News Archive

Author: 
FOCAAdmin

Over several days during the holiday week of 2019-2020, I was inspired to achieve a goal that I have often thought about: walking the entire 41-mile length of the Old Croton Aqueduct historic trail. Although there are certain sections of the park that I frequently visit, large swaths were, up to this point, unknown to me. It was a real pleasure to finally get out and see what the rest of the Aqueduct trail has to offer! I was not disappointed by my discoveries!

Author: 
FOCAAdmin

Inspired by the eighth annual "I Love My Park Day," this video/montage documents the joyful and energetic work that took place on the Old Croton Aqueduct State Historic Park south of the Croton Dam on May 4th 2019.

Over 100 community members volunteered to remove harmful invasive species and replace them with native plants. They also began the restoration of a historic stone retaining wall, cleaned the banks of the Croton River, and improved drainage on the trail.

Author: 
DAlden

This winter and spring the Friends of the Old Croton Aqueduct decided to move forward with vine removal by engaging a professional arborist since we determined that we could not rely on volunteers alone to make enough of a difference up and down the trail.  Successful fundraising efforts have fully supported this first initiative!  We obtained permission from the State Parks for Guy Pardee from Suburban Native, LLC to begin removing vines along the trail.  This is a report of what we hope will be the first of many contracts with Guy. 

Author: 
FOCAAdmin

Hello all: we would like to keep the Aqueduct trail park open, but this can only happen with your cooperation. Please observe social distancing rules, or the Park may have to close as has been done in New Jersey.

 

 

Photo by Janko Ferlič at Unsplash
Author: 
FOCAAdmin

 

We regret to announce that the Old Croton Aqueduct Keepers House will be closed until further notice.  But don't forget the Trail is always open! 

(Courtesy of our Friends at Teatown in Ossining)

With children staying home from school in the coming weeks, we wanted to share some family-friendly outdoor activities with our community as we practice social distancing:

Before and after reclamation of the Old Croton Aqueduct trail in Tarrytown
Author: 
Charlotte Fahn

A parking lot that for more than 50 years has blighted a section of the Old Croton Aqueduct trail in Tarrytown is no more. Thanks to State Parks and the Village of Tarrytown, the parking lot - roughly paved, usually unkempt, and often full – has been replaced by a pristine swath of green, with a delineated path and new plantings.

Author: 
Mavis Cain

Visitors to the Keeper’s House in Dobbs Ferry often provide stories as intriguing as the house itself. Here’s a few; providing a big reward for those of us who work as docents there.

Echoes of Downton Abbey

Author: 
Charlotte Fahn

Photo: Scaffolding photo courtesy of NYC Dept. of Parks & Recreation

1861 cross section of the High Bridge by Croes, signed JJRC.
Author: 
FOCAAdmin

As history would have it, some designers are broadly associated with their works, like Frederick Law Olmsted with Central Park or John B. Jervis with the Old Croton Aqueduct. John James Robertson Croes was not one of those, yet many of us live in a more beautiful environment because of his talents.

Croes was born in 1834 in Richmond, Virginia, son of a clergyman and grandson of a Revolutionary War veteran. He attended the College of St James in Hagerstown, Maryland, and studied civil engineering, graduating in 1853.

Author: 
FOCAAdmin

The new Invasives Removal Squad of the Irvington Green Policy Task Force (GPTF) held an event called Thank Nature Day on December 1, 2019. In collaboration with the Hastings Vine Removal Squad, the Friends of the Old Croton Aqueduct (Friends), and the NYS Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation, two dozen volunteers came out on a chilly day to help remove and prune invasive plants and clean up litter along the Old Croton Aqueduct Trail (OCA), between Main Street and Matthiessen Road.

Author: 
FOCAAdmin

A Dedicated Friend, Peter Bakwin wrote this entry about jogging the entire length of the Old Croton Aqueduct (41 miles!)

I grew up in Colorado but spent summers visiting my grandparents at their sprawling Westchester home. There were woods to explore, a lake to swim in, and many cousins for companions. Years later, when I started running ultramarathons, I felt an urge to run from that house, now owned by my father, into New York City. The house is just a few miles from the Croton Reservoir, so the Old Croton Aqueduct was the obvious route.

Author: 
FOCAAdmin

Our very own Diane Alden did a presentation at November 15's event at the New York Botanical Garden.

You can view the video here:

Author: 
FOCAAdmin

If you want to delve further into the history of the Old Croton Aqueduct, which lies just below the trail that winds through these river towns, head to a new exhibit that opened recently at the Keeper’s House Visitor Center on the trail in Dobbs Ferry.

Author: 
FOCAAdmin

Listen to the Old Croton Aqueduct’s Sara Kelsey and Adam Bosch of the DEP talk about the Old Croton Aqueduct on iHeart RADIO’s “From Scratch, with Michael Ruhlman”, episode 5, featuring Chef Jean Georges Vongerichten.

The concept of the podcast series is combining an interview with a famous chef with a natural element that the chef uses in cooking along with one or two people who discuss the natural element.  In this case water and the Old Croton Aqueduct. The podcast is now live and can be found at iHeart RADIO.  A delicious and informative listen!

Tibbetts Brook as it runs through the park (photo-Sara Kelsey)
Author: 
FOCAAdmin

Because the Old Croton Aqueduct was powered by gravity alone, the Aqueduct and the trail above it do not follow a straight line. Instead, to maintain the average 13.25-inches–per–mile downward slope of the tunnel on its journey from the Croton Reservoir, its path follows the ridges formed by ancient glaciers. Armed by the early and forceful exercise of eminent domain, New York City constructed its tunnel through public and private property in a single-minded quest to meet citizens’ urgent need for clean, abundant water.

Author: 
FOCAAdmin

Going for the 26 Westchester miles of the Old Croton Aqueduct Trail in five separate walks over a period of 12 months was the goal of the Walk the Hudson Valley Meetup group, members of which can be seen on the Trail in Hastings in front of Ventilator 18. We are happy to be awarding them the 26 mile certificates and patches they have earned.

Bronx Students on tour
Bronx Students on tour
Author: 
LWalter

Middle School 15 is 2 blocks from Aqueduct Avenue in The Bronx. Teachers Shawanda Weems, along with co-teacher Mr. Mozoub, discovered The Friends Of The Old Croton Aqueduct 4 years ago; ever since they’ve brought their summer class to Washington Heights.

This year her kids crossed the High Bridge to learn the history of the rooftop water towers, and the Old Croton Aqueduct. They stepped on Rucker Park’s basketball court, toured Morris Jumel Mansion and Sugar Hill Museum Of Art & Storytelling, and paid respects at Mayor Ed Koch’s and John J Audubon’s graves.

Lesley Walter in Hat
Students celebrating park
Author: 
Charlotte Fahn

On July 13, excited neighbors, youth groups, “parkies,” and city and state officials attended a groundbreaking for the NYC Parks Department’s $10 million project to renovate Adventure and Sunken playgrounds in Manhattan’s Highbridge Park. Adventure Playground is where the paved path to the Manhattan end of the High Bridge begins; adjacent Sunken Playground provides ADA-compatible access to that path.

Tour atop Croton Dam
Author: 
FOCAAdmin

Photo: Suzy Allman

As co-head of Walks & Tours for the Friends of the Old Croton Aqueduct and a docent at the Keeper’s House Visitor Center in Dobbs Ferry, I am frequently asked the same question: What would be a good walk or tour along the 26-mile trail that runs through these Rivertowns (the Old Croton Aqueduct State Historic Park)? Or perhaps along the 15-mile New York City route, which ends at the main New York Public Library (former site of the Murray Hill Distributing Reservoir)?

View through the tunnel at Lenoir
The tunnel at Lenoir
Author: 
FOCAAdmin

On this joint walk with the Lenoir Nature Preserve’s Curator, Sara Cavanaugh, along the Old Croton Aqueduct met at the Lenoir Nature Preserve, 19 Dudley St., Yonkers, and enjoyed an easy 6-mile loop walk along the Aqueduct Trail, with time spent in the Preserve and on the Trail, exploring history and nature.

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