The Old Croton Dam is a historic dam located in Yorktown,

Westchester County, New York Westchester County is located in the U.S. state of New York. It is the seventh most populous county in the State of New York and the most populous north of New York City. According to the 2020 United States Census, the county had a population ...

, now lying submerged beneath the waters of the

New Croton Reservoir The New Croton Reservoir is a reservoir in Westchester County, New York, part of the New York City water supply system lying approximately north of New York City. It is the collecting point for water from all reservoirs in the Croton Watershed. ...

. The dam was built on the

Croton River The Croton River ( ) is a river in southern New York with three principal tributaries: the West Branch, Middle Branch, and East Branch. Their waters, all part of the New York City water supply system, join downstream from the Croton Falls R ...

between 1837 and 1842, and was the first substantial masonry dam in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

. Construction was delayed by a January 1841 storm that washed away most of the dam, with heavy downstream damage and loss of life.

History

The gravity dam constructed with a rubble core and

granite Granite () is a coarse-grained ( phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies un ...

ashlar Ashlar () is finely dressed (cut, worked) stone, either an individual stone that has been worked until squared, or a structure built from such stones. Ashlar is the finest stone masonry unit, generally rectangular cuboid, mentioned by Vitruv ...

foundation, it was high and long. The dam impounded water from the

Croton River watershed ''This page is about the Croton River watershed, a hydrological feature. For the component of the New York City water supply system with a similar name, see'' Croton Watershed The Croton River watershed is the drainage basin of the Croton River ...

, forming a reservoir several miles long to the northeast along the path of the Croton River. Water flowed to New York City through the

Old 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 from ...

, which starts just upstream of the dam and carries water down the Croton River valley toward the

Hudson River The Hudson River is a river that flows from north to south primarily through eastern New York. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains of Upstate New York and flows southward through the Hudson Valley to the New York Harbor between Ne ...

, and roughly follows the Hudson south. The dam and aqueduct constitute a major part of the original

New York City water supply system A combination of aqueducts, reservoirs, and tunnels supplies fresh water to New York City. With three major water systems ( Croton, Catskill, and Delaware) stretching up to away from the city, its water supply system is one of the most exte ...

. The New Croton Aqueduct opened in 1890, augmenting the original until supply from the

Delaware Delaware ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Maryland to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and New Jersey and the Atlantic Ocean to its east. The state takes its name from the adjacent ...

and

Catskill Aqueduct The Catskill Aqueduct, part of the New York City water supply system, brings water from the Catskill Mountains to Yonkers where it connects to other parts of the system. History Construction commenced in 1907. The aqueduct proper was completed ...

s was sufficient to take it off line in 1955. When the

New Croton Dam The New Croton Dam (also known as Cornell Dam) is a dam forming the New Croton Reservoir, both parts of the New York City water supply system. It stretches across the Croton River near Croton-on-Hudson, New York, about north of New York City. ...

was completed in 1906, the old dam was submerged to a depth of . ''Note:'' This includes an
''Accompanying four photographs''
/ref> The dam site was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

in 1973.

References

Buildings and structures in Westchester County, New York Dams completed in 1842 Water infrastructure of New York City Water supply infrastructure on the National Register of Historic Places Dams on the National Register of Historic Places in New York (state) National Register of Historic Places in Westchester County, New York Yorktown, New York {{WestchesterCountyNY-NRHP-stub

History

See also

References