The Building of the Harlem River Ship Canal

In New York City, the Harlem River Ship Canal runs around the extreme northern end of Manhattan island. Built in stages between 1893 and 1938, it allowed boat traffic to travel directly in between the Hudson and the Harlem rivers.

[leonardwood]

Thank you for posting. Swam and fished from the train bridge in my Inwood youth. What memories and a great story.

[jayski]

I love that overhead fade-away shot from modern to old landscape at the end of your presentation. As a teenager I used to take the trains thru Spuyten Duyvil on my way to Grand Central from Poughkeepsie and Rhinecliff up in the mid Hudson Valley and never knew how much of that landscape was man made. Now as an old man watching this from Los Angeles, you took me right back to those dirty old noisy smelly trains (New York Central, Penn Central, Conrail and later Metro North). I can remember the train had to switch to a diesel engine from electric one at the Croton Harmon locomotive shops for the second half of the trip. And sometimes when the passenger count was light, you left the full size train altogether and transferred to a Bee Liner car which was prone to mechanical difficulties for the final leg. Thanks for the memories...

[opathend]

Outstanding! One of the best videos in a long time. AND, anyone who pronounces creek - CRICK - is a hero to me. Thanks for a great production! Best from Virginia!

[ornamentalyouth]

wow, great job! comprehensively brings all of the history of what happened here together clearly and concisely with lots of photos, prints, maps, and ephemera i have never seen before. great job. would have been cool to mention bolton's or dyckman's canal, which can be seen on one of the maps.

[williamruss]

Thank you for your careful research and for taking the time to produce and post this expert documentary. Your efforts are appreciated!

[januarioqueiroz]

...and to make this video more beautiful besides its historical importance, is the narrator voice, which is very pleasant and calm!

[seanledden]

Wonderful video! I live just a 5 minute walk away from the Broadway Bridge, and it's great to learn the particulars of the local river history.

[timrohrbach]

You did better than anything I have seen. History Channel and Discovery need to learn from you!

[johnscanlan]

WOW!!! This is an amazing documentary of the history of my "homeland." I grew up in Riverdale and I had heard some of this history but I never knew this level of historical details. Thank you so much for this valuable education!

[marbleman]

This was very enjoyable and a great history lesson; thank you..!!!

[musicforaarre]

Extremely interesting !!!! I could just eat this stuff up. I was riveted with this, and love urban geography/history, especially of New York City. Completely fascinating ! Aarre Peltomaa

[andyyale]

Excellent, thoughtful and expert!! Your narration was superb.

[cnosprandt]

Well done! I've been over the Henry Hudson Parkway Bridge countless times and never knew all of the effort that went into developing the land below.

[agandy]

Splendidly done! Congratulations, and many thanks for doing this.

[jediknight]

I have lived in the Marble Hill area nearly all my life from 1971 to today. God bless you for presenting this history lesson of my home neighborhood way before I was even born.

[wrlord]

6:14 - not just the 1980s, but the '70s through the 90s. I used to walk all along those overgrown tracks. You'd see some amazing and scary things there.

[frequentlycynical]

"Hey, I know! Let's move a bridge! Twice!"


Great video, thanks.

[kklock]

I live half a block from Inwood Hill Park and visit every day. It is my public place, in the pandemic, to take off my mask and show my face. I appreciate this history of all the surroundings, including the river and bridges. Thank you.

[iraqilemonade]

This improved my life significantly. Thanks.

[Peasmouldia]

Very nice upload. Shame that the YouTube algorithm had not seen fit to suggest this till now, especially considering I'd watched your excellent railway offerings.
Thank you sir.