section 4: Interpretation grab the attention of a passerby, while Bau numbers will also correspond to our smart- is used for body text as an easy-to-read sans- phone application (see page __). The final serif typeface. The medium-scale signs could panel will primarily consist of a map of the be fabricated in a variety of ways, depending entire Croton Waterworks. Within this map, we on the location. They could simply consist of will mark where the visitor is in the context of laminated paper, or they could be printed on a the system. Toward the bottom of this panel is lightweight metal or on a UV-resistant plastic. a QR code within the outline of a Croton man- Whatever way they are fabricated, it is impor- hole cover that, if scanned on a smartphone, tant that they could be easily made and easily will link the user to a webpage focused on the replaced, and that they be inexpensive to specific site. produce. Just as the signs could be construct- The smallest signs in our scheme will ed in several ways, their method of attach- feature QR, or “quick response,” codes (see ment could also vary depending on the site. page __ for a thorough explanation of QR For example, at sites where there is already codes in general as well as of those made a fence, the signs could be nondestructively specifically by our group). These signs may be bolted to the fence, while at other sites they used for sites that are very small or that have may be placed directly on a wall surface. The significant natural elements around them that Holistic Signage Interpretation wide variety in site conditions makes it almost would be disturbed by the presence of larger impossible to propose one fabrication solu- signs, as well as for sites with pre-existing tion for the entire system, but we hope to at signs that are well-maintained and informa- least give a unified visual appearance to all tive. We have placed our QR codes within of the interpretation signage along the Croton the symbol of a Croton manhole cover as a Waterworks. connection to the Nancy Owens Studio sign The first panel of these medium signs design. The QR code signs could be made by will include general information about the using temporary paint similar to that proposed Croton Waterworks accompanied by historical in the painting of the blue line along the path pictures. The Croton manhole cover will be of the Old Croton Aqueduct. QR code signs prominently featured at the top of this panel, could also be printed on vinyl decals that drawing parallels to the other two signage could be temporarily attached to a variety of types. The content and layout of this panel surfaces. Above: Medium-sized signage panels created for the 135th Street Gatehouse following the design guidelines will be identical for every site that uses the established by our group medium-sized signage scheme. The second panel will feature site-specific information, Right: Rendering of the medium panels installed on supplemented by photographs and diagrams. the wall of the 135th Street Gatehouse The outline of the Croton manhole cover is placed toward the bottom of this sign, with a unique number for each site in the center. These sequential site numbers will emphasize the continuity of the Croton trail, and encour- age people to explore other sites along the trail as well. A map with all of the numbered sites will be located on our website, and the

78 79 Signage Design Guidelines Section 4: Interpretation Signage Design Guidelines

Panel 2: Site-Specific Information

Panel 1: General Croton Panel 3: Overall Map and Waterworks Information Additional Resources

Top: Rendering of the proposed blue-painted line run- ning the length of the Old Croton Aqueduct, as well as a temporary QR code sign painted on the sidewalk

Facing Page: Rendering of medium-sized sign panels installed on the New Ossining Weir Color Palette for Rural Croton Signage

Logo based on Actual Croton Manhole Color Palette for Urban Croton Signage

80 81 Interpretation through Education Educational Videos Section 4: Interpretation

In developing an interpretation plan for the Croton Waterworks, our aim is to provide the public Combining images, audio, and text, the me- —A chronicle of the restoration of a specific with a means of understanding the system, remnants of which they might walk past—or over— dium of video possesses great potential for structure without realizing the Waterworks’ historical significance. Education is an underlying goal of conveying large amounts of information in —The neighborhoods that the Aqueducts pass much of our plan, from signage to mobile phone applications, as we view information access to relatively short periods of time. The massive through, then and now be crucial for lasting preservation. In particular, we have focused on videos and curricular rec- popularity of web-based services such as —Past and present attractions and amuse- ommendations as tools for sharing the story of the Waterworks with a broad audience. We have YouTube confirms video’s status as a favored ments associated with the Waterworks introduced a series of brief educational videos, featured on our YouTube channel and website, means of communication, education, and en- that familiarize viewers with the history and functionality of the Waterworks. Readily available tertainment among a truly global population. These videos could be accessed directly from and easily passed on, this multimedia engagement has already expanded the reach of our work The development of user-friendly video-editing YouTube or from our website, and links to and provides an element of ensured longevity online. We hope to further increase long-term software, which comes preinstalled on many them could be sent to other relevant histori- commitment to preservation efforts by encouraging teachers to include the multifaceted his- consumer-grade computers, as well as the cal or educational organizations, who would tory of the Waterworks into their curricula. By exposing students to the need for preserving the widespread availability of video-capture func- hopefully post them to their own websites. system’s structures and stories, we aim to foster among the next generation a consciousness tions on cell phones and digital cameras, have For instance, the video dealing with the labor

of and respect for the built environment. Sustained awareness created by both the circulation also contributed to the ubiquity of video. history of the Croton Waterworks could be Educational Videos of educational resources such as our videos and the incorporation of the Waterworks’ history Capitalizing on these conditions in order to ad- sent to an organization like the Lower East within local classrooms will continue to generate attention for the system’s preservation beyond vance our interpretive mission, we have begun Side Tenement Museum, which might be the time constraints of our project. to develop a series of short videos that focus interested in publicizing the video because of on various aspects of the Croton Waterworks. its treatment of nineteenth-century immigrant In less than four minutes, our first video gives issues. In such ways, awareness of the Croton a brief historical introduction to the system, Waterworks could be expanded to an audi- explains some of the difficult nomenclature ence of people who might not have discov- issues that arise out of the use of the terms ered it while staying within their own spheres “Old” and “New” Croton Aqueducts, and pro- of interest. It should also be noted that the vides a very general technical sense of how subject of the Croton Waterworks presents a the system works. A second video, equally particularly compelling subject for a feature- brief, examines the Waterworks from perspec- length documentary film, similar to those that tives offered by social, cultural, and labor his- run regularly on public television stations. tory. Additional, as-yet-unmade videos could The considerable efficacy of the medi- cover myriad topics, such as: um of video lies in its adaptability to the back- ground and interests of the viewer. A single —The engineering of the Croton Waterworks video can be packed with enough hard data —City/state politics and the Croton to inform serious historians, while at the same Waterworks time conveying several simple, broad state- —The impact of the Croton Waterworks on the ments to the layperson who stumbles across landscape it. Everyone walks away with something. We —The architecture of the Croton Waterworks recommend that any future interpretive effort —A biography of David B. Douglass/John B. for the Croton Waterworks take advantage of Jervis the potentialities of this powerful medium. —A profile of the High Bridge (or any other specific iconic structure)

82 83 Section 4: Interpretation Educational Videos

This Page: Stills from the educational filmIntroduction to the Croton Waterworks

Facing Page: Stills from the educational filmsA Social and Cultural History of the Croton Waterworks, Parts 1 and 2

84 85 Section 4: Interpretation Curricular Recommendations City learning standards (drawn from the New Middle School Standard 3: Geography York State standards and available at http:// High School Thematic Strands: The impor- schools.nyc.gov/academics/) to which lessons tance of understanding the past; the complex Education is integral to our efforts to pre- the local, state, and national levels—of the about the Waterworks could be applied: relationship between human beings and the serve and interpret the Croton Waterworks, as Waterworks’ construction in the mid-nine- environment; the role of resources/their pro- we aim to increase public knowledge of the teenth century. Introducing the Waterworks in Science: duction and use system’s historical, architectural, engineering, conjunction with math, science, and English Grade 8, Unit 4: How does human consump- Grade 9, Unit 1/2: Is geography the most and cultural significance. In order to secure teachers, who also taught about the system tion of resources impact the environment and pivotal factor in human development? How the legacy of the Waterworks, we believe that through the lenses of their respective disci- our health? Environmental concerns: acquisi- does progress change a society’s/civilization’s students should become informed about the plines, Oechsner included discussions of the tion and depletion of resources, waste dispos- wants and needs? history of their surroundings and conscious of architectural styles of the period, the engi- al, land use and urban growth, water pollution Grade 9, Unit 1/2: Geographical issues today the infrastructure that has changed the way neering aspects of the system, and notable High School Earth Science, Unit 4: Water Grade 11, Unit 3: Adjusting society to industri- society lives. To introduce students to these characters who lived along the Aqueduct trail. cycle, Hydrology (stream mechanics, ground alism; urban growth/problems: slums, inad- stories, both inside and outside of the class- He assigned research on these topics, which water) equate water and sanitation services room, is to educate future stewards of the built up to the much-anticipated field trip to High School Standard 1: History of the United built environment. let students experience the structures they Social studies: States and New York had been learning about. Encouraging the K-8 Thematic Strands: The importance of High School Standard 3: Geography Recommendations Curricular One Teacher’s Approach students to take photographs and mental understanding the past; the complex relation- Carl Oechsner, who taught seventh grade so- notes along the way, he led them on a tour of ship between human beings and the environ- Sample Curriculum Ideas cial studies in Ossining for forty years, is well a portion of the trail. Afterward, he divided the ment; the role of resources/their production If teachers in New York City are still not con- known in town for his memorable field trips to class into groups of four or five, who each de- and use vinced that they would have the time to take the Aqueduct. (Find out more about Oechsner veloped a ten-minute presentation featuring Kindergarten, Unit 4: How do neighborhoods their students to commune with the Croton and his classes in the Oral History section, maps, models, photographs, oral interviews, meet our needs? Neighborhood walks and Waterworks in Westchester County, there is no starting on page __) According to Oechsner, and articles. At the end of the five-week unit, maps, special features, landmarks and monu- need to forgo the experiential aspect of intro- “I think every child should be exposed to the the students presented their group projects to ments, neighborhood design/boundaries/ ducing students to the system. While bringing Croton Aqueduct, even if it’s just…a week’s a panel of local officials, architects, engineers, architecture the Waterworks’ story into the classroom will background in class, and put them on a bus, naturalists, and parents. Because of this ex- Grade 1, Unit 3/4: There are important places effectively broaden students’ consciousness take them over and do a piece. You don’t have perience, many of Oechsner’s former students in communities; there are natural and man- of historic infrastructure even sans field trips, to do the whole thing, just take them for two continue to contact him to reminisce and made resources in communities; communities it is possible for teachers to bring the class to or three miles. And there’s parks along the thank him for introducing them to the Croton meet people’s needs the Waterworks without leaving the city. The side, and you can actually sit down on the Waterworks. Grade 2, Unit 1/2: How does geography influ- following curricular idea would ideally feature trailway and have a picnic lunch.” Oechsner ence where people choose to live and why? a visit to the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis hopes that more teachers in the communities Meeting Educational Standards How and why did New York City change over Reservoir and gatehouses in Central Park, as along the Aqueduct’s path will take advantage Teachers might fear that, given set curricular time? well as encourage students to engage with of their proximity to this historic resource. “If requirements, they lack the amount of time Grade 4, Unit 5: What was the effect of in- and think critically about historic documents. they knew that other teachers have done this, that Oechsner devoted to teaching his stu- dustrial growth and increased immigration on This activity could be adapted to focus on and it is being done in some communities, dents about the Croton Waterworks. However, New York? other structures along the system’s path. A and there are organizations like the Friends the layered history of the Waterworks—from its Elementary School Standard 1: History of the significant amount of such documentation of the Old Croton Aqueduct, I think more and functionality as a water system to the social United States and New York is available; see our bibliography for further more teachers would do that.” implications of its construction—can be taught Elementary School Standard 3: Geography resources. Oechsner’s approach was to begin by teach- in adaptive ways that fulfill educational stand- Middle School Standard 1: History of the ing his students about the historic context—at ards. Following are some of the New York United States and New York

86 87 Section 4: Interpretation Touring the Central Park Reservoir: Then and December 1872): 21-22. , http://tinyurl.com/ own visit? Why is it important today for people Now CentralParkReservoir1. to know about and continue to visit the reser- Grade level: High school After following the course of the Aqueduct voir and gatehouses? Creative expression of Objectives: To allow students to experience down from the Old Croton Dam (replaced at their experience could feature photographs, the Croton Waterworks, both through expo- the turn of the century by the New Croton illustrations, written descriptions, video, or sure to primary sources and a visit to the Dam), the author recounts in these pages his audio. referenced sites, and to provide them with guided tour of the South Gatehouse, complete If your class completes this assign- a framework by which to consider the sig- with illustrations of the structure’s now-closed ment, please let us know; we would love to nificance of and changes undergone by the interior. feature their work on our website! system through time —“Local Intelligence: The New Reservoir,” The Begin by introducing students to the system’s New York Times, 30 June 1862, http://tinyurl. Online Curriculum Resources history and function; depending on the focus com/CentralParkReservoir2. For more information about the Croton of the class, this could include examining its The New York Times announces the com- Waterworks that might be useful in teaching significance in the context of engineering and pletion of the South Gatehouse at the new about the system, visit our website: http:// architecture (perhaps by comparing the dif- Central Park Reservoir and invites the pub- crotonaqueduct.wordpress.com/. Friends of ferent structural typologies) and/or of social lic to visit and marvel at this feature of the the Old Croton Aqueduct are also involved in history (in terms of the fires and diseases the “Croton Aqueduct, which, with these latest Waterworks-related educational programming: Recommendations Curricular Waterworks was built to eradicate, the labor connections, presents a specimen of engi- http://www.aqueduct.org/. Other examples of that produced it, and the celebratory response neering skill and Metropolitan enterprise, infrastructure-centered curricula are available of local residents). Use historic maps as a before which the old Roman aqueducts pale through such organizations as the National means of conveying to students the extent of into insignificance.” Canal Museum: http://www.canals.org/ the system and emphasizing its vital linkage Take students to Central Park to walk educators/My_Curriculum. of Westchester County to New York City. around the reservoir and visit the three gate- In order to focus on a more easily houses, encouraging them to make connec- manageable portion of the Waterworks, ask tions between what they have studied and students to read the following primary sources what they are experiencing. Upon viewing the (available online). The articles are not long explanatory signage in the windows of the and would be well-suited for in-class reading South Gatehouse, ask them if there is infor- and discussion: mation from in-class readings and discussion — William H. Rideing, “Croton Water,” that they would suggest adding to the signs. Scribner’s Monthly 14, no. 2 (June 1877): Throughout the trip, urge students to take 170-72, notes—written or mental—and if possible, http://tinyurl.com/CentralParkReservoir. photographs and video, in preparation for the This article provides a good overview of next segment of the lesson. the history of the Croton Waterworks. In Back in the classroom, assign stu- the section assigned to students, “VI. The dents—individually or in groups—to produce Reservoirs,” the author visits the Central their own accounts of their reservoir tour. With Park Reservoir (now the Jacqueline Kennedy the three articles they read in mind, students Onassis Reservoir) and is taken on a guided should consider the following questions: How tour of the South Gatehouse. was their visit different from those recounted —“From Croton to Town,” Appletons’ Journal by the first two articles and advertised by the of Literature, Science, and Art 8 (July to third? How would they tell others about their

88 89 Section 4: Interpretation Oral Histories So I had to walk to school—it was about four kind of started to come out. blocks to my elementary school—and I walked (...) on this kind of dirt pathway. I never knew what When I was teaching at Ossining at the middle The Croton Waterworks’ century-and-a-half Oral History 1: Carl Oechsner it was, and I do remember that there were school, my curriculum was simply backyard and forty-one miles have left a trail of not only To Carl Oechsner, a beloved longtime middle stones on both sides of this pathway, and that history, or local history, and one of my themes structures but also stories. As it wends its school teacher known throughout Ossining as along the path was this stone figure that came was to try to get the kids out of school, and way, both seen and unseen, through varying Mr. O., the Croton Aqueduct is “a diamond, be- out. It was like a monstrous stone structure get them into the streets to study architecture, communities, the Waterworks creates dif- cause here is this narrow, linear, green space that came out of the bottom of the path. to study a variety of things. The Hudson River, ferent senses of place and types of human filled with history… It’s this wonderful re- Never really looked at it, never really noticed it restoration of downtown Ossining, because we interaction. Remnants of the system’s conclu- source, and unfortunately a lot of our citizens for the most part. So, that was the Old Croton were going through in the 1970s, 80s, even sion in Manhattan are quiet: fragments of the in our communities have no clue.” In Ossining, Aqueduct that actually still runs today through into the early 90s, going through some urban Murray Hill Reservoir lie generally unvisited however, many residents remember the his- the middle of the Village of Ossining. So I removal—urban renewal—whatever you want- in the New York Public Library, and it is easy tory of the Croton Waterworks from field trips think one of the motivating factors was, when ed to call it. So the kids were always working to walk past a gatehouse and, without know- to the Aqueduct in Mr. O’s social studies class. I went through the Ossining schools, none of on projects, etc. One of the key times of the ing its significance, perceive it as simply one According to Ossining policeman Scott Craven my teachers—through no fault of their own— year, we took the kids on the aqueduct in the more handsome structure fading into the (the subject of Oral History 2), “One man ever mentioned the history of the Hudson spring and in the fall, and we walked over a crowded city’s built landscape. For residents made all the difference in the world to this River Valley, never mentioned the history of period of five school days, not successive but Oral Histories of Westchester County, where the system community for knowing about the Aqueduct.” the Hudson River, never mentioned the history throughout the year. We would take them from originates, the Aqueduct has a louder pres- That man is Mr. O. (pictured during the filming of Sing-Sing Prison, never mentioned Andre Croton all the way down to Van Cortlandt Park ence. They might not be acquainted with the of his oral history on the facing page) and Arnold and West Point, and they certainly in Yonkers, using buses; we would do, oh, five history of the Waterworks—although a number What follows is an extract from the oral never really talked about the water system. to six miles each trip. Lunch was planned; I of residents at least know of its underground history conducted on April 12, 2011, by Tatum So when I graduated from college and went to had chaperones of course going with us, etc. existence—but at some point, they have likely Taylor at the Croton Free Library. More exten- the United States Army and came back, got a And what I would do is, I would teach that walked or biked along the Aqueduct’s path sive videos and transcripts from the interview job as a teacher in Ossining, I think it was kind particular part of the aqueduct, let’s say the marked by periodic ventilators and culverts; will be available on our website: http://croton- of my genealogy. It was kind of my background Tarrytown-Irvington-Dobb’s Ferry portion. I its raised berm might even run through their aqueduct.wordpress.com/. and desire to not only find out more about lo- would show them slides and show them pho- backyards. To supplement our interpretation cal history itself, but it was my childhood that tographs and teach them about that particular plan, we have conducted oral histories with Hello, my name is Carl Oechsner. I am pres- longtime residents of Croton-on-Hudson and ently a resident of Croton involved in local his- Ossining, two towns where the Waterworks tory—actually, I like to refer to it as “backyard are integrated into everyday life. history.” I was a social studies teacher in the We hope that the following oral histo- Ossining school system for forty years, and ries are only the beginning of an ongoing col- during that time, I worked with my seventh lection of memories from residents in the di- graders a lot on backyard history. One of the verse communities traversed by the Aqueduct. themes that I focused upon was the history of Oral history is a vital tool for discovering and the NYC water supply system. People always recording the human impact of the structures ask me, “Well, how did you get interested in we are working to preserve. By safeguarding the water supply system, of all topics?” And I and sharing the stories of people’s experi- guess it goes back to my childhood because ences with the Waterworks, we can convey the when I was born and raised in downtown importance of protecting these structures and Ossining, my father worked as the baker in the cultivate a more widespread connection to Sing-Sing Correctional Facility—then Sing-Sing them at a personal level. Prison—and we lived right across the street.

90 91 Section 4: Interpretation segment, whether it was the architecture, the Solemn River there, it’s got to be 150 feet so small you could just put your hand through have them hop up on shoulders, okay, kind of social history, the Revolutionary War, what was high. And there were times when the kids—you them and of course those are little culverts like Ringling Brothers, Barnum and , so going on during the war, Native Americans, know, I’d say to the kids, “Okay, you can go that probably run twice a year when there’s that a few of them could actually climb right whatever I could tie in chronologically to that up about 20 or 30 feet, but then you have to a heavy rain. Then there were other culverts up to the top of the ventilator and then look particular piece. So I would pretty much ham- come back down, because I don’t want any- where you could actually walk through, you down into the ventilator, down into the aque- mer at them for about a week to two weeks. one getting hurt.” They were just, they were so could actually drive your car through. And duct, and they would then report to the rest of They took tremendous notes, and we had excited, they would scramble up, and up they the kids loved that. “Mr. O, Mr. O, can we go the group, “Well this is what we see, and this lively discussions, and I could feel the energy would go, and I’d have parents standing next through the aqueduct, through the culverts?” is what we don’t see.” So the ventilators were building in the class. Again, we’re talking to me going, “Mr. Oechsner, do you think may- I used to say to them, “When you’re inside the also a wonderful source of enthusiasm and about 130 kids over a school day, right, bro- be this is a little too dangerous?” And I would culvert, be careful, but look at the stonework. excitement for the kids. ken into about 6 classes, but...one of the excit- say, “Yes it is, but I think, you know, I think Look at the incredible stonework that those Again, for my kids, most of them living ing things for me as a teacher was to feel the they can handle it, and let’s see how they do,” engineers and artisans and stonemasons, in the village and town of Ossining, most of energy growing, like, “We wanna go, we wanna and I must admit to you, those were nervous what they did in 1842. I mean, you don’t see my seventh graders hadn’t done any traveling, go, we want to see these things.” Because I times. But when those kids—some of them, work like that anymore.” they didn’t have automobiles, most of them was kind of teasing them over that two week some of those were challenged kids—when And a third thing that the kids loved were low, middle, blue collar, middle-class period, like, “Well this is what you’re going to those kids would make it to the top of the side on the aqueduct, especially loved, were the families, so taking the kids out of the class- see, I won’t show you too much of it, but this is of that wall, to see the expressions on their ventilators. The ventilators were put in each room and getting them out into the field, out Oral Histories one of the things you’re going to see.” face, and to see the fact that they had done it, mile along the pathway of the aqueduct to into Mother Nature, was just an absolutely As far as the aqueduct itself, the trail, I’m and here was this 1842 piece of architectural allow fresh air and to relieve the water pres- wonderful experience. And, as I said before, I not talking about buildings along both sides engineering history that was still there in their sure inside the tube. And they’re absolutely still get comments, letters, emails, Facebook, of the aqueduct, but, what did the kids find backyard—it was kind of exciting stuff. wonderful because they’re made of different whatever, from former students talking about fascinating from going from the classroom to Another thing that the kids loved were the stone. The engineers chose whatever stone those kinds of experiences, so again, espe- actually getting off the bus, getting their little culverts, which were tunnels that were built by they found in whatever community they were cially thirteen year old middle school kids. sticks and tying their sneakers and the engineers either underneath the aqueduct in, so when you’re in Croton it’s kind of a Today, I mean to see some of the adults, and putting on their hats and their backpacks and or over the top of the aqueduct. The job of granitey, a granitey, kind of a brownish stone. today when I do walks on the aqueduct and they had their lunch with them, and off we the culvert was to divert water from streams When you get into Ossining, you’re dealing talk about the dams and the aqueduct and would go...They were interested in things like that were running from above the aqueduct with a limestone; it’s called Sing-Sing the water supply system, I average about the stone sides of the aqueduct, the fact that down to below the aqueduct. So whenever because much of it was quarried at Sing-Sing twenty or thirty adults, and they come out with John Jervis, who was the chief engineer, and there was a storm...or there was freezing in Prison. So you’re dealing with more of a whit- the same enthusiasm, and when I take them his predominantly Irish workmen put stones the spring from winter snow, the water would ish color. When you get down around Yonkers up to see a ventilator, you know, I have people along the outside of the aqueduct...The aq- come pouring down over the top of the aque- and Hastings, it turns a dark brown, and that’s in their seventies and eighties whose jaws ueduct was built primarily of stone, cement, duct, so the engineers had to make sure that called Tuckahoe Marble. And it’s just, again, drop to think that, wow, this was built in 1842 and brick, and then covered in earth, and then that water was diverted or redirected so that it a different color. So the ventilators were and how magnificent it is that these struc- stones were laid on the sides of the aqueduct wouldn’t actually hit the side of the aqueduct inserted one every mile, and the kids used tures still survive and that we have this won- to prevent water from getting down into the or the upper part of the aqueduct where you’d to love when we would get to the ventilators; derful history that still is truly in our backyard. aqueduct itself, and to prevent erosion, etc. have erosion and the aqueduct would have they would all crowd around the outside of the And the kids used to love the sidewalls of collapsed. And of course from 1842 until the ventilator, and they would look, they would ask Oral History 2: Scott Craven the aqueduct, and when they could, when I 1950s, the Old Croton Aqueduct pretty much me, “Well what number ventilator, how many Scott Craven, a former student in Mr. O.’s felt it wasn’t too dangerous, I would actually took care of the water needs of the city of New miles have we walked so far?” and, “Look at class, is now a captain of the police force in let them crawl up and down the sidewalls. York, so it was a valuable, valuable resource this ventilator!” And then, we would usually Ossining. A lifelong resident of the village with Sometimes it got a little scary, like down at for the city. Another thing that the—and the choose a half a dozen boys and girls, and we a background in history, he “loves to speak Sleepy Hollow Cemetery, where it crosses the kids, some of the, some of the culverts were would form like a human ladder, and we would about the aqueduct.” For him, the Croton

92 93 Section 4: Interpretation Aqueduct is integral to the setting of his eve- walk—not so much now, but it is commonly were down there before we closed the weir stool looking out through the sill, the transom, ryday life—a life that just happens to include used by the people of Ossining because chamber. Unfortunately when I walked to the that’s open, above the door, watching our guy making arrests. Ossining is so hilly and it has such rugged south, it was a couple of hundred yards to the to make sure that when it happened, there’d What follows is an extract from the oral terrain. It’s just about the only level north- gate, and by the time I turned around, it was be no problem. What they didn’t know was, history conducted April 12, 2011, by Tatum south route there is, even more so than Route a pinpoint of light. And I am claustrophobic on that the aqueduct at that point’s filled with Taylor at the Ossining police station. The inter- 9. So, they use it all the time, and the police the best of days, and it was quite the experi- bats, and there’s a ventilation hole on top view will be available in audio format on our bikes love it because police bikes are heavy ence getting back out of the aqueduct. I never of the weir chamber. So as they were sitting website: http://crotonaqueduct.wordpress. and carry a lot of gear. Getting north-south in volunteered for that again. That was tough. there in complete darkness, what they later com/. the village is always difficult, so we use the Years later, not too long ago, we were found out was a bat was coming, was flying aqueduct all the time on the police bikes, having an ongoing issue—people are as- between them, circling around, coming back My name is Scott Craven, and I’m a cap- especially at night, so it’s been good for us saulting or robbing our day laborers. Most through the vent hole, and flying between tain here in the Village of Ossining Police that way. Like I was saying, I used it, I used to of Ossining now, Ossining’s traditionally an them again. And they kept thinking that they Department, and I’ve been a police officer use it years ago; we could, at midnight, we’d... immigrant community, always has been, and were speaking to each other. So they hear here for twenty-six years. I’ve lived in Ossining get on our mountain bikes and ride down to our current immigrant group is Ecuadorians “Ssshhww!” “Hey what?” “I didn’t say any- and the Lower Hudson River Valley for my Sleepy Hollow High School and back through from the province of Azuay in southern thing.” And they hear “Ssshhww!” “Was that entire fifty years, and I’m never gonna leave. the cemetery. But it was always safe and it Ecuador around Cuenca. And we have a lot you?” “No, that wasn’t me.” And then they I talk on various topics of the Hudson River was level, and we knew there weren’t going to of folks here who are day laborers, and un- realize that there were bats flying between Oral Histories to different groups, I have a master’s degree be any cars on it so we didn’t care, and it was fortunately, nothing new with immigrants, them though the transom; they decided to go in American history, and I wrote my master’s always fun. That was great. And that one time, people have preyed on them, and robbed to another location, they’d do better. They all thesis on the mouth of the Croton River and I was riding my mountain bike down there, them, and because there’s a language barrier, piled out of there in an awful hurry. how it’s changed over the years. Growing up, and Khalid Khannouchi at the time was the we always have an issue of things getting so So, I mean, the Aqueduct is something we I lived in Ossining, and everybody knew about world record holder in the marathon who lived violent because there could be no demand use and think about on a daily basis. I’m not the aqueduct, or at least they knew about the in Ossining at the time and trained locally, for money, they just start beating them up so sure many people think of it in its histori- shaded path that ran through here. But in passed me on the aqueduct on foot while I and taking their money. And we had a difficult cal context. But it’s just like an old road in the 1970s my mother went back to college, was on my bicycle. I was pretty hurt by that. I time getting people to come forward, we had Ossining, an old level road in Ossining, that to Briarcliff Women’s College in Briarcliff for think I yelled at him or something. But he blew a difficult time with people following through people unfortunately take for granted, and a degree in cartography. At the time, one of my doors off, and I was riding a bicycle at the with prosecution because they couldn’t miss is used tremendously by the cyclists and the the students’ assignments was to assist the time. But he used to run on it all the time work. So what we did is we put our own offic- runners and the walkers and things like that. state in mapping the state park that was the (...) ers out there dressed as day laborers, and And it doesn’t take much to look at it and see aqueduct through Ossining, so my mom would The aqueduct’s great, and as I was saying, you then we put the SWAT team next to them, and that it is, you know, worn ground. I was say- come back and talk to us about Ossining and know, years ago, the only time they opened up when they came by and robbed the police ing before, we run a 5K race on it today, we how they mapped part of it today, and where the aqueduct and the only time most people officer, we’d arrest them, and then it got out start right there at the double arch, run north, they were working, things like that, and it was in Ossining got the opportunity to see it was that, hey, some of these people we think are 2.5K and back, and it’s always a lot of fun. pretty neat. At the time, Ossining was a pretty during the Village Fair, which was the second victims are actually police officers, and we Originally we used to give bricks to the people densely packed place, and it was different; it Saturday in June. And the cops used to love cut down on the crime. But what we did was, who won the races, so that was a lot of fun. was neat talking to her about that. going out to the weir chamber because it was we went inside where we were going to do it, As a police officer, we use the aque- usually blazing hot for some bizarre reason right outside the weir chamber, so we took our duct all the time. A lot of people walk on it; and the weir chamber’s always really cool. officer and we dressed them up as a day lab- it’s a common thoroughfare for the village. So we’d go down there and cool off, and my orer, and we put them out there, sitting on the The big double span over the Kill Brook is on first year here, one of the things they wanted aqueduct. Inside the weir chamber, we lined our patch, it’s so unique. And it used to be me to do was, since I was a junior patrolman, up the entire SWAT team inside that door, quite the social place a hundred years ago to was check the aqueduct to make sure no kids and we had the two sergeants standing on a

94 95 Section 4: Conclusion Introduction Key Players Section 4: Conclusion

While the Croton Waterworks studio project was only a semester-long undertaking, there is System-Wide Partners the NYS Department of Parks and Recreation. much more work that can be done to further ensure the protection of the system. Our research NYC Department of Environmental The trail begins on the south side of the New and analysis informed our preservation plan and interpretive schemes. We have outlined short- Protection: Croton Dam, farthest from the spillway, and and long-term approaches, best-practice methods, and platforms to encourage preservationists The Department of Environmental Protection works its way down following the path the and partner organizations to build upon this work. The following section attempts to frame the is a governmental agency that now oversees aqueduct took from the dam to New York City. continuation of our work by making a variety of resources available. First, we have listed the all aspects of the Croton waterworks, includ- The trail offers a scenic walk from Northern “key players” and stakeholders involved in the future of the Croton Waterworks, with the hope ing maintenance, protection, conservation, Westchester County to New York City. of connecting all interested parties so that partnerships can form between stakeholders. The and construction of new infrastructure (i.e., subsequent section provides information regarding funding sources, preservation initiatives, the Water Treatment Plant in Van Cortlandt New York/ Trail Conference and strategies suited to the Waterworks. The next section outlines our online forums, including Park) related to the regulation of the New York (Old Croton Aqueduct State Historic Park): the Croton Waterworks website and the Croton Conversations online discussion page. These City water supply system. Prior to the forma- The New York-New Jersey Trail Conference is a tools have illustrated the wide range of interest in the future of the Waterworks and will continue tion of the DEP in 1978, numerous commis- not-for-profit organization that has been part- Key Players to engage interested parties. Lastly, our glossary serves as a synthesized collection of key terms sions and agencies had been formed as early nering with parks since the 1920s to create, for easy understanding of the extensive components of the Croton Waterworks system. as the 1830s that were focused on providing protect, and promote a network of over 1,700 This project has opened our eyes to the value of historic infrastructure and the impor- and regulating water for New York City: miles of public hiking (including the tance of protecting and preserving systems such as the Croton Waterworks. Therefore, we would 1833: State Water Commission formed various hiking trails that run along the Croton very much like to see the “Croton Conversation” kept open, and for further surveying and re- 1849: The State Water Commission was Waterworks) in the New York/New Jersey met- search to build upon our work, ultimately leading to the development of more comprehensive disbanded and the Croton Aqueduct Board ropolitan area. maintenance and interpretive plans for the system as a whole. established website: http://www.nynjtc.org/park/ 1870: Department of Water Works super- old-croton-aqueduct-state-historic-park sedes the Croton Aqueduct Board 1883: New York City establishes the Board Westchester-Area Partners of Aqueduct Commissioners Friends of the Old Croton Aqueduct 1905: The Board of Water Supply was cre- (Westchester): ated by the state legislature The Friends of the Old Croton Aqueduct is a 1978: Department of Environmental private, not-for-profit, volunteer organization Protection established that was formed to protect and preserve the The DEP is also the main guardian of most Old Croton Aqueduct and trail. The mission of the archival material pertaining to the of the Friends is to act as the public voice New York City Water supply and the Croton of the Aqueduct and raise public awareness Waterworks. about the system, to serve as an information website: http://www.nyc.gov/html/dep/html/ resource for those who want to learn more home/home.shtml about the Aqueduct, and to secure resources that will aid in the preservation of the historic New York State Office of Parks, Recreation greenway for years to come. & Historic Preservation (Old Croton The Friends carry out their mission Aqueduct State Historic Park): through various mediums, such as sponsored The segment of the Old Croton Aqueduct talks, guide-led walks on the trail, tours in- trailway located in the Old Croton Aqueduct side the Aqueduct tunnel in Ossining, and State Historic Park is owned and managed by events such as Aquafest, a two-day festival

98 99 Section 4: Conclusion that celebrates the Croton Aqueduct with promote the joys of running. The Runners Hastings-On-Hudson, Dobbs Ferry and (1972) tours, live music, and children’s activities. The make use of the parts of the Old Croton Yonkers), the Old Croton Aqueduct trailway 6. 135th Street Gatehouse, National Friends of the Old Croton Aqueduct have also Aqueduct trailway that run through the river serves as a key recreational attraction. Register of Historic Places (1983) published a map detailing the route of the towns along the Hudson River. website: www.hudsonriver.com 7. The Old Croton Dam Site, National Croton Aqueduct trail and attractions along Rivertown Runners Register of Historic Places (1973) the way. An ongoing project is the restoration P.O. Box 8384 Rivertowns Guide (Westchester): and adaptive reuse of the keeper’s house in Sleepy Hollow, NY 10591 This is a resource guide geared toward chil- Individual Site Partners Dobbs Ferry into a visitors center, and the website: www.rivertownrunners.org dren and families living in towns along the Croton Friends of History Friends also play an active role in the High Hudson River. The online guide provides users (Croton-On-Hudson): Bridge Coalition, working to gather support Historic Hudson Valley (Westchester): with information on various recreational, arts, This group was started in 2002, when a group of the restoration and reopening of the High Historic Hudson Valley is a not-for-profit, and cultural events and activities going on of citizens of Croton-On-Hudson who shared Bridge and adjacent parks. educational organization that celebrates the in the area; restaurant listings; local blogs; an interest in the local history of Croton and history, architecture, landscape, and mate- shopping guides; and a list of resources for the surrounding areas within the Hudson Groundwork Hudson Valley (Westchester): rial culture of the Hudson Valley through the parents with children (with school information, Valley got together. The Croton Friends of

Groundwork Hudson Valley is an environ- preservation, restoration, interpretation, and children’s activity listings, classes, birthday History is a not-for-profit organization whose Key Players mental justice nonprofit that works with promotion of various historic landmarks for party resources, and so on). purpose is to encourage the sharing of in- communities to improve their physical and public enjoyment. The Croton Waterworks and website: http://www.rivertownsguide.com/ terest in various historical topics through social environment. Groundwork Hudson its various auxiliary components serve as a lectures, discussions, and newsletters. The Valley is currently leading an environmental unique component of the Hudson Valley land- National Park Service (Westchester to history of the Croton Waterworks is strongly justice initiative to reclaim the section of scape, and is one of many historic landmarks Highbridge Park, Bronx): intertwined in the history of Croton-on-Hudson the Old Croton Aqueduct State Historic Park that the organization works toward promoting The National Park Service is a U.S. federal and the surrounding villages and towns, and that runs through Yonkers. In Yonkers, the and preserving. agency that manages all national parks, serves as a major topic of interest for the Aqueduct trail is underutilized and its upkeep Historic Hudson Valley national monuments, and various conserva- Croton Friends of History. is neglected, making it hard for community 150 White Plains Road tion and historical properties of varying signifi- Croton Friends of History members to utilize the trail as other towns Tarrytown, NY 10591 cance. The National Park Service has listed P.O. Box 193 along the Hudson River have done. The goal website: www.hudsonvalley.org several components as well as stretches of Croton-on-Hudson of the initiative is to reconnect the communi- the Croton Waterworks on their list of National New York 10520 ties in Yonkers with the Aqueduct trail and Historic Hudson River Towns Historic Landmarks and on the National website: http://www.crotonfriendsofhistory. to work toward the cleanup, improvement, (Westchester): Register of Historic Places. These designa- org/ and long-term utilization of this section of the Meant primarily as a way of promoting and tions afford certain federal protections to the Aqueduct. increasing awareness of the amazing aspects Croton Aqueduct. Village of Ossining (NYS Heritage Area Groundwork Hudson Valley of the many historic towns located along 1. High Pumping Station, National Register Museum): 22 Main Street, 2nd Floor the Hudson River, the Historic Hudson River of Historic Places (1983) The town of Ossining, located in Westchester Yonkers, NY 10701 Towns is an online consortium of communi- 2. Jerome Park Reservoir, National County, is home to the Village of Ossining website: www.groundworkhv.org ties located on the east and west banks of Register of Historic Places (2000) Museum, a New York State Heritage Area the Hudson River extending from Yonkers to 3. Old Croton Aqueduct, National Register Museum focused on the history of the Croton Rivertown Runners (Westchester): Albany. Each community within the consor- of Historic Places (1974) Waterworks and the Sing Sing Prison. Rivertown Runners is an organization that tium has an online page that provides visitors 4. Old Croton Aqueduct running from Village of Ossining Museum organizes community running events for its with town history as well as tourism informa- Croton to New York City, National Historic 95 members and other runners in the towns tion for each location. For most of the historic Landmark in (1992) Ossining, NY 10562 along the Hudson River. The main goal is to river towns along the Hudson River (Croton- 5. The High Bridge Aqueduct and Water website: http://www.villageofossining.org/Cit- raise money to benefit local charities and to On-Hudson, Ossining, Tarrytown, Irvington, Tower, National Register of Historic Places e-Access/webpage.cfm?TID=24&TPID=3536

100 101 Section 4: Conclusion New York City Partners: Citywide an exposed section of the aqueduct tunnel. Harvey Marshall Berling Associates. New York City Department of Parks and websites: http://vcpark.org/park/features/ website: http://harlemstage.org/ Recreation: old_croton_aqueduct_trail.html; see also New York City’s Department of Parks and http://www.nycgovparks.org/sub_your_park/ Potential Partners Recreation is in charge of the Old Croton virtual_tour/croton_aqueduct/index.html Some potential partners along the Croton Aqueduct Trailway, the segment of the Croton Waterworks are the New York City MTA and aqueduct that runs through the Bronx and New York City Partners: The Bronx MetroNorth Railroad. Both of these trans- Manhattan. Amsterdam Nursing Home (113th Street portation systems could work in conjunction website: http://www.nycgovparks.org/sub_ Gatehouse, Manhattan): with other agencies to raise awareness of your_park/virtual_tour/croton_aqueduct/ The Amsterdam Nursing Home operates as a the Croton Waterworks by displaying posters index.html residence for older adults and is located on to advertize the Aqueduct in trains/subway Amsterdam Avenue and 112th Street in the cars as well as providing directions on how to High Bridge Coalition: Morningside Heights section of Manhattan. reach the various components/key features Since 2001, the High Bridge Coalition—an The Adult Day Health Care Program, a pro- along the system. Two other potential partners

alliance of various public agencies, nonprofit gram established by the nursing home to as- are Columbia University and the New York Key Players organizations, community leaders, residents, sist older people who are able to live at home Public Library. The 119th Street Gatehouse and individuals—has been leading a New York but require special assistance, is housed in is located across the street from Columbia City–wide campaign to restore and reopen the the 113th Street Gatehouse. The nursing University on Amsterdam Avenue, and the High Bridge and its adjacent parks for public home adaptively reused the 113th street fragments of the Murray Hill Reservoir— use. Due to the hard work and dedication Gatehouse, carrying out an extensive renova- the distributing reservoir of the Old Croton of the High Bridge Coalition and its various tion program that restored much of the struc- Aqueduct—still reside in the lower levels of partners and constituents, the High Bridge is ture’s exterior. the building. If any type of adaptive reuse or slated to be restored and reopened for public Amsterdam Nursing Home interpretation project were to be pursued in use by 2013. 1060 Amsterdam Avenue the future, it would be beneficial to have these website: http://www.nycgovparks.org/sub_ New York, NY 10025 organizations as partners. your_park/highbridge/html/hb_coalition_pro- website: http://www.amsterdamcares.org/ grams.html Harlem Stage (135th Street Gatehouse, New York City Partners: The Bronx Manhattan): The Van Cortlandt Park Conservancy: Harlem Stage is a performing arts organi- Right: Map showing stakeholders and partnerships for the Croton Waterworks Van Cortlandt Park, the fourth-largest park zation that works to develop, support, and in New York, once served as the right-of-way promote new works by artists of color in and for the Old Croton Aqueduct. The Old Croton around New York City as well as around the Aqueduct Trailway, operated by the New York world. They also provide multicultural arts- City Department of Parks and Recreation, education programming for children and is a walking trail that follows the path the families in and around New York City. In 2006, Aqueduct took as it traveled through the Bronx the Harlem Stage moved their headquar- and Manhattan. A segment of this trail cuts ters into the adaptively reused 135th Street through Van Cortlandt Park, extending for 1.1 Gatehouse. Restoration and adaptive reuse miles and providing users with an understand- of the structure was carried out by Ohlhausen ing of how the aqueduct engages the land- Dubois Architects, working with Wank Adams scape as well as views of a weir building and Slavin Associates and the theater design firm

102 103 Section 4: Conclusion Possible Funding Sources private, non-profit organization geared toward various partners and constituents, the High the preservation of historic places, offers Bridge is slated to be restored and reopened multiple grants awarded to non-profit organi- for public use by 2013. Partnering with any Federal Grants Lore has successfully used funding from this zations and public agencies that could be of these organizations could greatly augment Many federal grants are available to non-profit program in New York City preservation pro- used toward the stewardship of the system. any efforts to maintain, rehabilitate, and projects focused on parks and transporta- jects in the past. First, the National Trust Preservation Fund is a spread awareness about the historical, cul- tion. The National Park Service offers the The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation matching grant of $500 to $5000, dedicated tural/social, and architectural significance of Save America’s Treasures Grant Program. This supplies funding for projects related to con- to preservation planning and education. The the Croton Waterworks. grant program provides funding for preser- servation and the environment, which could second possible fund is the Johanna Favrot vation and conservation work on nationally be useful in restoring the historic landscape of Fund for Historic Preservation, which is geared Neighborhood significant intellectual and cultural artifacts, the Croton trail and its many parks and natu- toward National Historic Landmarks and pro- Neighborhood organizations could be used and historic structures and sites, and could be ral features. vides grants ranging from $2,500 to $10,000 in gaining support for Croton projects; some used toward the stewardship of various as- A few other sources of funding that to contribute to the preservation or the recap- of this support could perhaps be financial. If pects of the Croton Waterworks. The Depart- have already aided with the High Line pro- ture of an authentic sense of place. neighborhood organizations are invested in ment of Transportation offers the Transporta- ject in Chelsea are the Ford Foundation and The last fund for which the Waterworks our projects, individual community members Funding tion Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21) The New York Community Trust. The Ford might be eligible is the Cynthia Woods Mitch- as well as local businesses could learn about grant. This grant, often associated with high- Foundation has rather general guidelines for ell Fund for Historic Interiors, which provides the projects and invest through neighborhood ways, can also be applied to recreational trails its grants, which are awarded in a variety of between $2,500 to $10,000 toward the pres- meetings. Examples of some organizations we and has precedence related to the Croton disciplines. The New York Community Trust ervation, restoration, and interpretation of could reach out to are the following: Waterworks, as it is being used by the Friends donates money to aid projects involving com- historic interiors. This fund in particular could 1. Morningside Heights Residents Associa- of the Old Croton Aqueduct for their restora- munity development and the environment. be used to restore and reinterpret a struc- tion tion of the Keeper’s House in Dobbs Ferry. Funding from this organization would likely ture’s interior such as the High Bridge Water 2. Bronx Coalition of Parks and Green A similar grant that could be utilized for benefit site-specific projects more than holistic Tower or the Dobbs Ferry Keeper’s House. Spaces the rehabilitation of Croton structures is the projects, and would depend on how individual Each of these grants is specifically tailored 3. Friends of Jerome Park Reservoir Recreational Trails Program grants. Sponsored site projects would benefit their respective for supporting educational initiatives and 4. Friends of Van Cortlandt Park by the Federal Highway Administration, this communities. programming that will raise awareness about 5. Federated Conservationists of Westch- grant is given to states in order to rehabilitate Other large businesses such as Coca the Waterworks, while also maintaining and ester County trails. It could also be used to acquire ease- Cola also have funding available for non-profit rehabilitating various landmarked properties. ments, which may be beneficial to the Croton projects. The Coca Cola Foundation awards Other organizations that could be New York City Organizations Waterworks when considering issues such as money for projects related to water and the strong sources of support and that are al- Aside from the Department of Transporta- encroachment on the historic viewshed. provision of clean drinking water, and its water ready working toward the preservation of dif- tion as a potential funder on the federal level, stewardship funding is also available to pro- ferent segments of the Croton Waterworks are the New York City Department of Transporta- Private Business jects that promote water conservation through Groundwork Hudson Valley, Historic Hudson tion could help subsidize the cost of adding A crucial component of funding the rehabili- education. This foundation could possibly aid Valley, and the High Bridge Coalition. More signage on the sidewalks of New York City. tation, maintenance, and interpretation of Cro- our endeavors in designing and implementing information on the work of these organiza- They would be able to provide good deals on ton structures would be to have some private a Croton-based educational curriculum. tions is included in the Partners section of signage if we worked in conjunction with them business backing. One organization that may this book. on some of our projects. Our medium-sized be useful would be American Express, which Cultural/Nonprofit Funding Lastly, the High Bridge Coalition has signage project and the blue Croton trail line in partnership with the National Trust for Obtaining funding from cultural and non-profit been leading a New York City-wide campaign are two examples of projects that we could do Historic Preservation has formed the Partners organizations would be another way to sup- to restore and reopen the High Bridge and its with the City Department of Transportation. in Preservation Initiative. This is a five-year port the rehabilitation, maintenance, and adjacent parks for public use. Due to the hard Similarly, the Department of Parks would be initiative in its final year that aims to preserve interpretation of the Croton Waterworks. The work and dedication of the Coalition and its a very useful partner in subsidizing initiatives historic places across the United States. City National Trust for Historic Preservation, a

104 105 Section 4: Conclusion on parkland, which is often adjacent to Croton Online Forum Analysis and Conclusions structures. The rehabilitation of the Croton Water- works and, more importantly, the reinstate- The online forums that our group initiated were very effective: the number of visitors to our main ment of many of its elements of beautification Croton Waterworks website grew from 329 people in March 2011 to 622 in April 2011, translat- would fit into Mayor Bloomberg’s New York ing to an increase from 11 to 21 daily visitors on average. Our e-mail campaign method of audi- City PlaNYC initiative. The PlaNYC program’s ence targeting generated a significant increase in both blog and website traffic, surging from an vision is to provide a better standard of living average of 88 visits cper week to 238 visits per week after the initial launch was sent. Following to New Yorkers as the population continues the second e-mail campaign, the visitation activity on the Croton Conversations page skyrock- to increase. One major component of this eted to 98 visits in one day, versus 10 visits on the day prior and 3 visits on the day before that. project is to provide support for the expansion Likewise, activity on the Croton Waterworks page increased by a remarkable 170 percent for of New York City green space. The program the week after the second e-mail campaign was distributed. Posting activity also correlated and has already resulted in financial backing for increased with our subsequent second and third e-mail campaigns. The most effective portal to the restoration of the High Bridge, and further both the Croton Waterworks page and the Croton Conversations page was Facebook. The Croton Conversations page was the second-most-effective portal to the main Croton Waterworks page. funding could likely be used for future Croton Online Forum Analysis and Conclusions projects. These results not only reinforce the efficacy of our efforts, but they also demonstrate the potential for raising awareness and advocacy beyond the local community. Furthermore, e-mail campaigning provides a means for work to continue with Croton following the conclusion of the Columbia studio project. We have created a template for future mailings, so that if and when someone inherits this project, they can simply input a question in the allocated space and dis- tribute it to the mailing list. There is also flexibility for more e-mail addresses to be added to the distribution list. The quantifiable results of these digital approaches are evident in the numbers we’ve reported. There is also much to be said for the intangible benefits that these sites have fostered: they have and are still raising awareness of the Croton Waterworks. Awareness is at the heart of our mission because it is a key step to advocating for the protection of the system.

106 107 Section 4: Conclusion Croton Waterworks Website Statistics Croton Waterworks Site Months and Years Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Total 2011 7 329 622 72 1,030 Average per Day Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Overall 2011 0 11 21 12 12 Recent Weeks Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Sun Total Average Change Mar 28 Mar 29 Mar 30 Mar 31 Apr 1 Apr 2 Apr 3

51 48 13 19 4 10 6 151 22

Apr 4 Apr 5 Apr 6 Apr 7 Apr 8 Apr 9 Apr 10 Website Statistics

39 26 46 10 21 27 42 211 30 +39.74% Apr 11 Apr 12 Apr 13 Apr 14 Apr 15 Apr 16 Apr 17

23 14 13 19 9 0 10 88 13 -58.29% Apr 18 Apr 19 Apr 20 Apr 21 Apr 22 Apr 23 Apr 24

24 21 13 17 10 2 1 88 13 0% Apr 25 Apr 26 Apr 27 Apr 28 Apr 29 Apr 30 May 1

29 88 37 45 4 12 23 238 34 +170.45% May 2 May 3 May 4 May 5

10 13 1 25 49 8 -76.47%

Top Left: Number of Visits to the Croton Waterworks website per day

Bottom Left: Number of Visits to the Croton Waterworks website per week

Top Right: Croton Waterworks website visitation data

108 109 Section 4: Conclusion Croton Conversations Statistics Croton Conversations Forum Months and Years Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Total 2011 254 107 361 Average per Day Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Overall 2011 21 20 21 Recent Weeks Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Sun Total Average Change Apr 18 Apr 19 Apr 20 Apr 21 Apr 22 Apr 23 Apr 24

0 1 32 27 31 10 3 104 15 ∞

Apr 25 Apr 26 Apr 27 Apr 28 Apr 29 Apr 30 May 1 Website Statistics

10 98 21 13 2 6 2 152 22 +46.15% May 2 May 3 May 4 May 5 May 6

32 22 1 41 9 105 24 +10.53%

Top Left: Number of participants in the Croton Conversations per day

Bottom Left: Number of participants in the Croton Conversations per week

Top Right: Croton Conversations site-visitation data

110 111 Section 4: Conclusion reservoirs and dams (Amawalk, Bog Brook, E Glossary Boyd's Corner, Cross River, Croton Falls, East Egyptian Revival: An architectural style that Branch, Middle Branch, Muscoot, New Croton, uses motifs and imagery from Ancient Egypt. A elevated path that encases the system's pipes Titicus, West Branch) and four controlled American Society of Civil Engineers Landmark: underneath. lakes (Cross River, the east and west branch- embankment: An artificial raised bank of land Structures, projects, and/or sites that have es of the Croton River, and the New Croton used to serve as a water barrier. been designated by the American Society of Board of Water Supply: Created by the New Dam) that supply drinking water via aqueduct Civil Engineers as being significant feats of York State legislature in 1905 to replace the to New York City. F engineering and construction. Board of Aqueduct Commissioners. forebay: Found in the Central Park South culvert: Stone-arched openings built into Gatehouse; A small reservoir at the head of Aquafest: A two-day festival organized by the C the base of aboveground portions of the Old a pipeline through which water passes from Friends of the Old Croton Aqueduct in celebra- conduit: A tunnel or channel for carrying water Croton Aqueduct that allowed streams or the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Reservoir tion of the Old Croton Aqueduct. or other fluids. other preexisting bodies of water to flow un- into pipes that distribute water along the main derneath the conduit. avenues into lower Manhattan. Aqueduct Commission: Created by the pas- cornice: An ornamental, horizontal molding or Glossary sage of “An Act for the Appointment of band that completes a building or wall. cyclopean masonry: A type of stonework found fortress style: Resembling a fort or a fortified Commissioners in Relation to Supplying the in Mycenaean architecture; Huge unworked structure. City of New York with Pure and Wholesome Croton Aqueduct Board: Superseded the State boulders, usually of limestone, are roughly Water," by the New York State Legislature on Water Commission; The first board was estab- put together with minimal clearance between G February 26, 1833. lished in 1833 with the task of providing New adjacent stones and held together without the gabbro: A large, coarse-grained, igneous rock. York City with fresh water, and was disbanded use of mortar. Aqueduct Commissioners: Appointed in in 1849. gatehouse: Large structures located along the 1833 by New York Governor William Marcy; D Croton Waterworks that provide access to the Commissioners included grocer Charles “Croton War”: As many as one thousand Irish dam: A structural barrier that impounds or underground conduit pipes. Dusenberry, hardware merchant Benjamin M. laborers gathered on Thursday, April 2, 1840, retains water. Brown, Whig William W. Fox, retired merchant to protest for higher wages, bullying and fight- girder arch: An H-section steel girder bent to a Saul Alley, and ex-senator Stephen Allen. ing anyone who crossed their picket line. The Department of Water Works: Superseded the circular shape. following Monday, New York City Mayor Isaac Croton Aqueduct Board in 1870. B Varian sent up about one hundred troops to Gothic: In reference to the Croton Waterworks, backbay: Found in the Central Park put down the protest, but found laborers and distributing reservoir: A reservoir from which gothic refers to one of the many architectural Gatehouse; Works in conjunction with a their families taking a few days off. They were water is distributed; In the Croton Waterworks styles used in the construction of the struc- forebay in order to receive water from both able to chase down two "would-be rabble system, distributing reservoirs were the final tural components comprising the aqueduct sides of the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis rousers," whom they arrested. The bloodless stop before water was distributed to individual system. Reservoir, allowing one side of the reservoir to Croton War was a laughingstock. New York City neighborhoods. be drained for repairs while water distribution gravity-fed system: A water system designed continued from the other. Croton Water Filtration Plant: A water puri- Douglass, David Bates: Conducted sur- to be operated by the force of gravity. fication and filtration plant currently being veys and determined the course and ba- beltcourse: A continuous row/layer of stones constructed in Van Cortlandt Park beneath sic shape for the Old Croton Aqueduct; Great Fire of 1835: Occurred on December or bricks in a wall. the Mosholu Golf Course in the Bronx to filter Douglass planned many of the prominent 16th and 17th, 1835; Fifty acres and seven- water coming through the aqueduct tunnel structures of the system before disputes teen blocks burned in downtown Manhattan, berm: Generally speaking, a space that sepa- from the . with Commissioner Stephen Allen led to his leaving two dead and more than five hundred rates two distinct areas; In regards to the Old dismissal. buildings destroyed. What little water there Croton Aqueduct, the berm functions as an Croton Watershed: Consists of twelve

112 113 Section 4: Conclusion was for fighting the fire in storage tanks was Douglass, Jervis managed the building of the New Croton Aqueduct: Opened on July 15, architectural element. frozen solid in the unseasonably cold weather. Old Croton Aqueduct from 1836 to 1842, re- 1890, to increase water supply to New York maining as chief engineer until the completion City; Runs roughly parallel to the Old Croton Pont du Gard: An ancient Roman aqueduct H of the High Bridge in 1848. Aqueduct. bridge that runs across the Gard River located High Service Reservoir: A reservoir that pro- in southern France. The Pont du Gard was a vided an emergency supply of water to areas K New York City Landmark: A building, struc- component of the Nîmes Aqueduct, a large located at higher elevations than the Croton keeper’s house: One of the fairly modest ture, district, or site that is designated by gravity- fed water system built between 40–60 Dam. homes built for caretakers in charge of a spe- the New York City Landmarks Preservation A.D to supply fresh water to the ancient city of cific region along the Old Croton Aqueduct. Commission as having great significance. Nîmes. The design of the High Bridge compo- Historic American Engineering Record (HAER): nent of the Croton Waterworks was meant to A program established in 1969 by the M New York City Scenic Landmark: A landscape, resemble a Roman aqueduct, of which Pont National Park Service, the American Society of Manhattan Water Company: Established site, or viewshed deemed by the New York du Gard is a prime example. Civil Engineers and the Library of Congress to ostensibly to supply much-needed pure water City Landmarks Commission as having great document historic sites and structures related to New York City by Aaron Burr in 1799, who cultural and/or historical significance. pumping station: A facility used to pump water

to engineering. Such sites include: bridges, also opened a bank under the same name; It from one place to another; Within the Croton Glossary ships and steel works as well as railroads, ultimately failed as a bank, but now survives O Waterworks, pumping stations were usually canals, parkways, roads and other types of under the name of J.P. Morgan Chase. Old Croton Aqueduct: Opened on October constructed adjacent to water towers as an industrial/engineering related structures. 14, 1842, as a forty-one-mile-long aqueduct essential mechanism for pumping water to Metropolitan Waterworks Museum (Boston): bringing water to New York City from the high-elevation areas. These stations included hydrofracking: Short for “hydraulic fractur- Opened on Beacon Street on March 27, Croton River in Westchester County; Became engines that were capable of pumping approx- ing”; A process that results in the creation of 2011, to display information about the Boston a National Historic Landmark in 1992. imately ten- to twelve-million gallons of water fractures in rocks. This fracturing is done from Waterworks. each day. a hole drilled into reservoir rock formations Old Croton Aqueduct State Historic Park: A to increase the rate and recovery of oil and N linear park that runs from Van Cortlandt Park Q natural gas. National Heritage Area (NHA): A site desig- in the Bronx to the Croton Dam in Croton QR (quick response) code: A two-dimensional nated by Congress, intended to encourage -on-Hudson. bar code encoded with information that is I historic preservation of the area designated readable by QR barcode readers and smart- inverted siphon: A pressure pipeline that by involving communities in which the site is Old Croton Dam: Completed by John B. Jervis phonessmart phones. carries water downhill, then uphill again in a located; There are currently forty-nine NHAs in in 1842, but later submerged underwater U-shaped trajectory; The rising liquid at the the United States. after the construction of the New Croton Dam R bottom of the U pushes the liquid in front of it in 1905; Now located about thirty feet below Renwick, Jr., James: A prominent American uphill to continue flowing on the other side by National Historic Landmark: A site, structure, the water's surface in the new dam. architect who worked as an assistant engi- means of gravity. district, or building that is officially recog- neer during the construction of the Old Croton nized by the U.S. Government for its historical P Aqueduct system. Italianate: Refers to a popular architectural significance. Currently there are fewer than Panic of 1837: An economic depression built style during the 1840s and 1850s that was 2,500 NHLs. on speculative fever that started on May 10, receiving reservoir: One of two types of reser- also the architectural style of the keepers’ 1837, when the bubble burst in New York voirs utilized in the Croton system; Receiving houses, important structures built along the National Register of Historic Places: A list of City; The Panic was followed by six years of reservoirs were intermediate reservoirs, Old Croton Aqueduct. districts, sites, buildings, structures, and ob- depression. located downstream, that could offer an jects worthy of preservation and listed as such emergency supply of water in the case of the J by the U.S. Government. pilaster: A slightly projecting, rectangular col- system’s failure. Jervis, John Bloomfield: The successor to umn applied to the face of a wall; A decorative Romanesque Revival: An architectural style

114 115 Section 4: Conclusion used in the mid nineteenth century that was Hall, the Democratic Party political machine the Croton Waterworks, water towers served inspired by the Romanesque architecture of that greatly influenced politics in New York as booster towers, supplying enough water the eleventh and twelfth centuries. City and State during the nineteenth century. pressure in order to provide neighborhoods at During his time as mayor of New York City, he higher elevations with water. was involved in many corruption scandals. In screw gates: Valves located in weir struc- relation to the Croton Waterworks, Tweed and weir: One of several small structures that were tures like the New Ossining Weir that allow his friends would buy up undeveloped proper- built over or next to the Croton Waterworks for the release of water from a section of the ties in the Upper East Side, especially in the conduits, allowing weir tenders to regulated aqueduct. areas of Yorkville and Harlem. He would use the flow of water through the aqueduct tunnel. city resources to give improvements—such shaft: An underground vertical passageway; as installing pipes to bring in water from the World Heritage Site (WHS): A place, structure, Shafts are a building typology introduced Croton Aqueduct—to these areas, which in- or natural landscape (such as a forest, moun- to the New Croton Aqueduct conduit. These creased the value of the land. After the im- tain, desert, city, or monument) that has been structures filled the niche of the Old Croton provements were made he would sell the land designated by the United Nations Educational,

Aqueduct’s ventilators in providing circulation and take the profits for himself. Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Glossary to the water underneath. More importantly, as having cultural or physical significance. they also provided access for workers to the underground conduit so that repairs could be ventilators: Chimney-like structures, ranging made. between approximately fourteen and twenty feet in height, that were built along the path of siphon: A pressure pipeline that carries water the Old Croton Aqueduct’s conduit; They were uphill then downhill again on an upside-down, designed to relieve the buildup of potentially U-shaped trajectory. The falling liquid at the destructive pressure within the tunnels, and top of the U pushes the liquid in front of it to allow the precious water to breathe. uphill to continue flowing on the other side by means of gravity. viewshed: The natural environment that is vis- ible from one or more viewing points. spillway: A channel for the overflow of water from a reservoir, dam, or levee. voussoir: A wedge-shaped element used in a building arch. stopcock: A value used to stop the flow of liquid or gas through a pipe. wasteway: A channel for conveying or dis- stop planks: A set of planks used to form charging excess water. a dam in a hydraulic system. In the New Ossining Weir, stop planks were used to com- watershed: An area of land where all of the pletely block the flow of water in the aqueduct water that is under it or drains off of it goes tunnel. into the same place.

water tower: A vertical structure into which Tweed, William “Boss”: An American politician water is pumped to an appropriate height in most known for being the "boss" of Tammany order to provide adequate water pressure; In

116 117 Croton Waterworks Structure Guide Appendix

The following pages constitute a list of all structures connected with the Croton Water- works. In addition to a brief description, for each structure the list identifies typology, area(s) and degree(s) of significance, existing interpretation, signage recommendations, and designation status. Structure Guide In assigning our different sign types to Croton sites we took into account the size of the structures and their locations so as to not overwhelm the sites and their respective environ- ments, as well as their levels of evaluated significance and proximity to other site signage. Over- all, we envision a kinesthetic scheme of primarily small (QR barcode) and medium signs along the Croton Waterworks, with the largest and most significant structures in the system receiving the large signs.

Also of note, designations are only noted for specific structures listed in the relevant des- ignation report.

1 Structure Guide Legend

Typologies Significances Low/High Degree of Bridges / Engineering Significance

Low/High Degree of Culverts / Architectural Significance

Dams Low/High Degree of / Landscaping Significance

Fountains Low/High Degree of Social / and Cultural Significance Gatehouses Interpretation

Headhouses On-Site

Keeper’s Houses Off-Site

Parks Unknown

Reservoirs Sign Proposals Small Sign Shafts Medium Sign Large Sign Siphons Designations Support National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark Ventilators National Historic Landmark Water Towers and Pumping Stations National Register of Historic Places Weirs New York City Landmark

2 Appendix KEEPER’S HOUSE 1866 86TH STREET KEEPER’S HOUSE STABLE (Demolished 1935) 1869-1872 Plate 32-9, Old Croton Aqueduct Plate 32-10, Old Croton Aqueduct

A three story stone dwelling with a neat land- Designed by Calvert Vaux’s associate, Jacob scaped lot, this structure provided a home for Wrey Mould, the low triangular stable complex the overseer of the Central Park reservoirs. had a gateway facing the 86th Street trans-

It was located on the south side of the 86th verse in Central Park. The stable was built to Structure Guide Street transverse between a stable and shop. accommodate 30 horses.

For more information, see fiche on page XXX. Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign

Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign

Current Designation(s)

Current Designation(s) 93RD STREET GATEHOUSE 1876 (Demolished) 86TH STREET KEEPER’S HOUSE SHOP Plate 32-1, Old Croton Aqueduct 1869-1872 Plate 32-8, Old Croton Aqueduct The 93rd Street Gatehouse controlled the out- let of water from six pipes buried in conjunc- A mix of brick, cast-iron and stone, the shop tion with the removal of the masonry conduit was a part of a triptych of structures for the in Clendenning Valley between 92nd and overseer in Central Park. Like most of the 113th Streets. service buildings in the park, it was screened from view by a depressed roadway. Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign

Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign

Current Designation(s)

Current Designation(s)

3 98TH STREET HIGH SERVICE WORKS 1879 119TH STREET GATEHOUSE 1894-1895 (Demolished) Plate 30-6, Old Croton Aqueduct Plate 30-10, Old Croton Aqueduct The existing 119th Street Gatehouse replaced Dressed in Wyoming Valley blue sandstone, one built in the center of Amsterdam Avenue. the coal powered High Service Works on 98th Like its predecessor, it provided an outlet for Street was tasked with raising water 100 feet the water under pressure in the Manhattan high. The accompanying tower was 170 feet Valley Siphon, and regulated the movement of high with a six foot diameter stand pipe. water to southern Manhattan.

Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign For more information, see fiche on page XXX.

Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign

Current Designation(s)

Current Designation(s) 113TH STREET GATEHOUSE 1876 (Adaptive Reuse - Amsterdam Nursing Home) Plate 30-8, Old Croton Aqueduct 119TH STREET GATEHOUSE c 1840 (Demolished) Constructed in conjunction with the removal Plate 30-7, Old Croton Aqueduct of the masonry conduit in Clendenning Val- ley between 92nd and 113th Streets, the Located in the middle of Amsterdam Avenue, 113th Street Gatehouse controlled the inlet of the original 119th Street Gatehouse regulated water from six lines of pipes sunk beneath the the southern outlet of the ground. Siphon.

For more information, see fiche on page XXX. Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign

Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign

Current Designation(s)

Current Designation(s)

4 Appendix 135TH STREET GATEHOUSE 1884-1890 179TH STREET HIGH SERVICE WORKS 1894 (Adaptive Reuse - Harlem Stage) (Demolished) Plate 30-12, Old/ New Croton Aqueduct Plate 29B-, New Croton Aqueduct

As one of the more architecturally expressive An addition to the High Service Works at High gatehouses, the 135th Street Gatehouse was Bridge, this somber stone and brick Roman- constructed to receive water from both the Old esque Revival engine house and tower was and New Croton Aqueducts, and regulate its sited near Shaft 25. Six machines powered Structure Guide distribution to Manhattan. In the case of the by coal, were capable of pumping 14 million New Croton Aqueduct, the gatehouse served gallons a day. as the terminus of the conduit and the begin- ning of the pipe line. Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign

For more information, see fiche on page XXX.

Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign Current Designation(s)

AMAWALK AUXILLARY DAM 1897 Current Designation(s) Plate 9-, New Croton Aqueduct

Earthen with a length of 400 feet and height 142ND STREET GATEHOUSE c 1840 of 25 feet, the Amawalk Auxiliary Dam is sited (Demolished) on the west side of the . Plate 30-5, Old Croton Aqueduct For more information, see fiche on page XXX. In conjunction with a gatehouse near 135th Street in the center of Amsterdam Avenue, the Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign 142nd Street Gatehouse regulated the north- ern inlet of the Manhattan Valley Siphon.

Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign Current Designation(s)

Current Designation(s)

5 AMAWALK DAM 1897 Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign Plate 9-, New Croton Aqueduct

Earthen with a masonry core, the Amawalk Dam runs across a valley of the . Its length is 1270 feet with a height Current Designation(s) of 82 feet. The earthen portion of the dam is broken by a 50 foot spillway with an ogee AMAWALK RESERVOIR 1889-1896 curve profile. Plate 9-, New Croton Aqueduct For more information, see fiche on page XXX. Formed by impounding the middle of the Muscoot River, the Amawalk Reservoir has Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign a capacity of 6.7 billion gallons of water. It is named after the town of Amawalk, which was submerged when the reservoir was construct- ed. Current Designation(s) For more information, see fiche on page XXX.

AMAWALK FOUNTAIN 1897 Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign Plate 9-, New Croton Aqueduct

Aeration is achieved with this 50 foot diam- eter fountain. From the fountain-basin, water flows to the channel of the spillway. Current Designation(s)

Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign AMAWALK TOWER 1889-1896 Plate 9-, New Croton Aqueduct

A 32 X 34 foot tower, located near the base of Current Designation(s) the main dam, is divided into two chambers. Water is drawn from the reservoir and sent through a tunnel on the dam side that con- AMAWALK GATEHOUSE 1889-1896 nects with the gatehouse. Plate 9-, New Croton Aqueduct Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign Located south of the main dam, the gate- house receives water from the tower and sends it to the fountain-basin for aeration.

Current Designation(s)

6 Appendix ARCHVILLE BRIDGE 1837-1842 ARDSLEY OPEN-CUT c 1888s (Demolished 1924) Plate 24-11, New Croton Aqueduct Plate 22-4, Old Croton Aqueduct The open-cut is a portion of the New Cro- A single arched granite bridge stretching 160 ton Aqueduct that was run through an open feet, the Archville Bridge carried the Croton trench when soil and rock conditions were not Aqueduct across the Albany Post Road. conducive to boring. Structure Guide

See Fiche on page XX for more information. Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign

Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign

Current Designation(s)

Current Designation(s) BARNHILL TRIANGLE 1999-2000 Plate XX ARDSLEY GATEHOUSE c 1890s Plate 24-10, New Croton Aqueduct A vacant traffic island with plantings reaching into the cross section of the Old Croton Aque- A masonry substructure with a 37 X 55 foot duct running beneath it. chamber divided by an overflow weir, the Ardsley Gatehouse is similar in form to the For more information, see fiche on page XXX. two other gatehouses placed between Croton Lake and the Harlem River. Here, where the Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign aqueduct is considerably below the surface of the ground, waste water is carried nearly 800 feet through a culvert to the .

Current Designation(s) Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign

Current Designation(s)

7 BOG BROOK BASIN FOUNTAIN c 1891 Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign Plate 5-, New Croton Aqueduct

Aeration of the water from the Bog Brook Res- ervoir is achieved with a 30 foot diameter fountain with vertical jets. Current Designation(s)

Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign BOG BROOK GATEHOUSE 1891 Plate 5-, New Croton Aqueduct

Outflow is regulated at by Current Designation(s) a 25 X 27 foot granite masonry gatehouse at the center of Bog Brook Dam Number 1. Also containing a waste weir, the gatehouse admits BOG BROOK DAM NUMBER 1 1889-1893 water at three elevations. Plate 5-, New Croton Aqueduct Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign Modestly comprised of an earthen embank- ments with masonry core walls embedded in solid rock, the dam spans 1340 across Bog Brook and rises 60 feet high. The inner wall is covered in paving, while the top and outer wall Current Designation(s) are sodded. BOG BROOK RESERVOIR 1892 For more information, see fiche on page XXX. Plate 5-, New Croton Aqueduct

Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign The Bog Brook Reservoir was formed by dam- ming Bog Brook, a small tributary of the East Branch of the Croton River. It has a holding capacity of 4.4 billion gallons and drainage Current Designation(s) basin of 4 miles.

For more information, see fiche on page XXX. BOG BROOK DAM NUMBER 2 1891-1893 Plate 5-, New Croton Aqueduct Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign

Spanning 1956 feet, Bog Brook’s smaller dam is 24 feet high. The inner wall is covered in paving, while the outer wall is sodded. Current Designation(s) For more information, see fiche on page XXX.

8 Appendix BOYD’S CORNERS BARN c 1870s Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign Plate 1-, Old/ New Croton Aqueduct

Part of the compound reserved for the over- seer of Boyd’s Corners. Current Designation(s)

Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign Structure Guide

BOYD’S CORNERS KEEPER’S HOUSE c 1870s (Status Unknown) Current Designation(s) Plate 1-, Old/ New Croton Aqueduct

A structure of unknown dimensions and form BOYD’S CORNERS DAM 1866-1870 served as the home for the overseer of Boyd’s (Demolished 1980s) Corners. Plate 1-, Old/ New Croton Aqueduct Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign Simple in design, the Boyd’s Corners Dam was 670 feet long and 57 feet high. Stretching across the West Branch of the Croton River, the masonry dam was faced in ashlar and had a concrete core. Boyd’s Corners Dams was Current Designation(s) one of the first dams to utilize concrete tech- nology. The overflow spilled down a wasteway BOYD’S CORNERs RESERVOIR 1873 cut from the natural bedrock. Plate 1-, Old/ New Croton Aqueduct For more information, see fiche on page XXX. The damming of the middle of the West Branch of the Croton River submerged the vil- Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign lage of Boyd’s Corners and formed a reservoir with a capacity of 2.7 billion gallons.

For more information, see fiche on page XXX. Current Designation(s) Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign

BOYD’S CORNERS GATEHOUSE 1866-1873 Plate 1-, Old/ New Croton Aqueduct

A small stone gatehouse located at the base Current Designation(s) of the downstream face.

9 CARMEL AUXILIARY DAM 1890 Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign Plate 3-, New Croton Aqueduct

Constructed one mile southwest of main dam, the Carmel Auxiliary Dam is 800 feet wide and 50 feet high. Earthen with a masonry core, Current Designation(s) provisions were made for a highway to cross along its 22 feet wide of top. CARMEL DAM GATEHOUSE 1890 Plate 3-, New Croton Aqueduct Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign Constructed on the north side of the spillway, the gatehouse has one inlet chamber and two outlet chambers to control the flow of the Current Designation(s) reservoir.

Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign CARMEL AUXILIARY DAM GATEHOUSE 1890 Plate 3-, New Croton Aqueduct

Located in the center of the Carmel Auxiliary Dam, the gatehouse contains a single water Current Designation(s) chamber 5 X 17 feet in size. CARMEL OVERFLOW WEIR 1890 Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign Plate 3-, New Croton Aqueduct

Faced with blue-gray limestone, the Carmel Overflow Weir is 260 feet in length and 53 Current Designation(s) feet high.

Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign CARMEL DAM 1890 Plate 3-, New Croton Aqueduct

With a spillway functioning as an overflow weir, the Carmel Dam stretches across West Current Designation(s) Branch of the Croton River running 1800 feet long and rising 65 feet. The masonry portion is flanked on each side by earthen dam. The upstream face is paved in stone while the downstream side is sodded.

10 Appendix CARMEL RESERVOIR 1896 Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign Plate 3-, New Croton Aqueduct

Comprised of two dams impounding the West Branch of the Croton River, the Carmel Reser- voir has a capacity to contain 9 billion gallons Current Designation(s) of water. Structure Guide COAL INCLINE AND RAILROAD, HIGH SERVICE Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign WORKS - HIGH BRIDGE 1873 (Demolished) Plate 29, Old Croton Aqueduct

Current Designation(s) Supporting the High Service Works located at the end of High Bridge, the dock and incline were built with a hoisting engine erected for CENTRAL PARK 1858-1870 delivering coal to the boiler house. Plate 32-14 Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign An urban oasis designed by Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux, Central Park em- braced the Old Croton Aqueduct in design.

Current Designation(s) Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign

COAL STORE c 1879 (Demolished) Current Designation(s) Plate 30-11, Old Croton Aqueduct

Provided coal storage for the 98th Street High CLENDENING VALLEY BRIDGE 1839-1841 Service Works. (Demolished 1870) Plate 30-9, Old Croton Aqueduct Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign

Emerging near 95th Street, the aqueduct spans the once rural Clendening Valley on a solid masonry wall broken in three places by tripartite arches before submerging near Current Designation(s) 102nd Street.

For more information, see fiche on page XXX.

11 COAL WHARF c 1890s Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign (Demolished) Plate 29, New Croton Aqueduct

A wharf on the Harlem River below Shaft Number 25 that received coal shipments to Current Designation(s) power the engines in the pump house and Shaft Number 25. 1905-1908 Plate 16-, New Croton Aqueduct Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign Impounding the Cross River created the Cross River Reservoir, which has the capacity to col- lect 10 billion gallons of water. Current Designation(s) For more information, see fiche on page XXX.

CONVENT AVENUE 1888 Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign Plate 30-14, New Croton Aqueduct

Convent Avenue was created on unoccupied land to provide a bed for the pipes leading from the 135th Street Gatehouse. Current Designation(s)

Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign CROSS RIVER WASTE WEIR 1905-1908 Plate 16-, New Croton Aqueduct

Roughly 240 feet long, the waste weir at Cross Current Designation(s) River Dam runs along the hillside. The weir is faced with precast concrete blocks and filled solid with cyclopean masonry. CROSS RIVER DAM 1905-1908 Plate 16-, New Croton Aqueduct Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign

Constructed of cyclopean masonry, the Cross River Dam is 772 feet long and rises 170 feet. Precast concrete blocks, a novel application, were used to face the upstream and down- Current Designation(s) stream walls.

For more information, see fiche on page XXX.

12 Appendix CROTON FALLS DAM 1906-1911 Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign Plate 7-, New Croton Aqueduct

Stretching 1,110 feet and rising 173 feet, the Croton Falls Dam employed reinforced con- crete in its construction. Current Designation(s)

For more information, see fiche on page XXX. Structure Guide 1906-1911 Plate 7-, New Croton Aqueduct Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign Formed by impounding the West Branch and Middle Branch of the Croton Reservoir, the Croton Falls Reservoir has a capacity of about Current Designation(s) 14 billion gallons of water.

For more information, see fiche on page XXX. CROTON FALLS DIVERTING DAM 1911 Plate 4-, New Croton Aqueduct Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign

Earthen with a stepped concrete channel, the Diverting Dam is 1,185 feet long.

For more information, see fiche on page XXX. Current Designation(s)

Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign CROTON FOUNTAIN 1842 (Demolished 1870) Plate 33-1

Current Designation(s) The circular stone fountain shot Croton water fifty feet in the air and was built to celebrate the opening of the Old Croton Aqueduct in CROTON FALLS DIVERTING RESERVOIR 1911 1842. Plate 4-, New Croton Aqueduct For more information, see fiche on page XXX. Connected to the Croton Falls Reservoir by a channel and dividing weir, the Croton Falls Di- Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign verting Reservoir has a capacity of nearly 900 million gallons of water.

For more information, see fiche on page XXX. Current Designation(s)

13 CROTON LAKE 1838-1841 Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign (Submerged) Plate 14-, Old Croton Aqueduct

An artificial four mile lake formed by damming the Croton River, Croton Lake or “Fountain Current Designation(s) Reservoir,” as it was called, was capable of impounding 600 million gallons of water. Croton Lake was absorbed into New Croton DOBBS FERRY KEEPER’S HOUSE STABLE Reservoir. (Demolished) Plate 24-4, Old Croton Aqueduct Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign The stable was part of the complex at Dobbs Ferry for the principal aqueduct superintend- ent. Current Designation(s) Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign

DOBBS FERRY BARN c 1880s Plate 24-2, Old Croton Aqueduct

A maintenance building for the use of the prin- Current Designation(s) cipal superintendent of the aqueduct north of New York City. DOBBS FERRY TOOL SHED

(Demolished) Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign Plate 24-5, Old Croton Aqueduct

The tool shed was a miscellaneous main- tenance building located on the aqueduct Current Designation(s) embankment.

Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign DOBBS FERRY KEEPER’S HOUSE 1857 Plate 24-3, Old Croton Aqueduct

Italianate in form, the two story masonry structure provided a home for the principal Current Designation(s) superintendent of the aqueduct north of New York City.

For more information, see fiche on page XXX.

14 Appendix EAST BRANCH FOREMAN BARN 188-1892 1888-1892 Plate 5-, New Croton Aqueduct Plate 6-, New Croton Aqueduct

Part of the complex allotted to the overseer of The East Branch Reservoir is formed by the the East Branch Reservoir. Sodom and Bog Brook Reservoirs, which are connected by a 1,778 foot long tunnel. Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign

Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign Structure Guide

Current Designation(s) Current Designation(s)

EAST BRANCH GATEHOUSE 1888-1892 Plate 5-, New Croton Aqueduct GOULD’S SWAMP SIPHON c 1888 Plate 23-7, New Croton Aqueduct The flow of water between Sodom Reservoir and Bog Brook Reservoir is controlled by At Gould’s Swamp, the soil was found to be in- a gatehouse located near Bog Brook Dam sufficient, so between Shaft No 11A and 11B, Number 1. The superstructure measures 23 X the New Croton Aqueduct was built under the 27 feet and is built of granite masonry. bedrock forming an inverted siphon.

Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign

Current Designation(s) Current Designation(s)

15 HARLEM RIVER SIPHON 1886-1888 HIGH BRIDGE 1837-1848 Plate 29, New Croton Aqueduct (Altered 1927) Plate 29, Old Croton Aqueduct The composition of rock under the Harlem River necessitated the tunnel to be placed Serving as the Harlem River crossing for the 307 feet under the river bed. Here, the size of Old Croton Aqueduct, the monumental pedes- the tunnel was reduced to 10 ft. 6 in., and the trian bridge with stunning views of the land- water is under great pressure. scape was a popular tourist destination.

Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign For more information, see fiche on page XXX.

Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign

Current Designation(s)

Current Designation(s) HARLEM RIVER SPEEDWAY 1894-1898 (Demolished 1940s and 1960s) Plate 31-2 HIGH BRIDGE ENGINE HOUSE c 1870 (Demolished) Two miles in length and following the sinewy Plate 29, Old Croton Aqueduct curves of the Harlem River, Calvert Vaux’s speedway served as a picturesque roadway Part of the High Service Works at High Bridge, for fast-trotting horses. Before the automobile the stone engine house was comprised of two gained favor, the Harlem River Speedway was buildings: a boiler house with a tall smoke a popular pleasure destination. stack and a building containing the engines for pumping the water from the aqueduct to For more information, see fiche on page XXX. the High Service Reservoir and High Bridge Tower. Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign

Current Designation(s) Current Designation(s)

16 Appendix HIGH BRIDGE ENGINEER’S Office c 1840s HIGH BRIDGE KEEPER’S HOUSE (Demolished) (Demolished) Plate 29, Old Croton Aqueduct Plate 29, New Croton Aqueduct

A stone office for the engineer of the Old Cro- A building constructed for the overseer of the ton Aqueduct. High Bridge section of the aqueduct.

Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign Structure Guide

Current Designation(s) Current Designation(s)

HIGH BRIDGE GATEHOUSE (EAST) 1837-1848 HIGH BRIDGE STEPS 1891 Plate 29, Old Croton Aqueduct Plate 29

Regulating the inflow of the aqueduct, the A series of short flights of bluestone steps stone gatehouse stands sentry at the eastern broken by generous gneiss landings linked the entrance to High Bridge. In addition, it is out- entrance to High Bridge, at the top of the hill, fitted with a waste weir. to the road and wharf on the river below.

Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign

Current Designation(s) Current Designation(s)

HIGH BRIDGE GATEHOUSE (WEST) 1837-1848 HIGH BRIDGE STORE Plate 29, New Croton Aqueduct Plate 29, Old Croton Aqueduct

The western gatehouse at High Bridge dis- Part of the complex allotted to the overseer of charges water to Manhattan Island. the High Bridge section of the aqueduct.

Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign

Current Designation(s) Current Designation(s)

17 HIGH BRIDGE TOWER 1872 Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign Plate 29, Old Croton Aqueduct

Rising 185 feet on a bluff in Highbridge Park, High Bridge Tower contained a water tank for high-storied buildings in Washington Heights. Current Designation(s)

For more information, see fiche on page XXX. HIGH SERVICE RESERVOIR GATEHOUSE (WEST) 1866-1869 Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign (Demolished) Plate 29, Old Croton Aqueduct

The western gatehouse regulated the outlet of Current Designation(s) the reservoir.

Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign HIGH SERVICE RESERVOIR 1866-1869 (Adaptive Reuse - Highbridge Pool 1934) Plate 29, Old Croton Aqueduct

Part of the High Service Works at High Bridge Current Designation(s) serving the area of Manhattan above 135th Street, the earthen embanked reservoir also HIGH SERVICE RESERVOIR FOUNTAIN c 1869 contained a promenade at the top with view (Demolished) of High Bridge and the Harlem River. Plate 29, Old Croton Aqueduct For more information, see fiche on page XXX. The High Service Reservoir Fountain had an 80 foot diameter basin for aerating the reser- Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign voir water.

Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign

Current Designation(s)

HIGH SERVICE RESERVOIR GATEHOUSE Current Designation(s) (EAST) 1866-1869 (Demolished) Plate 29, Old Croton Aqueduct

The eastern gatehouse regulated the inlet of the aqueduct.

18 Appendix HIGHBRIDGE PARK 1871- c 1915 Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign Plate 31-3

Rugged in landscape, the original park wrapped around the High Service Reservoir. At the turn of the nineteenth century its acre- Current Designation(s) age was increased with the addition of Fort

George Park, Speedway Park, and Washington Structure Guide INDIAN CREEK CULVERT 1837-1839 Park. Plate 18-7, Old Croton Aqueduct

Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign An eight foot culvert provided passage to Indi- an Creek with a foundation wall rising 45 feet to meet the grade of the Old Croton Aqueduct.

Current Designation(s) Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign

HIGHLAND AVENUE BRIDGE 1838-1841 Plate 23, Old Croton Aqueduct Current Designation(s) Rising4 1 feet with a span of 20 feet, Highland Avenue Bridge is an archway over what was JEROME PARK 1866 then known as the Highland Turnpike, nearly Plate 29A- eleven miles south of the Old Croton Dam. Developed by the American Jockey Club, Jer- Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign ome Park was the first commercial racetrack in the City. The original home of the Belmont Stakes, Jerome Park closed in 1887.

Current Designation(s) Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign

HOOPER FOUNTAIN 1894 Plate 30-1 Current Designation(s) Commissioned by John Hooper and sited near the entrance to the Harlem River Speedway, the fountain quenched the thirst of pedestri- ans, as well as horses.

For more information, see fiche on page XXX.

19 JEROME PARK BRIDGE c 1890 Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign (Demolished) Plate 29A-, Old/ New Croton Aqueduct

Elaborately arched, the bridge provided ac- cess to Shaft Number 21 from Gatehouse Current Designation(s) Number 5. JEROME PARK GATEHOUSE NUMBER 3 c1890 Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign Plate 29A-, Old/ New Croton Aqueduct

The 29 X 35 foot substructure was construct- ed to control the outflow of water. Current Designation(s) Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign

JEROME PARK GATEHOUSE NUMBER 1 c1890 Plate 29A-, Old/ New Croton Aqueduct

Designed in an “L” plan with a 31 X 35 foot Current Designation(s) main body and 22 X 27 foot wing, Gatehouse Number 1 was constructed below grade with JEROME PARK GATEHOUSE NUMBER 4 c1890 no superstructure. Here the New Croton Plate 29A-, Old/ New Croton Aqueduct Aqueduct divides with one branch leading to the reservoir and the other leading to Shaft The 29 X 35 foot substructure was construct- Number 20 where the pressure tunnel begins. ed to control the outflow of water.

Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign

Current Designation(s) Current Designation(s)

JEROME PARK GATEHOUSE NUMBER 2 1900 JEROME PARK GATEHOUSE NUMBER 5 1900 (Superstructure added 1938) (Superstructure added 1938) Plate 29A-, Old/ New Croton Aqueduct Plate 29A-, Old/ New Croton Aqueduct Comprised of two inlet chambers and a cen- A gatehouse crucial to Jerome Park’s function- tral chamber into which the waste water from ing, Gatehouse Number 5 received water from the reservoir passes over three waste weirs, the Old and a branch of the New, discharging the stone substructure at Gatehouse Number the water into the east and western divisions 2 measured 27 X 30 feet.

20 Appendix of the reservoir. The gatehouse controlled the JEROME PARK KEEPER’S HOUSE c 1890s inlets to gatehouses 2, 3, and 4. If the reser- (Demolished) voir was emptied, Gatehouse Number 5 could Plate 29A-, Old/ New Croton Aqueduct maintain a supply to New York City. Designed by F. S. Cook, the Jerome Park Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign Keeper’s House was an elaborate home for the overseer of the aqueducts in the Bronx. Structure Guide

Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign

Current Designation(s)

JEROME PARK GATEHOUSE NUMBER 6 c1890 Current Designation(s) (Demolished) Plate 29A-, Old/ New Croton Aqueduct JEROME PARK HIGH PUMPING STATION The southeastern gatehouse. 1901-1906 Plate 29A-, Old/ New Croton Aqueduct Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign The expansion of the Bronx necessitated a pumping house to pump water to higher- storied buildings. The building’s form and Romanesque Revival detailing is similar to the Current Designation(s) pumping station constructed at 179th Street.

JEROME PARK GATEHOUSE NUMBER 7 c1905 Fo Plate 29A-, Old/ New Croton Aqueduct Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign

A later addition to the Jerome Park complex, the gatehouse connected the Old and New while anticipating the Catskill Aqueduct. Current Designation(s)

Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign

Current Designation(s)

21 JEROME PARK RESERVOIR 1895-1906 JUMMELL TUNNEL c 1840 Plate 29A-, Old/ New Croton Aqueduct Plate 31-4, Old Croton Aqueduct

Strategically sited with access to both the Old On the land of Etienne Jummell, a tunnel was and New Croton Aqueducts, the Jerome Park driven 234 feet through solid rock. Reservoir assumed a curvilinear form reminis- cent of Lake Manahatta. Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign

For more information, see fiche on page XXX.

Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign Current Designation(s)

JUNCTION GATEHOUSE c 1860 Current Designation(s) (Demolished) Plate 32-2, Old/ New Croton Aqueduct pg 67 pic plate 49 JEWELL’S BROOK CULVERT 1838-1841 Plate 23-5, Old Croton Aqueduct Square in plan at 22 ft. 6 in. X 22 ft. 10 in., the gatehouse directed water to either of the Engineered to prevent direct pressure, the two reservoirs in Central Park by the opening sloping wall of Jewell’s Brook Culvert rose 50 and closing of sluice-gates in the eastern and feet high and ran 148 feet long. southern walls.

Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign

Current Designation(s) Current Designation(s)

22 Appendix LAKE MANAHATTA 1858-1862 Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign (Renamed Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Res- ervoir) Plate 32-5, Old/ New Croton Aqueduct

Designed by Frederick Law Olmstead and Cal- Current Designation(s) vert Vaux, the free form northern reservoir in

Central Park countered the rectilinear collec- Structure Guide MANHATTAN VALLEY WASTE WEIR c 1840 tion pool that predated the parks design. (Demolished) Plate XX, Old Croton Aqueduct For more information, see fiche on page XXX. Located at the deepest depression of Manhat- Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign tan Valley, the waste weir was built with the purpose of emptying the aqueduct for repair or to remove sediment.

Current Designation(s) Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign

LAKE MANAHATTA FOUNTAIN 1858-1862 Plate 32-6, Old/ New Croton Aqueduct Current Designation(s) A fountain in the center of the Lake Mana- hatta for the purpose of aerating the reservoir MIDDLE BRANCH DAM 1874-1878 water. Plate 4-, New Croton Aqueduct

Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign Earthen with a masonry core-wall, the 515 foot long dam stretches across the Middle Branch of the Croton River. It reaches a maxi- mum height of 94 feet. Current Designation(s) For more information, see fiche on page XXX.

MANHATTAN VALLEY SIPHON c 1840 Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign Plate 30-4, Old Croton Aqueduct

Residing 105 feet below the Old Croton Aq- ueduct’s grade, Manhattan Valley, two miles south of High Bridge, was traversed by an Current Designation(s) inverted siphon of cast iron pipes.

23 1874-1878 Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign Plate 4-, New Croton Aqueduct

With the capabiltiy of storing four billion gal- lons, the water is impounded by damming the Middle Branch of the Croton River. Current Designation(s)

For more information, see fiche on page XXX. MURRAY HILL RESERVOIR 1839-1842 Plate 32-13, Old Croton Aqueduct Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign Imposing and massive, the Egyptian Revival reservoir contained two collection pools with a capacity of 24 million gallons of water. City Current Designation(s) dwellers frequently took advantage of the generous promenade atop the structure for its views of Manhattan. MILL RIVER CULVERT 1837-1841 Plate 22-7, Old Croton Aqueduct For more information, see fiche on page XXX.

Spanning a depression of 72 feet below Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign grade, the Mill River Culvert’s 172 foot long embankment reaches 87 feet above the river bed. The 25 foot span allows free passage along Mill River under the aqueduct. Current Designation(s)

Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign MUSCOOT DAM 1905 Plate 15-, New Croton Aqueduct

Current Designation(s) Sited at the division of the New Croton Reser- voir and the , the Muscoot Dam ensures that the latter was maintained MILL RIVER WASTE WEIR 1837-1841 at a sufficient depth. Plate 22-6, Old Croton Aqueduct Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign Spanning a depression 72 feet below grade, the Mill River Culvert’s 172 foot long embank- ment reaches 87 feet above the river bed. The 25 foot span allows free passage of Mill River under the aqueduct. Current Designation(s)

24 Appendix MUSCOOT RESERVOIR 1905 MUSCOOT RESERVOIR GATEHOUSE 1905 Plate 15-, New Croton Aqueduct Plate 15-, New Croton Aqueduct

The Muscoot Reservoir, capable of impound- The gatehouse regulated the flow of the Cro- ing 5 gallons of water, is the collection point ton Watershed into the New Croton Reservoir, for all reservoirs in the Croton Watershed, with where it entered the New Croton Aqueduct the exception of the New Croton Reservoir. conduit. Structure Guide

Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign

Current Designation(s) Current Designation(s)

MUSCOOT RESERVOIR BARN c 1905 NEW CROTON DAM 1892-1906 Plate 15-, New Croton Aqueduct Plate 18-2, Old/ New Croton Aqueduct

Part of the compound allotted to the overseer Located three miles south of the Old Croton of the Muscoot Reservoir. Dam, the central masonry dam is 600 feet long and is paired with a dramatic 1000 foot Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign long overflow weir. The Old Croton Aqueduct crosses the line of the dam on the south side of valley.

For more information, see fiche on page XXX. Current Designation(s)

Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign MUSCOOT RESERVOIR FOREMAN’S HOUSE c 1905 Plate 15-, New Croton Aqueduct Current Designation(s) A structure serving as the dwelling house of the overseer of the Muscoot Reservoir.

Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign

Current Designation(s)

25 NEW CROTON DAM GATEHOUSE 1892-1906 NEW CROTON GATEHOUSE 1890 Plate 18-3, New Croton Aqueduct Plate 13-, Old/ New Croton Aqueduct

Constructed on the upstream side of the New Provided with five different inlets drawing Croton Dam, the masonry substructure is water from different points and depths of the divided into three water chambers. New Croton Reservoir, the gatehouse controls the inlet of water into the Old and New Croton Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign Aqueducts.

Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign

Current Designation(s)

Current Designation(s) NEW CROTON DAM OVERFLOW WEIR 1892- 1906 Plate 18-1, New Croton Aqueduct NEW CROTON RESERVOIR 1892-1906 Plate 13-, New Croton Aqueduct Parallel with the contour lines of the hillside, the stepped overflow weir is a dramatic fea- Following the contours of the valley, the New ture of the New Croton Dam. Croton Reservoir absorbed Croton Lake and the Old Croton Dam, ultimately achieving a Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign capacity of 20 billion gallons of water.

For more information, see fiche on page XXX.

Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign Current Designation(s)

Current Designation(s)

26 Appendix NEW OSSINING WEIR 1881-1886 Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign Plate 20-7, Old Croton Aqueduct

Egyptian Revival in style, the New Ossin- ing Weir was built to avoid updating the Old Ossing Weir. Within the 20 X 10 foot stone Current Designation(s) structure, water from the Old Croton Aqueduct could be discharged. Structure Guide NORTH TARRYTOWN KEEPER’S HOUSE For more information, see fiche on page XXX. Plate 22, New Croton Aqueduct

Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign The dwelling house for the overseer of the North Tarrytown section of the Old Croton Aqueduct.

Current Designation(s) Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign

NORTH GATEHOUSE Plate 32-4, Old/ New Croton Aqueduct Current Designation(s) With a granite superstructure, the eastern North Gatehouse forms the terminus of the NORTH TARRYTOWN KEEPER’S HOUSE BARN pipe line of the New Croton Aqueduct in Cen- Plate 22, Old Croton Aqueduct tral Park. Part of the complex allotted to the overseer of Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign the North Tarrytown section of the Old Croton Aqueduct.

Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign Current Designation(s)

NORTH GATEHOUSE Plate 32-3, Old Croton Aqueduct Current Designation(s)

Positioned on the northwestern edge of Lake Manahatta and at 72 X 40, the North Gate- house serves as the inlet feet of the aque- duct into the reservoir.

27 NORTH TARRYTOWN KEEPER’S HOUSE Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign STABLE Plate 22, Old Croton Aqueduct

Part of the complex allotted to the overseer of the North Tarrytown section of the Old Croton Current Designation(s) Aqueduct. OLD CROTON DAM GATEHOUSE 1838-1841 Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign (Submerged) Plate 13-, Old Croton Aqueduct

A stone structure with an inlet chamber con- Current Designation(s) nected to a tunnel leading from the Old Cro- ton Dam. The masonry conduit began at the outlet chamber of this gatehouse. OLD CROTON DAM 1838-1841 (Submerged) Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign Plate 13-, Old Croton Aqueduct

Originally designed with earthen embank- ments flanking a masonry dam, the Old Croton Dam suffered damage in a flood during Current Designation(s) construction. The plans were modified and a 250 foot long dam of continuous stone was OLD CROTON DAM KEEPER’S HOUSE built. Fifty feet high, the profile of the dam was (Submerged) curved in form so that the water flowed in a Plate 13-, Old Croton Aqueduct stunning fashion. The dwelling house of the overseer of the Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign Croton Dam.

Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign

Current Designation(s)

OLD CROTON DAM BARN Current Designation(s) (Submerged) Plate 13-, Old Croton Aqueduct

Part of the complex allotted to the overseer of Croton Dam.

28 Appendix Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign OLD CROTON DAM STABLE (SUBMERGED) Plate 13-, Old Croton Aqueduct

Part of the complex allotted to the overseer of Current Designation(s) Croton Dam. Structure Guide OSSINING KEEPER’S HOUSE Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign (Demolished) Plate 20-3, Old Croton Aqueduct

A two story dwelling with a porch that func- Current Designation(s) tioned as the home of the overseer of the Os- sining section of the Old Croton Aqueduct.

OLD CROTON DAM WASTE WEIR 1838-1841 Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign (Submerged) Plate 13-, Old Croton Aqueduct

Accessed by a bridge, the overflow weir was protected by a small stone building. Inside, Current Designation(s) two sets of gates were capable of drawing water from Croton Lake at a greater depth. OSSINING KEEPER’S HOUSE BARN (Demolished) Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign Plate 20-5, Old Croton Aqueduct

Part of the complex allotted to the overseer of the Ossining section of the Old Croton Aque- Current Designation(s) duct.

Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign OLD OSSINING WEIR 1837-1842 Plate 20-2, Old Croton Aqueduct

In a style similar to the other five weirs con- structed for the Old Croton Aqueduct, the ex- Current Designation(s) cess water exited through a stone wall shoring up the aqueduct. It was also used to measure the water in the aqueduct.

For more information, see fiche on page XXX.

29 OSSINING KEEPER’S HOUSE STABLES Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign (Demolished) Plate 20-4, Old Croton Aqueduct

Part of the complex allotted to the overseer of the Ossining section of the Old Croton Aque- Current Designation(s) duct. POCANTICO OPEN-CUT c 1888 Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign Plate 22-11, New Croton Aqueduct

A portion of the New Croton Aqueduct was run through an open trench when soil and rock Current Designation(s) conditions were not conducive to boring.

Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign PIPE YARD (Demolished) Plate 34-1

Located on a city block adjacent to the East Current Designation(s) River, the pipe yard provided a storage area for piping and other aqueduct appurtenances. QUAKER BRIDGE DAM Plate 18-5 Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign Four miles south of the Old Croton Dam in a narrow portion of the Croton River, the Quaker Bridge Dam was designed to increase the ca- Current Designation(s) pacity of Croton Lake. Never built in that spot, a location further north was chosen instead. The New Croton Dam resembles the design POCANTICO GATEHOUSE c 1890s for the Quaker Bridge Dam, the only essential Plate 22-13, New Croton Aqueduct changes being that it is not as tall and that the polygonal faces have been rounded off. A masonry substructure with a 37 X 55 foot chamber divided by an overflow weir, the Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign Pocantico Gatehouse is similar in form to the two other gatehouses placed between Croton Lake and the Harlem River. Here, the waste water passes through a 15 foot culvert to the west of the aqueduct. Current Designation(s)

30 Appendix QUARRY RAILROAD BRIDGE 1838-1839 Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign Plate 24-7, Old Croton Aqueduct

Designed to accommodate the pre-existing transportation route of Harvey’s Marble Quarry, the stone arch of the Quarry Railroad Current Designation(s) Bridge spanned sixteen feet over the railroad tracks below. Structure Guide SAW MILL RIVER BRIDGE 1838-1839 Plate 27-2, Old Croton Aqueduct Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign The stone arch spanned 16 feet across a road at Saw Mill River.

Current Designation(s) Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign

RESERVOIR PARK 1871 (Renamed Bryant Park 1884) Plate 32-12 Current Designation(s)

Reservoir Park occupied the land made va- SAW MILL RIVER CULVERT 1838-1839 cant by the burning of Crystal Palace. Original- Plate 27-1, Old Croton Aqueduct ly formal in design, the park was redesigned on several occasions. As part of a WPA initia- The design was chosen for its engineering effi- tive, Bryant Park, as it was renamed in 1884, ciency, as two smaller arches sharing a com- was redesigned in a faux Victorian style. mon footing was less expensive to build than a single, larger arch. Each culvert spanned 25 Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign feet within the 90 foot long embankment.

For more information, see fiche on page XXX.

Current Designation(s) Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign

RIDER’S BROOK CULVERT c 1840 Plate 22-1, Old Croton Aqueduct Current Designation(s) The culvert resides 34 feet beneath the con- duit of the Old Croton Aqueduct. The embank- ment is 100 feet long.

31 SHAFT NUMBER 0 SHAFT NUMBER 2 Plate 13-, New Croton Aqueduct Plate 19-3, New Croton Aqueduct

Shaft Number 0 was dug at an incline on a Shaft Number 2 was designed at a depth of grade of 12 feet per 100 feet. 343 feet.

Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign

Current Designation(s) Current Designation(s)

SHAFT NUMBER 1 SHAFT NUMBER 2 HEADHOUSE Plate 19-1, New Croton Aqueduct (Status Unknown) Plate 19-4, New Croton Aqueduct Engineers designed Shaft Number 1 to be sunk to a depth of 343 feet. A headhouse was placed over Shaft Number 2. Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign

Current Designation(s) Current Designation(s)

SHAFT NUMBER 1 HEADHOUSE (Status Unknown) SHAFT NUMBER 3 Plate 19-2, New Croton Aqueduct Plate 19-5, New Croton Aqueduct

A headhouse was placed over Shaft Number Shaft Number 3 was engineered at a depth of 1. 380 feet.

Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign

Current Designation(s) Current Designation(s)

32 Appendix SHAFT NUMBER 4 SHAFT NUMBER 6 Plate 21-1, New Croton Aqueduct Plate 21-3, New Croton Aqueduct

Engineers designed Shaft Number 4 at a Shaft Number 6 was designed to reach a depth of 246 feet. depth of 173 feet.

Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign Structure Guide

Current Designation(s) Current Designation(s)

SHAFT NUMBER 4 HEADHOUSE SHAFT NUMBER 7 (Status Unknown) Plate 22-9, New Croton Aqueduct Plate 21-2, New Croton Aqueduct Shaft Number 7 was engineered at a depth of Also referred to as the Briarcliffe Farms Head- 163 feet. house, the structure covered an unpressu- rized portion of the New Croton Aqueduct. Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign

Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign

Current Designation(s)

Current Designation(s) SHAFT NUMBER 8 Plate 22-10, New Croton Aqueduct SHAFT NUMBER 5 Plate 21-3, New Croton Aqueduct Shaft Number 8 was cut at the Pocantico River. Shaft Number 7 was engineered at a depth of 109 feet. Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign

Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign

Current Designation(s)

Current Designation(s)

33 SHAFT NUMBER 8 HEADHOUSE SHAFT NUMBER 11A (Status Unknown) Plate 23-6, New Croton Aqueduct Plate 22-11, New Croton Aqueduct Shaft 11A, on the nouthern side of Gould’s Also referred to as the North Tarrytown Head- Swamp Siphon, was engineered at a depth of house, the structure covered an unpressu- 32 feet. rized portion of the New Croton Aqueduct. Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign

Current Designation(s) Current Designation(s)

SHAFT 11B SHAFT NUMBER 9 Plate 23-8, New Croton Aqueduct Plate 22-13, New Croton Aqueduct Shaft 11B, on the southern side of Gould’s Shaft Number 9 was designed level with the Swamp Siphon, was engineered at a depth of aqueduct and paired with the Pocantico Gate- 36 feet. house. Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign

Current Designation(s) Current Designation(s)

SHAFT NUMBER 11C SHAFT NUMBER 10 Plate 23-9, New Croton Aqueduct Plate 22-15, New Croton Aqueduct Shaft 11C was constructed with a 14 foot Engineers designed Shaft Number 10 to be diameter so that pumping apparatus could be sunk to a depth of 126 feet. lowered down to the New Croton Aqueduct.

Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign

Current Designation(s) Current Designation(s)

34 Appendix SHAFT NUMBER 11C HEADHOUSE SHAFT NUMBER 13 Plate 23-9, New Croton Aqueduct Plate 24-8, New Croton Aqueduct

The headhouse at Shaft Number 11C was Shaft Number 13 was designed to be sunk to designed to contain appurtenances neces- a depth of 153 feet. sary for the emptying of the Gould’s Swamp Siphon. Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign Structure Guide

Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign

Current Designation(s)

Current Designation(s) SHAFT NUMBER 14 Plate 24-9, New Croton Aqueduct SHAFT NUMBER 12A Plate 23-10, New Croton Aqueduct Engineered to a depth of 28 feet, Shaft Number 14 was paired with the Ardsley Gate- Shaft Number 12A was engineered at a depth house. of 43 feet. Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign

Current Designation(s) Current Designation(s)

SHAFT NUMBER 15 SHAFT NUMBER 12B Plate 24-12, New Croton Aqueduct Plate 23-11, New Croton Aqueduct Designed to be sunk to a depth of 128 feet. Shaft Number 12B was designed to be sunk to a depth of 40 feet. Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign

Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign

Current Designation(s)

Current Designation(s)

35 SHAFT NUMBER 15 HEADHOUSE SHAFT NUMBER 17 1887 Plate 24-13, New Croton Aqueduct Plate 26-4, New Croton Aqueduct

Also referred to as the Mount Hope Head- In digging Shaft Number 17 to a projected house, the structure covered an unpressu- depth of 60 feet, sand and gravel was en- rized portion of the New Croton Aqueduct. countered. A cave-in occured killing 3 people.

Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign

Current Designation(s) Current Designation(s)

SHAFT NUMBER 16 SHAFT NUMBER 18 Plate 26-3, New Croton Aqueduct Plate 28-XX, New Croton Aqueduct

Shaft Number 16 was engineered at a depth Level with the New Croton Aqueduct tunnel, of 72 feet. Shaft Number 18 was paired with the South Yonkers Gatehouse . Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign

Current Designation(s) Current Designation(s)

SHAFT NUMBER 16 HEADHOUSE Plate 24-12, New Croton Aqueduct SHAFT NUMBER 19 Plate 28-XX, New Croton Aqueduct Also referred to as the Nepperhan Head- house, the structure covered an unpressu- Shaft Number 19 was engineered at a depth rized portion of the New Croton Aqueduct. of 63 feet.

Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign

Current Designation(s) Current Designation(s)

36 Appendix SHAFT NUMBER 19 HEADHOUSE SHAFT NUMBER 22 (Status Unknown) Plate 29, New Croton Aqueduct Plate 28-XX, New Croton Aqueduct Shaft Number 22 was designed at a depth of An headhouse for an unpressurized shaft was 82 feet. placed over Shaft Number 19. Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign

Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign Structure Guide

Current Designation(s) Current Designation(s)

SHAFT NUMBER 23 SHAFT NUMBER 20 Plate 29, New Croton Aqueduct Plate 28-XX, New Croton Aqueduct Engineers designed the shaft to be sunk to a Shaft Number 20, engineered at a depth of depth of 65 feet. 115 feet, marked the beginning of the pressu- rized portion of the New Croton Aqueduct. Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign

Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign

Current Designation(s)

Current Designation(s) SHAFT NUMBER 24 Plate 29, New Croton Aqueduct SHAFT NUMBER 21 Plate 29, New Croton Aqueduct Marking the eastern end of the Harlem River Siphon, numerous difficulties were encoun- Shaft Number 21 was engineered at a depth tered in its construction. of 103 feet. Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign

Current Designation(s) Current Designation(s)

37 SHAFT 24 HEADHOUSE Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign Plate 29, New Croton Aqueduct

A diminutive stone structure was placed over Shaft Number 24 on the eastern side of the Harlem River. Current Designation(s)

Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign SHAFT NUMBER 25 STEPS AND RETAINING WALL c 1892 Plate 29, New Croton Aqueduct

Current Designation(s) An elaborate stairway was built into the side of Shaft Number 25 with access to the Har- lem River Speedway through a glorious arch. SHAFT NUMBER 25 1886-1890 Plate 29, New Croton Aqueduct Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign

Marking the point where the New Croton Aqueduct entered Manhattan Island, Shaft Number 25 employed revolutionary engineer- ing in its design. Current Designation(s)

For more information, see fiche on page XXX. SHAFT NUMBER 26 Plate 29, New Croton Aqueduct Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign Engineered at a depth of 120 feet, Shaft Number 26 was also designed to protect Manhattan from any undue pressure resulting Current Designation(s) from the Harlem River Siphon.

Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign SHAFT NUMBER 25 HEADHOUSE (Demolished) Plate 29, New Croton Aqueduct

Built to house a powerful steam-engine used Current Designation(s) to power the pump shaft in Shaft Number 25, an expressive Romanesque Revival style was employed. The headhouse overlooked the Harlem River Speedway.

38 Appendix SHAFT NUMBER 26 HEADHOUSE SHAFT NUMBER 29 (Demolished) Plate 30-3, New Croton Aqueduct Plate 29, New Croton Aqueduct Shaft Number 29 was designed to a depth of A brick vault with two manhole covers served 114 feet. as a headhouse for Shaft Number 26. Criti- cal to the equalizing of the pressure from the Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign

Harlem River Siphon, it served as an overflow Structure Guide dam.

Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign Current Designation(s)

SHAFT NUMBER 30 Current Designation(s) Plate 30-15, New Croton Aqueduct

At Shaft Number 30, engineers planned on SHAFT NUMBER 27 sinking the shaft to a depth of 81 feet. Soft Plate 29, New Croton Aqueduct clay and decomposed rock was encountered, however, causing a cave-in and loss of life. Shaft Number 27 was sunk to 144 feet. Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign

Current Designation(s) Current Designation(s)

SHAFT NUMBER 31 SHAFT NUMBER 28 Plate 30-14, New Croton Aqueduct Plate 31-1, New Croton Aqueduct On 141st Street, engineers expected Shaft At Shaft Number 28, engineers predicted a Number 31 to sink to a depth of 82 feet. necessary depth of 128 feet. Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign

Current Designation(s) Current Designation(s)

39 SHAFT NUMBER 32 SODOM AUXILIARY DAM 1888-1892 Plate 30-12, New Croton Aqueduct Plate 5-, New Croton Aqueduct

Engineers expected the Shaft Number 32 to Running parallel to the Croton River, the earth- reach a depth of 87 feet. en Sodom Auxiliary Dam is nearly 600 feet long and 75 feet high. Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign

Current Designation(s) Current Designation(s)

SING SING BRIDGE c 1840 Plate 22-2, Old Croton Aqueduct SODOM DAM 1888-1892 Plate 5-, New Croton Aqueduct Spanning 20 feet the Sing Sing Bridge arches over a street in the village of Sing Sing. Faced with blue-gray limestone, the solid masonry dam rises to a 75 foot height. The Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign battered stone portion is flanked by earthen walls with a masonry core that when com- bined stretch 500 feet along the East Branch of the Croton River.

Current Designation(s) For more information, see fiche on page XXX.

SING SING KILL BRIDGE 1842 Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign Plate 20-8, Old Croton Aqueduct

Constructed across a valley where a stream had worn a deep channel, the Sing Sing Kill Current Designation(s) has an elegant arch spanning 88 feet.

For more information, see fiche on page XXX.

Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign

Current Designation(s)

40 Appendix SODOM DAM FOUNTAIN 1888-1892 SODOM RESERVOIR 1888-1892 Plate 5-, New Croton Aqueduct Plate 5-, New Croton Aqueduct

Vertical jets sprout from a 80 foot diameter Comprising two dams and an overflow weir, fountain that aerates water from the Sodom the Sodom Reservoir, a part of the East Reservoir. Branch Reservoir, is capable of impounding nearly 5 billion gallons of water.

Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign Structure Guide For more information, see fiche on page XXX.

Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign

Current Designation(s)

SODOM DAM GATEHOUSE 1888-1892 Current Designation(s) Plate 5-, New Croton Aqueduct

A 37 X 42 foot stone gatehouse near the SOUTH GATEHOUSE 1862 center of the Sodom Dam regulates the water Plate 32-7, Old Croton Aqueduct in the Sodom Reservoir at three elevations. With a substructure at 83 X 40 feet, the South Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign Gatehouse at Lake Manahatta in Central Park was composed of a sturdy granite exterior with a small balcony overlooking the reservoir.

For more information, see fiche on page XXX. Current Designation(s)

Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign SODOM OVERFLOW WEIR 1888-1892 Plate 5-, New Croton Aqueduct

A continuation of the Sodom Auxiliary Dam, Current Designation(s) the overflow weir stretches 500 feet and is 8 feet high.

Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign

Current Designation(s)

41 SOUTH YONKERS GATEHOUSE c 1888 Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign Plate 28-XX, New Croton Aqueduct

A masonry substructure with a 37 X 55 foot chamber divided by an overflow weir, the South Yonkers Gatehouse is similar in form Current Designation(s) to the two other gatehouses placed between Croton Lake and the Harlem River. Here, Tib- bit’s Brook, into which the waste water is dis- TITICUS DAM 1890-1895 charged, passes under the gatehouse through Plate 7-, New Croton Aqueduct two circular culverts. The Titicus Dam stretches 1,519 feet. The Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign masonry portion, including the spillway, is 732 feet long and is flanked by earthen portions. The granite used on Titicus Dam came from a quarry opened nearby. Current Designation(s) For more information, see fiche on page XXX.

SOUTH YONKERS OPEN-CUT c 1888 Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign Plate 28-XX, New Croton Aqueduct

A portion of the New Croton Aqueduct was run through an open trench when soil and rock conditions were not conducive to boring. Current Designation(s)

Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign TITICUS DAM GATEHOUSE 1890-1895 Plate 7-, New Croton Aqueduct

Constructed on the upstream side of the Current Designation(s) masonry dam, the 32 X 35 foot granite gate- house regulates the flow of the Titicus Reser- voir. TIBBIT’S BROOK CULVERT c1840 Plate 28-XX, Old Croton Aqueduct Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign

At the crossing of Tibbit’s Brook, a culvert is constructed with a 107 foot long embankment with a bed 40 feet below the Old Croton Aque- duct conduit. Current Designation(s)

42 Appendix TITICUS ENGINEER’S HOUSE c 1895 VAN CORTLANDT PARK KEEPER’S HOUSE Plate 7-, New Croton Aqueduct (Demolished) Plate 28-, Old Croton Aqueduct A dwelling house for the engineer of the Titi- cus Reservoir. A dwelling house for the overseer of the Van Cortlandt Park section of the Old Croton Aque- Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign duct. Structure Guide

Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign

Current Designation(s)

Current Designation(s) 1890-1895 Plate 7-, New Croton Aqueduct VAN CORTLANDT PARK KEEPER’S HOUSE The damming of the created a BARN (Demolished) reservoir capable of storing 7 billion gallons of Plate 28, Old Croton Aqueduct water. Part of the complex allotted to the overseer For more information, see fiche on page XXX. of the Van Cortlandt Park section of the Old Croton Aqueduct. Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign

Current Designation(s) Current Designation(s)

VAN CORTLANDT PARK 1888 Plate 28

Parkland in the Bronx containing the Nation’s first public golf course.

Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign

Current Designation(s)

43 VAN CORTLANDT PARK KEEPER’S HOUSE Ventilator 1 (Submerged or demolished) STABLE (Demolished) Ventilator 2 (Submerged or demolished) Plate 28-, Old Croton Aqueduct Ventilator 3, Plate 18-4 Ventilator 4, Plate 18-6 Part of the complex allotted to the overseer Ventilator 5, Plate 18-8 of the Van Cortlandt Park section of the Old Ventilator 6, Plate 20-1 Croton Aqueduct. Ventilator 7, Plate 20-9 Ventilator 8, Plate 20-10 Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign Ventilator 9, Plate 22-3 Ventilator 10, Plate 22-5 Ventilator 11, Plate 22-8 Ventilator 12, Plate 23-1 Ventilator 13, Plate 23-2 Current Designation(s) Ventilator 14, Plate 23-3 Ventilator 15, Plate 23-4 VAN CORTLANDT PARK WEIR Ventilator 16, Plate 24-1 Plate 28, Old Croton Aqueduct Ventilator 17 (Demolished), Plate 24-6 Ventilator 18, Plate 26-1 The Van Cortlandt Park Weir, like the six oth- Ventilator 19, Plate 25-1 ers built at the time of the construction of the Ventilator 20, Plate 25-3 Old Croton Aqueduct, controlled the waste of Ventilator 21, Plate 25-5 water from the aqueduct. Ventilator 22, Plate 28-1 Ventilator 23, Plate 28- For more information, see fiche on page XX. Ventilator 24, Plate 28- Ventilator 25 (Demolished)

Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign Ventilator 26 (Demolished) Ventilator 27 (Demolished) Ventilator 28 (Demolished) Ventilator 29 (Demolished) Ventilator 30 (Demolished) Current Designation(s) Ventilator 31 (Demolished) Ventilator 32 (Demolished) Ventilator 33 (Demolished) VENTILATORS 1838-1841 Old Croton Aqueduct For more information, see fiche on page XXX.

Cylindrical in form, the ventilators were placed Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign every mile or so on the Old Croton Aqueduct. While their purpose was to provide ventilation to the masonry conduit beneath them, several ventilators were constructed with entrances to the tunnel. Current Designation(s)

44 Appendix WEST BRANCH BARN c 1895 YONKERS BARN Plate 2-, New Croton Aqueduct (Demolished) Plate 25, Old Croton Aqueduct A maintenance building allotted to the super- visor of the . Part of the complex allotted to the overseer of the Yonkers section of the Old Croton Aque- Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign duct. Structure Guide

Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign

Current Designation(s)

Current Designation(s) WEST BRANCH RESERVOIR 1895 Plate 2-, New Croton Aqueduct WEST BURNSIDE AVENUE BRIDGE 1838-1841 The West Branch Reservoir was formed by the (Demolished) Carmel Dam. Plate 29-, Old Croton Aqueduct

For more information, see fiche on page XXX. Built as a component of the Old Croton sys- tem, this feature originally took the form of a Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign three-arched bridge spanning a country road. A central, 30-foot-wide vehicular arch was flanked by smaller arches for pedestrian traf- fic.

Current Designation(s) For more information, see fiche on page XXX.

WEST BRANCH SUPERVISOR’S HOUSE c 1895 Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign Plate 2-, New Croton Aqueduct

A dwelling house for the supervisor of the West Branch Reservoir. Current Designation(s)

Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign

Current Designation(s)

45 YONKERS KEEPER’S HOUSE Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign (Demolished) Plate 25, Old Croton Aqueduct

A dwelling house for the overseer of the Yonk- ers section of the Old Croton Aqueduct. Current Designation(s)

Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign YONKERS WEIR 1837-1842 Plate 25-2, Old Croton Aqueduct

The Yonkers Weir, controlled the discharge of Current Designation(s) water from the aqueduct.

For more information, see fiche on page XX. YONKERS KEEPER’S HOUSE STABLE (Demolished) Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign Plate 25, Old Croton Aqueduct

Part of the complex allotted to the overseer of the Yonkers section of the Old Croton Aque- duct. Current Designation(s)

Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign YORK HILL RESERVOIR 1842 Plate 32-11, Old Croton Aqueduct

York Hill Reservoir, the main receiving reser- Current Designation(s) voir for the Old Croton Aqueduct, was capable of collecting 180 million gallons of water. The reservoir was constructed on several city YONKERS TOOL SHED blocks which would later become the heart of (Demolished) the Central Park land. Plate 25-4, Old Croton Aqueduct For more information, see fiche on page XX. The tool shed was a miscellaneous main- tenance building located on the aqueduct Type Significance(s) Interpretation Sign embankment.

Current Designation(s)

46