Financial History Issue 133 (Spring 2020) | Page 17

Dirty Water
In 1799, Aaron Burr founded The Manhattan Company to provide
fresh water to New York City amidst a widespread yellow fever epidemic.
That company has since evolved into America’s largest bank.
By Maura Ferguson and Sarah Poole
Just prior to New York City closing
all non-essential businesses due to the
covid‑19 virus, the Museum of American
Finance and the NYC Municipal Archives
opened a new exhibit, “Ebb & Flow: Tap-
ping into the History of New York City’s
Water,” at 31 Chambers Street. This article
has been adapted from a section of that
exhibit.
Broad Street looking toward Federal Hall, 1797.
Two water pumps are depicted on either side of
the street.
1784–1834
After the Revolutionary War, New York
City, growing in population and indus-
try, languished without fresh water. Fires,
drought and deforestation had a large
impact on groundwater. Sanitation and
well maintenance declined, and a famed
tea water pump lost popularity. The Fresh
Water Pond (often called the Collect
Pond), used for drinking water, began fill-
ing up with dead animals and waste from
laundries, furnaces, potteries and tanneries.
Epidemics returned, and while exactly
how diseases such as yellow fever and
cholera spread was yet unknown, it soon
became clear that clean water was vital for
good health. The death toll and tensions
ran high. New Yorkers pressed govern-
ment to bring clean water to the city as a
first priority. When it seemed delivering
fresh water from Manhattan was no lon-
ger a viable option, the Common Coun-
cil, the city’s authority on water matters,
received a proposal to bring in water from
farther afield.
Browne & Burr
Joseph Browne, a doctor from Westches-
ter, believed the availability of fresh water
was vital to the health of the city. In
July 1798, he proposed piping in fresh
water from “the River Bronx.” This plan
was priced at $200,000 (over $5.5 mil-
lion today). Dr. Browne proposed that a
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