{"nrhp_refnum":"72001560","name":"High Bridge Aqueduct and Water Tower","other_names":[],"category":"structure","location":{"address":"Harlem River at W. 170th St. and High Bridge Park","address_restricted":false,"city":"New York","county":"Manhattan","state":"NY","lat":40.84229116700004,"lon":-73.93042162699999,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1972-12-04","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Engineering"],"significance_levels":["national"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A masonry aqueduct bridge across the Harlem River from West 170th Street in the Bronx to High Bridge Park in Manhattan, with an octagonal stone water tower near its Manhattan end. The aqueduct was built 1838-1844 (completed 1848) and the tower in 1872.","why_significant":"High Bridge is described as an engineering triumph, unique in the country in its time, and the most visible section of the original Croton Aqueduct, which gave New York its first adequate public water supply. Carl Condit regarded it as a leading example of advancing size and structural quality in stone bridge construction. The water tower is the only one of its kind remaining in the city.","narrative":"High Bridge carries the Croton Aqueduct across the Harlem River between the Bronx, at West 170th Street, and High Bridge Park in Manhattan. Construction began in the late 1830s and the masonry arch bridge was finished in 1848, delivering water to a city that had relied on wells, pumps and carted water. Designed in the manner of a Roman aqueduct, it was praised as magnificent and lofty. In 1850 the side walls were raised six feet to hold a larger pipe, and in 1923 Navy engineers replaced the central piers with a steel arch to improve river navigation. Near the Manhattan end stands an octagonal stone water tower of 1872, resembling a medieval campanile, which once supported a standpipe and iron tank. It is the only such tower left in the city. Its pumping role ended in 1949, and a carillon was installed in its belfry in 1958. Both structures remain landmarks on the skyline.","period_of_significance":"1838-1844, 1872 (19th Century)","architect_builder":"John B. Jervis (engineer; replaced David Bates Douglass, the first engineer, in 1836)","architectural_style":null,"criteria":[],"status_note":"Condition listed as excellent; some central masonry arches were replaced by a steel arch in 1923. The tower was relieved of pumping duty in 1949 and holds a carillon installed in 1958. The bridge is noted as formerly a pedestrian route that a neighborhood group hoped to reopen.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:50:39.569547-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NY/72001560.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/72001560/d7649edc0c-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/72001560/d7649edc0c-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Jim.henderson","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:High_Bridge_jeh.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Jim.henderson</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:High_Bridge_jeh.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75319592","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_Bridge_(New_York_City)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5754953"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/new-york/manhattan/high-bridge-aqueduct-and-water-tower-72001560/"}