Croton Aqueduct Triangle

Goulden Ave. And 197th St.

Bronx

Directions via Google Maps

This text is part of Parks’ Historical Signs Project and can be found posted within the park.

The bricks poking up through the grass at this Greenstreets traffic island on Goulden and Reservoir Avenues are artifacts of the Old Croton Aqueduct. Opened in 1842, the 41-mile structure was the first public works project of its kind in the United States, and New York City’s first large-scale, reliable, and uninterrupted water supply system.

Until the construction of the aqueduct, New York City’s rapidly expanding population relied on public wells, barrel-based water sellers, and a single, inadequate water supply company. Water quality was low, and availability was limited, even for the rich. For the poorer segments of society, who had only the polluted wells, clean water was simply not an option. The water problem was exacerbated by the garbage and sewage created by a growing population crowded into inadequate housing. Piles of filth filled the streets, and cisterns overflowed, further contaminating rivers and groundwater.

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