High Bridge, which connects High Bridge Park near West 174th Street, Manhattan, and West170th Street in the Bronx, is the oldest bridge connecting two boroughs. When it was built between 1837 and 1848 it actually connected two separate towns, since that area of the mainland would not become a part of New York County until 1874 (and the Bronx would not become a separate county until 1914!)

High Bridge was built as a conduit to bring the City water form the Croton Aqueduct. Originally, High Bridge featured massive stone arches (like Roman aqueducts had) for its entire length. The arches survive on the Bronx side, but the steel span was constructed in the 20s to allow navigation on the Harlem River.

The High Bridge Water Tower, built in 1872, was originally used to equalize water pressure from the Croton Aqueduct.

Some fine views of Manhattan and The Bronx can be had from the top of the tower.

High Bridge has featured a walkway since the 1860s, although it never had roads for auto or horse traffic. But in 1960, the walkway was closed, never to again reopen, because of local knuckleheads throwing objects from the bridge onto Circle Line boats in the Harlem River.

High Bridge itself has been closed to pedestrian traffic (it has never carried a roadway for motor vehicles) since 1960. In recent years, High Bridge Park (on the Manhattan side at Amsterdam Avenue and West 174th Street) has been spruced up by New York Restoration, a group spearheaded by Bette Midler, the Divine Miss M herself.

Above, we see the pathway that leads to the now-closed High Bridge walkway in 1999.

Looking south, from the top of High Bridge Watchtower, on the Harlem River. Periodically, park rangers open the tower to the public. A spiral staircase leads from the ground floor to the top of the tower (I took some shots of the staircase but I didn't have the proper speed and they didn't develop).

Looking north from the tower. The bridge in the foreground is the Alexander Hamilton Bridge, which connects the Cross-Bronx Expressway to the George Washington Bridge. In the background is the Washington Bridge, which conects the Cross Bronx to West 181st St.

Alexander Hamilton's home, The Grange, is about thirty blocks south of High Bridge. George Washington made his headquarters during the Revolution at the nearby Morris-Jumel Mansion.