The Croton Dam, which stretches across the Croton River, is often called the Little Niagara of New York. The dam is not famous among tourists, but a lot of New Yorkers like this place for its picturesque nature. Also, they can drink clean water from the Catskill Mountains owing to the dam. This place is not just an important infrastructure facility but also a unique ecological object with a rich history. It was being built for ten years and was compared to the Great Wall of China and the Egyptian pyramids. It is difficult to overestimate the value of this dam because it helped to make the city cleaner and defeat epidemics and provided New Yorkers with drinking water. Learn more at new-york.name.
The main facts from the Croton Dam history
James Coleman, the head of the street cleaning department, won the competition for the best Croton Dam project. For the implementation of his project, James received an unbelievable sum of money for that time, more than $4 million, from the city budget. The New Yorker undertook to build the dam in 5 years, but it was not easy to put that promise into practice, as the reservoir flooding zone covered 20 square miles of residential buildings, farms and schools. The lengthy procedure of people, houses and even cemeteries relocation took almost 10 years, so the construction of the dam began only in 1892. At the time of its construction, the New Croton Dam was the world’s tallest one and the world’s third-largest structure after the Great Wall of China and the Egyptian pyramids.
The scale of construction can be impressive even in the modern world. A mini-railway and a small steam plant were built near the dam to transport granite slabs and produce steam for steam excavators.
Another major problem arose in the projecting process, the lack of labor force. The chief engineer of the project, Alphonse Fteley, decided to involve Italian stonemasons in the construction. Italian specialists were less paid than US workers. For example, if an American got 22 cents an hour, Italians were paid 1 dollar 30 cents for a 10-hour day. In addition to the hellish work, they lived in terrible barracks, which resulted in strikes. However, after the minor pay rise, the organizers of the strikes were arrested. The Croton Dam Strike silent black-and-white movie is based on these events.
Work continued almost around the clock and stopped only for a while in winter due to severe frosts.
The official date when the dam construction was finished is considered to be 1906, but, in fact, the structure underwent a lot of improvements in the next few years. A total of $7,700,000 was spent on the Croton Dam. When the Little Niagara was opened, New York publications described its exquisite structure as one of the most beautiful engineering projects in the whole world.
Why should you visit the Croton Dam?
If you are looking for a nook to stay alone with your thoughts, the Croton Dam is the best option. The great advantage of the place is that it is little known among tourists, so you can enjoy the beauty and serenity of nature in full here.
The Croton Dam is within an hour’s drive from Manhattan. If you come here in the morning, you can watch the sunrise over the water. The view makes you fall in love with this place. Also, you can come here to learn more about this unique and majestic engineering object of the 20th century.