Macombs Dam ( ) was a

dam A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use ...

and

bridge A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somethi ...

across the

Harlem River The Harlem River is an tidal strait in New York, United States, flowing between the Hudson River and the East River and separating the island of Manhattan from the Bronx on the New York mainland. The northern stretch, also called the Spuyt ...

between

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

and

the Bronx The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

, which existed from to . The bridge was later replaced with the toll-free Central Bridge, and since 1890, the current

Macombs Dam Bridge The Macombs Dam Bridge ( ; also Macomb's Dam Bridge) is a swing bridge across the Harlem River in New York City, connecting the boroughs of Manhattan and the Bronx. The bridge is operated and maintained by the New York City Department of Trans ...

has stood on the site.

History

Construction

In 1813,

Robert Macomb The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory, honou ...

, son of the merchant Alexander Macomb, requested permission of the

New York State Legislature The New York State Legislature consists of the two houses that act as the state legislature of the U.S. state of New York: The New York State Senate and the New York State Assembly. The Constitution of New York does not designate an officia ...

to build a dam at the

New York City Parks Department The New York City Department of Parks and Recreation, also called the Parks Department or NYC Parks, is the department of the government of New York City responsible for maintaining the city's parks system, preserving and maintaining the ecolog ...

website which would hold water for a tide powered

gristmill A gristmill (also: grist mill, corn mill, flour mill, feed mill or feedmill) grinds cereal grain into flour and middlings. The term can refer to either the grinding mechanism or the building that holds it. Grist is grain that has been separat ...

created by the new dam and another one Macomb owned near King’s Bridge on

Spuyten Duyvil Creek Spuyten Duyvil Creek () is a short tidal estuary in New York City connecting the Hudson River to the Harlem River Ship Canal and then on to the Harlem River. The confluence of the three water bodies separate the island of Manhattan from t ...

. Fifty prominent citizens of the area, realizing that Macomb would most likely receive the permission he had asked for, petitioned the city's Common Council to allow a bridge to be built as part of the structure as well. This request was granted, and Macomb was allowed to collect tolls on the bridge, half of which would go to the Council to be used to educate the poor. The bridge was completed in 1816, two years after the dam had opened. As part of the permission to build the dam, Macomb was required to provide a

lock Lock(s) may refer to: Common meanings *Lock and key, a mechanical device used to secure items of importance *Lock (water navigation), a device for boats to transit between different levels of water, as in a canal Arts and entertainment * ''Lock ...

to allow boats to pass, and to keep navigation on the river open. But when the dam began operation in 1814, the manned lock, which was on the north side and measured only , could accommodate only small boats, limiting the river's capacity. To make matters worse, by the late 1820s the lock had been partially filled in with stone, forcing boats to navigate through the piers of the bridge at high tide, a hazardous task that claimed several lives.

Destruction

In 1839, local citizens, angry that the river was still blocked and that the proposed crossing for the

Croton Aqueduct The Croton Aqueduct or Old Croton Aqueduct was a large and complex water distribution system constructed for New York City between 1837 and 1842. The great aqueducts, which were among the first in the United States, carried water by gravity fro ...

would further block the river, got legal advice and planned a response. Repeatedly, the dam was sailed to and passage requested. Each time, passage was refused as not possible, and a meticulous log was kept of the attempts. On September 14, 1839, led by Lewis G. Morris, a force of 100 men, including

Gouverneur Morris Jr. Gouverneur Morris II (February 9, 1813 – August 20, 1888) was an American railroad executive and the son of a founding father of the United States, Gouverneur Morris. Early life Gouverneur Morris was born on February 9, 1813, Morrisania, Bronx ...

, confronted the bridge keeper demanding passage for their vessel. When they were refused, Morris's men – who came from a chartered coal barge – proceeded to breach the dam and bridge with axes, in an act of civil disobedience, allowing the bark ''Nonpareil'' to pass. They returned on September 21, 22 and 24 to remove more of the dam. Their actions against the dam as a

public nuisance In English criminal law, public nuisance was a common law offence in which the injury, loss, or damage is suffered by the public, in general, rather than an individual, in particular. In Australia In ''Kent v Johnson'' the Supreme Court of the ...

to navigation were upheld by the courts, in ''Renwick v. Morris'', William Renwick being the owner of the dam at the time. The court ruled that New York State should not have authorized the bridge to be built, because navigable waterways are the jurisdiction of the Federal government. On March 19, 1858, Senator Smith Ely Jr. introduced legislation to the New York State Senate mandating the removal of obstructions, including Macomb's Dam, from the Harlem River. Its passage under Chapter 291 on April 16, 1858, directed the replacement the dam with a turntable

swing bridge A swing bridge (or swing span bridge) is a movable bridge that has as its primary structural support a vertical locating pin and support ring, usually at or near to its center of gravity, about which the swing span (turning span) can then pi ...

, to be administered by a four-person commission split between members of both Westchester and New York counties. Each county was required to pay $15,000 of the construction cost By 1861 the bridge and dam had been totally removed, and the bridge was replaced with the toll-free Central Bridge. In 1890, this was replaced by the current

, now the third-oldest major bridge in New York City, after the Brooklyn Bridge and the

Washington Bridge The Washington Bridge is a -long arch bridge over the Harlem River in New York City between the boroughs of Manhattan and the Bronx. The crossing, opened in 1888, connects 181st Street and Amsterdam Avenue in Washington Heights, Manhattan, w ...

. The Macombs Dam is memorialized in the name of

Macombs Dam Park Macombs Dam Park ( ) is a park in the Concourse section of the Bronx, New York City. The park lay in the shadow of the old Yankee Stadium when it stood, between Jerome Avenue and the Major Deegan Expressway, near the Harlem River and the Macomb ...

, which was rebuilt as part of the construction of the new

Yankee Stadium Yankee Stadium is a baseball stadium located in the Bronx, New York City. It is the home field of the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball, and New York City FC of Major League Soccer. Opened in April 2009, the stadium replaced the orig ...

in 2010.

References

Notes {{Reflist, 2 Bridges completed in 1816 Dams completed in 1814 Buildings and structures demolished in 1839 Dams in New York (state) Demolished bridges in the United States Former toll bridges in New York (state) 1814 establishments in New York (state) Bridges in the Bronx Bridges in Manhattan Concourse, Bronx Demolished buildings and structures in the Bronx Demolished buildings and structures in Manhattan