2015-04-12 - Old Croton Aqueduct Walk I - Part III

The day was growing later, people were getting more tired, and the stops became less frequent and the walking stretches longer. We were aiming to finish by 6 PM but that became unlikely. All the stops and brief delay at the beginning added up.

We walked past the interesting architecture of City College.

And saw the Hamilton Grange National Memorial, a house that Alexander Hamilton built which was recently moved here. He lived in this house for only two years before he died.

A statue of the man himself was nearby.

Everyone was too tired to walk around to get a better view of the Morris-Jumel Mansion, built in 1765 as a summer villa. The family's estate stretched 130 acres from Harlem to the Hudson River, and the top of “Mount Morris” was one of the highest points in Manhattan. Today it is the oldest remaining house in Manhattan and serves as a museum covering 200 years of history, art, and culture.

We soon reached the High Bridge, also known as Croton Bridge, and the tower that used to have a water tank on top. Water would be pumped up there after travelling across the bridge and then be sent to higher regions in New York City. Some of us congregated for a group photo or three.

We crossed the Washington Bridge into the Bronx, on the east side of Manhattan from the George Washington Bridge, and soon found ourselves walking on Aqueduct Avenue and the quaint Aqueduct Lands with the Old Croton Aqueduct under our feet. This land was purchased from Westchester a long time ago and is now a public walkway with benches and playgrounds..

Pretty soon afterward we gazed upon possibly the largest armory in the world, the Kingsbridge Armory. It has served over the years as an armory, exhibition hall, boxing ring, and film set. Since 1996, it has remained vacant, but it may one day become the Kingsbridge National Ice Center as the world’s largest indoor ice center.

After discussing what to do, we decided to walk west around the Jerome Park Reservoir to get a nice view of that instead of walking east to see Poe Cottage.

The reservoir was quite nice.

And there was a tiny New York Public Library soon afterward.

Two people left us at 6:30 PM to take the 4-train back home at Moshulu Parkway.

The other eight of us walked around the southern edge of Van Cortlandt Park to the 242nd Street 1-train subway stop. We finished at 6:50 PM. It had been a long day but so so worth it. It was another great experience leading my second public walk ever. I’ll never forget the smiles on their faces. It made all the hours of planning and organizing and coordinating and walking and leading all worth it.