Ferries and Bridges 199 



low tide through raceways which would lead to the various 

 mills. "Fourteen mill sites," said the prospectus, "each fifty 

 by one hundred feet, were mapped out along the raceways, 

 and at least two hundred and thirty-four horse power were 

 assured to them." But this plan was no more successful than 

 the previous ones. 



In the grant made to Robert Macomb, in 1813, it was 

 stipulated that he was to have a lock, apron, or other opening 

 in his dam to permit of the passage of small craft or boats, and 

 to have a lock-keeper in attendance to open the lock and assist 

 the boats through. He also received from the city the tri- 

 angular piece of land between Seventh Avenue and the ap- 

 proach to Central Bridge, now a small, public park; on the 

 Borough side, he also received valuable concessions. The 

 annual quit-rent to be paid to the city was the same as for 

 the Kingsbridge grant, twelve and one half dollars yearly. 

 The line of Jerome Avenue near the river is due to the road 

 laid out by the bridge owners as an approach to the northerly 

 end of their bridge. 



The collection of tolls upon the bridge was unauthorized by 

 any act of the Legislature or of the city government ; and this, 

 with the obstruction to the navigation of the river due to the 

 failure to keep a sufficient passageway through the dam, 

 aroused the ire of the inhabitants of Kingsbridge, Morrisanie, 

 Fordham, and Westchester, as well as those of the Manhattan 

 side of the river. The leading citizens, after several years of 

 that quiet and patient submission to impositions so distinc- 

 tively one of our American traits, determined that at least the 

 construction of the dam should be changed so as to allow a 

 free and unobstructed navigation of the river. Meetings were 

 held, legal advisers engaged, and money subscribed. 



The agitation came to a head in 1838; and Lewis G. Morris, 



