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(NEW YORK CITY.) Copy of Engineer's Private Journal, Harlem Bridge.
CIVIL WAR ENTHUSIASM AND CORRUPTION IN OLD NEW YORK (NEW YORK CITY.) Copy of Engineer's Private Journal, Harlem Bridge. Manuscript, illustrated with numerous pen and ink drawings. 224, [49] pages plus 3 loose inserted leaves. 4to, contemporary calf, very minor staining on back cover. New York, 1857-1861
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Notes: The first bridge across the Harlem River from 3rd Avenue to the mainland was built in 1797. By 1857, it was in poor repair, and the city commissioned a replacement, which was completed in 1868. The new bridge was costly, overbuilt, and hindered river navigation; one modern authority calls it "the first documented case of corruption in New York bridge building" (Reier, Bridges of New York, 77). It was replaced in 1898 by the Third Avenue Bridge which is in operation today.
This volume provides detailed documentation of the design and construction of the 1868 bridge, including both the pertinent legislation and official correspondence, and also a daily work log from April 1860 to August 1861. It is illustrated with several schematic drawings of the piles. The labor-intensive work was done when cheap labor was hard to find: the 21 April 1861 entry concludes: "Troops are marching southward through the city to Washington & recruits are being rapidly enlisted. This war fever may operate disadvantageously on the progress of our enterprise. Some of our workers will probably join the regiments." The April 23 entry describes running up the American flag at the construction site, which was saluted by a gun at a nearby foundry and greeted by "repeated cheers from our men and from groups of people on the neighboring vessels and wharves."
Frederick Hubbard served as assistant engineer on the project in 1860 and 1861 under William J. McAlpine, and played an instrumental role in designing the bridge. This volume was found among Hubbard's personal papers. The first page of this log makes clear that it is a manuscript transcript of the original, but some later and inserted pages have the appearance of originals. -
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