A Walk to Crawbuckie Preserve and Back – A Bookstore

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By this time my feet were really bothering me. Luckily my favorite local bookstore was within easy walking distance, and I could sit comfortably in an armchair or a sofa and read for a while until my feet had recovered enough for me to continue on home.

It’s called Hudson Valley Books for Humanity, and I’ve posted about it before (See: A Walk through Ossining – A Bookstore).

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Needless to say, I ended up buying a photography book: Jacques Henri Lartigue. The Invention of an Artist. This is a small, local bookstore and it doesn’t have a large collection of photography-related books. I had just watched a YouTube video where Lartigue was mentioned. At the time I remember thinking that I didn’t have any books on Lartigue and that I should get one. Coincidentally, I unexpectedly bumped into this one. This is the second time this has happened to me with this bookstore.

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Taken with a Sony RX10 IV.

A Walk to Crawbuckie Preserve and Back – Sing Sing Kill Greenway

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Ossining’s Sing Sing Kill Greenway is a concrete walkway opened in 2016 that runs down the Sing Sing Kill gorge. It’s a unique experience walking down the gorge with steep hills on either side of you and the brook beneath you. You’re practically in the middle of Ossining’s Old Village, but in a different world.The “main” entrance is adjacent to the lower parking lot at the Ossining Community Center at 95 Broadway. The walkway runs about 1/3 of a mile down the gorge and ends up on Central Ave. If you parked at the community center then at that point you either turn around and go back up the gorge, or you can take the longer route up to Main St, take a left onto the Croton Aqueduct Trailway then head back down to the Community Center.

InOssining describes has a piece on the Greenway.

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Taken with a Sony RX10 IV.

A Walk to Crawbuckie Preserve and Back – Double Arched Bridge

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I was now in Ossining and my feet were hurting. I knew that one of Ossining’s most famous landmarks was only a short walk away. But were my feet up to it. I’d taken pictures of it before, but I hadn’t been happy with them. After deliberating for a while I decided that I’d “give it another go”. It seemed to me that a monochrome picture would be appropriate, and I got these two shots. I’m not happy with these either. Unfortunately, I had to point the camera directly at the sun and this particular camera tends to flare more than I’d like in such circumstances.

“The Double Arch Bridge is located in the Village (sic), of Ossining, New York. Both bridges cross the Sing Sing Kill (also known as Kill Brook). Like the High Bridge, the upper arch of the Double Arch Bridge carried the Old Croton Aqueduct. Engineer John Bloomfield Jervis had picked up in 1836 where Major David B. Douglass left off, making only small changes to Douglass’ planned route for the aqueduct and designs for the water conduits. However, Jervis left his mark on the various structures located along the route, especially its bridges. He designed the upper arch across the Sing Sing Kill. Construction began in 1839, and the Croton Aqueduct opened in 1842.

The lower bridge is also a masonry arch, and it was initially a private road to a nearby estate. It was built in 1861 and opened the following year. Its plaque names H. Grant as the engineer and B. Foshay as the builder.

The Double Arch Bridge has become the symbol of Ossining; the town uses its image on its official seal, which appears on signs and the town’s website. The lower bridge is open to traffic and carries Broadway under the Aqueduct Bridge and over the Sing Sing Kill.

The bridges are part of Ossining’s downtown historic district. The Croton Aqueduct has been added to the National Register of Historic Places (1974), designated as a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark (1975), and designated as a National Historic Landmark (1992). The Ossining Weir, located near the bridges, is open for guided tours and is the only location along the aqueduct where visitors can see some of the interior of the Old Croton Aqueduct.” (Adapted from: Bridges, NYC to correct a few points and remove outdated information, especially the part describing Sing Sing Kill’s inaccessibility (see next post).

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Taken with a Sony RX10 IV.

A Walk to Crawbuckie Preserve and Back – Old Croton Aqueduct

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My plan had been to walk back into Ossining along Route 9/Albany Post Road. However, as I was walking to the diner, I noticed that the road crossed the Old Croton Aqueduct Trail.

According to New York State’s Parks, Recreation and Preservation site:

During the 1830s New York City was in dire need of a fresh water supply to combat the steady rise of disease and to fight numerous fires that often engulfed large tracts of businesses and homes. After numerous proposals and an abandoned plan two years into its production, construction of an unprecedented magnitude began in 1837 under the expertise of John Bloomfield Jervis. The proposed plan called for a 41-mile aqueduct and dam to be built in order to run water from the Croton River to New York City. Three to four thousand workers, mostly Irish immigrants earning up to $1.00 per day, completed the masonry marvel in just five years. In 1842 water flowed into above-ground reservoirs located at the present sites of the New York Public Library and the Great Lawn of Central Park. Throngs of people attended the formal celebration held on October 14th and celebrated with “Croton cocktails” – a mix of Croton water and lemonade.

This 19th-century architectural achievement cost New York City approximately 13 million dollars and was believed able to provide New Yorkers with fresh water for centuries to come. The population spiraled upward at a dizzying rate, however, and the Croton Aqueduct, which was capable of carrying 100 million gallons per day, could no longer meet New York City’s needs by the early 1880s. Construction of the New Croton Aqueduct began in 1885 and water began to flow by 1890. Although no longer the sole supplier of fresh water, the Old Croton Aqueduct continued to provide water to New York City until 1965.
In 1968, the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation purchased 26.2 miles of the original 41-mile aqueduct from New York City. Presently, Old Croton Aqueduct State Historic Park is a linear park which runs from Van Cortlandt Park at the Bronx County/City of Yonkers border to the Croton Dam in Cortlandt. In 1987 a section was reopened to supply the Town of Ossining and in 1992 the Old Croton Aqueduct was awarded National Historic Landmark Status. The scenic path over the underground aqueduct winds through urban centers and small communities. It passes near numerous historic sites, preserves, a museum highlighting the construction of the Aqueduct, and many homes. The Aqueduct’s grassy ceiling provides abundant recreational opportunities for outdoor enthusiasts. While primarily for walking and running, parts of the trail are suitable for horseback riding, biking (except during “mud season”), bird watching, snowshoeing, and cross-country skiing.

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I’ve no idea what this structure is. Presumably it’s something to do with the Aqueduct. Notice in the second picture (below) my lightning like reflexes were able to capture a picture of a passing cyclist even though he came from behind me and I didn’t notice him coming until he passed me. 🙂

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At times the trail crossed local roads. As I was passing this one a fire truck pulled up and backed into the station.

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Eventually I got back to Ossining. A good view over the Weir house in the foreground towards the town center.

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A view of the Weir house from the other side.

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Two locals doing what most younger people seem to do all the time.

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View looking back towards the Weir along the Aqueduct Bridge.

A stone aqueduct bridge was completed in 1842 to carry the Old Croton Aqueduct over both the Sing Sing Kill and the Broadway Arch Bridge. Designed by civil engineer John B. Jervis, the aqueduct carried fresh water from Croton Reservoir to New York City. The original Ossining weir was located a quarter mile north of the bridge but a program initiated in 1881 modified the function of the weirs to provide valves that could divert the entire flow of the aqueduct at any one weir. This was a feat not possible in the original 1842 design. All other weirs were modified but the original Ossining weir, located on a stream, could not accommodate the entire flow of the aqueduct. Therefore, a new weir was constructed in 1881-1886 at the Aqueduct Bridge where the water could be diverted.

The marker reads:

AQUEDUCT BRIDGE
COMPLETED 1842, OLD CROTON
AQUEDUCT CROSSES OVER
SING SING KILL & BROADWAY ARCH
BRIDGE. WEIR BUILT 1881-1886
TO EMPTY TUNNEL FOR REPAIRS.
WILLIAM G. POMEROY FOUNDATION 2022

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View from the Aqueduct Bridge looking towards Ossining. The two churches are the First Baptist (on the left) and the First Presbyterian (on the right). More on them later.

Taken with a Sony RX10 IV.