In 1833, as New Yorkers sought pure water, the city’s Water Commissioners chose the Croton River as the best source of drinking water. Andrew Young and James Scott built the aqueduct arch with locally quarried granite, and the keystone was placed on August 20, 1838. The aqueduct carries water through the arch in a cast iron lining. The great arch is 88 feet long, and its top stands 100 feet above the Sing Sing Kill. Water from the Croton Dam was carried to the distribution reservoirs at Murray Hill, the site of the New York Public Library. The street beneath the aqueduct, Broadway, was originally called Mill Street. In 1862, a masonry arch street bridge was completed, creating the Double Arch.
