In 1842, the Croton Aqueduct began delivering water to New York City from the Croton River 41 miles to the north. In the decades leading up to the aqueduct's completion the city had suffered epidemics of Asiatic Cholera and Yellow Fever because water came from increasingly polluted wells. Fire also devastated the city several times, including the Great Fire of 1835 in which 700 buildings burned down because there was no reliable water source to extinguish the fires. The aqueduct was an incredible work of engineering never before accomplished on such a large scale. It delivered 40 million gallons of clean reliable drinking water daily to a rapidly growing city.
Join NYC native Matt Malina and urban educator Matheson Westlake on a bike ride that travels from the 42nd Street Library on the Old Croton Aqueduct route to the Highbridge.
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