Croton Fountain, City Hall Park

Original title: The Croton Water Celebration 1842. Engraving published by Joseph Fairfield Atwill (1811-1891), New York. Below, the drawing (probably the original one) created in the same year "Deposited in the Clerk's Office for the Southern District of New York. Octr. 12, 1842 ". Source: Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.

Engraving shows the City Hall Park, north from the intersection of Broadway and Park Row. The Croton Fountain is in the center. A parade on Broadway (left) and Park Row (right) celebrated the opening of the Croton water supply system in New York City, completed that year in October, 1842. The fountain at City Hall Park was supplied by this system.

In 1837, The City began to build this water supply system in 1837. The project began with the construction of a 250-foot wide and 55-foot high dam approximately 6 miles upstream of the mouth of the Croton River. The first significant masonry dam in the United States, the Old Croton Dam was built from square blocks of granite and cement and was 70 feet wide at its base and 7 feet wide at its top. It raised the level of the Croton River by 40 feet, creating a 5-mile long reservoir that was 400 acres in size, had a capacity of 500 million gallons, located at an elevation of 166 ½ feet above sea level.

The old Park Theatre and the spire of the Brick Church are on the right. The Astor House and the American Hotel (opened in 1825 at 229 Broadway) are on the left.