Step Stairs

Step Stairs. Highbridge Park. , What was here before? , In 1671, Governor Francis Lovelace (1621-1675) granted 1,250 acres, including this site, which extended from the Bronx River to the Harlem River, to John Archer (1630-1684). The land was farmed by early settlers such as the Morris family, the namesake for Morrisania. The area remained rural and undeveloped until the construction of the High Bridge in 1848., How did this site become a walkway? , The City of New York acquired this property in 1837 in conjunction with the construction of the Old Croton Aqueduct, which was completed in 1848., The High Bridge is New York City's oldest standing bridge, engineered by John B. Jervis (1795-1885). It carried the Old Croton Aqueduct over the Harlem River as part of the first reliable and uninterrupted water supply system. The bridge soars 138 feet above the Harlem River, with a total length of 1,450 feet, and was designed with a pedestrians-only walkway atop the Aqueduct. In the mid- to late 1800s, the High Bridge had a gate house and several buildings on both ends. The foundation of a three-story office building from the 1880s can still be seen by the stairs south of the original gate house that was used by the Department of Water Supply, Gas, and Electricity, now known as the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP)., In 1937, the property became parkland when it was transferred from the Department of Water Supply, Gas and Electricity, but was only granted land surface rights. The rest of the property was transferred to NYC Parks in 1960., The steps were reconstructed in 2021 in the original zigzag layout that allows for landscaping in the terraces.