Macombs Dam ( ) was a

dam A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use, aqua ...

and

bridge A bridge is a structure built to Span (engineering), span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or railway) without blocking the path underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, whi ...

across the

Harlem River The Harlem River is an tidal strait in New York City, flowing between the Hudson River and the East River and separating the island of Manhattan from the Bronx on the United States mainland. The northern stretch, also called the Spuyten Duyvi ...

between

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

and

the Bronx The Bronx ( ) is the northernmost of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It shares a land border with Westchester County, New York, West ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, which existed from to . The bridge was later replaced with the toll-free Central Bridge, and since 1890, the current Macombs Dam Bridge has stood on the site.

History

Construction

In 1813, Robert Macomb, son of the merchant Alexander Macomb, requested permission of the

New York State Legislature The New York State Legislature consists of the Bicameralism, two houses that act as the State legislature (United States), state legislature of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York: the New York State Senate and the New York State Assem ...

to build a dam at the

New York City Parks Department The New York City Department of Parks and Recreation, also called the Parks Department or NYC Parks, is the department of the government of New York City responsible for maintaining the city's parks system, preserving and maintaining the ecolog ...

website which would hold water for a tide powered

gristmill A gristmill (also: grist mill, corn mill, flour mill, feed mill or feedmill) grinds cereal grain into flour and Wheat middlings, middlings. The term can refer to either the grinding mechanism or the building that holds it. Grist is grain that h ...

created by the new dam and another one Macomb owned near King’s Bridge on

Spuyten Duyvil Creek Spuyten Duyvil Creek () is a short tidal estuary in New York City connecting the Hudson River to the Harlem River Ship Canal and then on to the Harlem River. The confluence of the three water bodies separate the island of Manhattan from ...

. Fifty prominent citizens of the area, realizing that Macomb would most likely receive the permission he had asked for, petitioned the city's Common Council to allow a bridge to be built as part of the structure as well. This request was granted, and Macomb was allowed to collect tolls on the bridge, half of which would go to the Council to be used to educate the poor. The bridge was completed in 1816, two years after the dam had opened. As part of the permission to build the dam, Macomb was required to provide a

lock Lock(s) or Locked may refer to: Common meanings *Lock and key, a mechanical device used to secure items of importance *Lock (water navigation), a device for boats to transit between different levels of water, as in a canal Arts and entertainme ...

to allow boats to pass, and to keep navigation on the river open. But when the dam began operation in 1814, the manned lock, which was on the north side and measured only , could accommodate only small boats, limiting the river's capacity. To make matters worse, by the late 1820s the lock had been partially filled in with stone, forcing boats to navigate through the piers of the bridge at high tide, a hazardous task that claimed several lives.

Destruction

In 1839, local citizens, angry that the river was still blocked and that the proposed crossing for the

Croton Aqueduct The Croton Aqueduct or Old Croton Aqueduct was a large and complex water supply network, water distribution system constructed for New York City between 1837 and 1842. The great aqueduct (water supply), aqueducts, which were among the first in t ...

would further block the river, got legal advice and planned a response. Repeatedly, the dam was sailed to and passage requested. Each time, passage was refused as not possible, and a meticulous log was kept of the attempts. On September 14, 1839, led by Lewis G. Morris, a force of 100 men, including Gouverneur Morris Jr., confronted the bridge keeper demanding passage for their vessel. When they were refused, Morris's men – who came from a chartered coal barge – proceeded to breach the dam and bridge with axes, in an act of

civil disobedience Civil disobedience is the active and professed refusal of a citizenship, citizen to obey certain laws, demands, orders, or commands of a government (or any other authority). By some definitions, civil disobedience has to be nonviolent to be cal ...

, allowing the

bark Bark may refer to: Common meanings * Bark (botany), an outer layer of a woody plant such as a tree or stick * Bark (sound), a vocalization of some animals (which is commonly the dog) Arts and entertainment * ''Bark'' (Jefferson Airplane album), ...

''Nonpareil'' to pass. They returned on September 21, 22 and 24 to remove more of the dam. Their actions against the dam as a

public nuisance In English criminal law, public nuisance is an act, condition or thing that is illegal because it interferes with the rights of the general public. In Australia In ''Kent v Johnson'', the Supreme Court of the ACT held that public nuisance is ...

to navigation were upheld by the courts, in ''Renwick v. Morris'', William Renwick being the owner of the dam at the time. The court ruled that New York State should not have authorized the bridge to be built, because navigable waterways are the jurisdiction of the Federal government. On March 19, 1858, Senator Smith Ely Jr. introduced legislation to the

New York State Senate The New York State Senate is the upper house of the New York State Legislature, while the New York State Assembly is its lower house. Established in 1777 by the Constitution of New York, its members are elected to two-year terms with no term l ...

mandating the removal of obstructions, including Macomb's Dam, from the Harlem River. Its passage under Chapter 291 on April 16, 1858, directed the replacement the dam with a turntable

swing bridge A swing bridge (or swing span bridge) is a movable bridge that can be rotated horizontally around a vertical axis. It has as its primary structural support a vertical locating pin and support ring, usually at or near to its center of gravit ...

, to be administered by a four-person commission split between members of both Westchester and

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

counties. Each county was required to pay $15,000 of the construction cost By 1861 the bridge and dam had been totally removed, and the bridge was replaced with the toll-free Central Bridge. In 1890, this was replaced by the current Macombs Dam Bridge, now the third-oldest major bridge in New York City, after the

Brooklyn Bridge The Brooklyn Bridge is a cable-stayed suspension bridge in New York City, spanning the East River between the boroughs of Manhattan and Brooklyn. Opened on May 24, 1883, the Brooklyn Bridge was the first fixed crossing of the East River. It w ...

and the Washington Bridge. The Macombs Dam is memorialized in the name of Macombs Dam Park, which was rebuilt as part of the construction of the new

Yankee Stadium Yankee Stadium is a baseball stadium located in the Bronx in New York City. It is the home field of Major League Baseball’s New York Yankees and New York City FC of Major League Soccer. The stadium opened in April 2009, replacing the Yankee S ...

in 2010.

References

Notes {{coord, 40.828087, -73.933847, format=dms, display=title Bridges completed in 1816 Dams completed in 1814 Buildings and structures demolished in 1839 Dams in New York (state) Demolished bridges in the United States Former toll bridges in New York (state) 1814 establishments in New York (state) Bridges in the Bronx Bridges in Manhattan Concourse, Bronx Demolished buildings and structures in the Bronx Demolished buildings and structures in Manhattan