Painting the Town -- Museum of the City of New York

Bridges linking the island of Manhattan to New Jersey, Long Island, and southern New York State have been part of the iconography of New York City from the earliest days of settlement. The first bridges spanned the Harlem River, linking the northernmost part of the island to southern Westchester County, an area that became the borough of the Bronx after its 1895 annexation to the city of New York.

High Bridge, New York City's oldest surviving bridge, was widely extolled as the engineering marvel of its time. As a preeminent example of Yankee ingenuity in conquering tremendous technological obstacles, it assumed an enduring place in the pictorialization of New York's urban advantages. John Bloomfield Jervis (1795 -1885) designed the bridge and oversaw its construction between 1838 and 1842. Jervis' work on the construction of the Delaware and Hudson Canal and the Chenango Canal, and of various railways, had earned him a reputation as an accomplished engineer. Managing to overcome problems of varying land levels and difficult rock formations on both sides of the river, he created a Roman aqueduct to carry the Croton Aqueduct pipes over the Harlem River from Aqueduct Avenue at 170th Street in the Bronx to High Bridge Park, east of 175th Street and Amsterdam Avenue in Manhattan.¹

Construction of the bridge began in 1839. The completion of the Croton project in 1842 gave New Yorkers cause for celebration, ranging from parades and fireworks to the composition of a special ode. The significance of the Croton enterprise was immense. The introduction of water from an upstate source gave a rapidly growing New York City a new source of unpolluted water and a reliable water supply to fight the frequent fires that burned out of control when wells and pumps ran dry. Not all New Yorkers were enthusiastic, however. George Templeton Strong recorded in his diary: "There's nothing new in town, except the Croton Water, which is all full of tadpoles and animalcule, and which moreover flows through an aqueduct which I hear was used as a necessary by all the Hibernian vagabonds who worked upon it. I shall drink no Croton for some time to come."²

Such unpleasantries as Strong's bigotry and the severe unemployment following the financial panic of 1837 are in no way reflected in the bucolic view of this new wonder, which, along with the rest of the Croton project, did indeed provide work for many Irish immigrants. Urban tensions and problems and the people most affected by them had no place in art of the period.

The beauty of the bridge and its innovative technology made it an appealing subject for many nineteenth-century artists. Miller's New York as It Is (1882) recommended the site to tourists for the carriage ride or promenade across the top.³ Even in the early twentieth century, artists chose the locale for its still-bucolic appearance, which offered a pleasant alternative to densely built downtown. In 1927, however, the bridge's aspect was sharply altered by the removal of two of its arches to allow for the passage of large ships through the Harlem River from the Hudson to the East River.

The Museum of the City of New York owns six paintings of High Bridge, as well as several drawings and prints and many nineteenth- and early twentieth-century photographs.⁴ This view, looking at the bridge from the east, was probably derived from a print by Currier and Ives, The High Bridge at Harlem, N.Y., issued in 1849. The existence of another nearly identical painting bearing the signature "Burleigh, Waterville Maine," suggests that widespread interest in this nineteenth-century marvel gave rise to the popularity of the print.⁵

Notes:

1 The reservoirs for Croton water were located at 42nd Street and Fifth Avenue, and between 79th and 86th Street and Fifth and Seventh Avenues. When Central Park was constructed, the latter reservoir was filled in, forming the Great Lawn. In 1857, a third reservoir was built while the park was under construction; it will cease to be used about the year 2000.

2 Allan Nevins and Milton Halsey Thomas, eds., The Diary of George Templeton Strong: Young Man in New York, 1835 -1849 (New York: Macmillan, 1952), p. 99.

3 Miller's New York as It Is (New York: James Miller, 1882), p. 99.

4 The Subject Index of the Inventory of American Paintings in the Smithsonian Institution lists High Bridge paintings by many artists.

5 The other painting appears in an advertisement, Magazine Antiques 3, no. 5 (May 1977): 842. Because there are at least two paintings very similar to the print, the likelihood is that the print was made first and widely distributed.


High Bridge c. 1850 Artist unknown Oil on canvas, 24 X 31 The J. Clarence Davies Collection, 29.100.1305
Bridges linking the island of Manhattan to New Jersey, Long Island, and southern New York State have been part of the iconography of New York City from the earliest days of settlement. The first bridges spanned the Harlem River, linking the northernmost part of the island to southern Westchester County, an area that became the borough of the Bronx after its 1895 annexation to the city of New York. High Bridge, New York City's oldest surviving bridge, was widely extolled as the engineering marvel of its time. As a preeminent example of Yankee ingenuity in conquering tremendous technological obstacles, it assumed an enduring place in the pictorialization of New York's urban advantages. John Bloomfield Jervis (1795 -1885) designed the bridge and oversaw its construction between 1838 and 1842. Jervis' work on the construction of the Delaware and Hudson Canal and the Chenango Canal, and of various railways, had earned him a reputation as an accomplished engineer. Managing to overcome problems of varying land levels and difficult rock formations on both sides of the river, he created a Roman aqueduct to carry the Croton Aqueduct pipes over the Harlem River from Aqueduct Avenue at 170th Street in the Bronx to High Bridge Park, east of 175th Street and Amsterdam Avenue in Manhattan.¹ Construction of the bridge began in 1839. The completion of the Croton project in 1842 gave New Yorkers cause for celebration, ranging from parades and fireworks to the composition of a special ode. The significance of the Croton enterprise was immense. The introduction of water from an upstate source gave a rapidly growing New York City a new source of unpolluted water and a reliable water supply to fight the frequent fires that burned out of control when wells and pumps ran dry. Not all New Yorkers were enthusiastic, however. George Templeton Strong recorded in his diary: "There's nothing new in town, except the Croton Water, which is all full of tadpoles and animalcule, and which moreover flows through an aqueduct which I hear was used as a necessary by all the Hibernian vagabonds who worked upon it. I shall drink no Croton for some time to come."² Such unpleasantries as Strong's bigotry and the severe unemployment following the financial panic of 1837 are in no way reflected in the bucolic view of this new wonder, which, along with the rest of the Croton project, did indeed provide work for many Irish immigrants. Urban tensions and problems and the people most affected by them had no place in art of the period. The beauty of the bridge and its innovative technology made it an appealing subject for many nineteenth-century artists. Miller's New York as It Is (1882) recommended the site to tourists for the carriage ride or promenade across the top.³ Even in the early twentieth century, artists chose the locale for its still-bucolic appearance, which offered a pleasant alternative to densely built downtown. In 1927, however, the bridge's aspect was sharply altered by the removal of two of its arches to allow for the passage of large ships through the Harlem River from the Hudson to the East River. The Museum of the City of New York owns six paintings of High Bridge, as well as several drawings and prints and many nineteenth- and early twentieth-century photographs.⁴ This view, looking at the bridge from the east, was probably derived from a print by Currier and Ives, The High Bridge at Harlem, N.Y., issued in 1849. The existence of another nearly identical painting bearing the signature "Burleigh, Waterville Maine," suggests that widespread interest in this nineteenth-century marvel gave rise to the popularity of the print.⁵ Notes: 1 The reservoirs for Croton water were located at 42nd Street and Fifth Avenue, and between 79th and 86th Street and Fifth and Seventh Avenues. When Central Park was constructed, the latter reservoir was filled in, forming the Great Lawn. In 1857, a third reservoir was built while the park was under construction; it will cease to be used about the year 2000. 2 Allan Nevins and Milton Halsey Thomas, eds., The Diary of George Templeton Strong: Young Man in New York, 1835 -1849 (New York: Macmillan, 1952), p. 99. 3 Miller's New York as It Is (New York: James Miller, 1882), p. 99. 4 The Subject Index of the Inventory of American Paintings in the Smithsonian Institution lists High Bridge paintings by many artists. 5 The other painting appears in an advertisement, Magazine Antiques 3, no. 5 (May 1977): 842. Because there are at least two paintings very similar to the print, the likelihood is that the print was made first and widely distributed.