The great aqueducts, which were among the first in the United States, carried water by gravity 41 miles (66 km) from the Croton River in Westchester County to reservoirs in Manhattan.

It dwindled as the city grew rapidly after the American Revolutionary War, and freshwater sources became polluted by effluent.

Rapid population growth in the 19th century and encroachment on these areas as Manhattan moved further north of Wall Street, led to the pollution of many local fresh water sources.

In March 1833, Major David Bates Douglass, engineering professor at West Point Military Academy, was appointed to survey and estimate the proposed route.

[7] The Croton River was dammed, aqueducts were built, tunnels dug, piping laid, and reservoirs created.

It extended from the Old Croton Dam in northern Westchester County to the Harlem River, where it continued over the High Bridge at 173rd Street and down the West Side of Manhattan and finally into a Receiving Reservoir located between 79th and 86th streets and Sixth and Seventh Avenues; the site is now the Great Lawn and Turtle Pond in Central Park.

[7] Even though only 6,175 houses had been connected to the system by 1844, the Croton water had already dramatically improved both domestic hygiene and interior design.

About this time the German cockroach attracted attention and was called the "Croton bug" in the mistaken belief that the aqueduct brought the insects into the homes being connected to the new water supply system.

[10] The Old Croton Trail extends for 26.2 miles (42.2 km) in Westchester County, providing public access along all but four segments — in the Getty Square neighborhood of downtown Yonkers, Tarrytown, Scarborough and Ossining — along the route of the aqueduct.

It lies wholly within Westchester County but is under the jurisdiction of the Taconic Region of the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation.

Access to the trail is easiest where it crosses Route 9, known variously as Albany Post Road, Broadway, or Highland Avenue.

[17] Aqueduct Walk is a community park in the Bronx, New York City, running between Kingsbridge Road and Tremont Avenue.