May 29 at 12:00 PM - Sale 2706 -
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Sale 2706 - Lot 169

Estimate: $ 1,200 - $ 1,800
(NEW YORK CITY -- SEWER PLANNING.) Six neatly-drafted manuscript plans delineating sections of lower Manhattan's sewer network. Ink and watercolor on heavy paper mounted to period linen, two bearing the approval signature of Theodore Weston, Engineer in Charge of Sewers. 25¼x16¾ the smallest, 20½x29½ inches the largest; age tone and surface soiling, scattered creases, edge tears, and small losses. New York, 1866-1873
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Additional Details

As New York City grew exponentially in the mid-nineteenth century there was an inherent need to broaden many metropolitan services. An important issue to city management was the need to introduce an improved, more sanitary system to provide a clean water supply and the means of wastewater transfer. Through difficult bureaucratic negotiations, industrious engineering and substantial labor this monumental feat was accomplished in the 1860s and 1870s. The sewer system is something a modern New Yorker can easily take for granted, however on even a cursory examination of the present exactingly precise plans, it gives a pause to comprehend the skill of the engineers who were responsible for the design and successful implementation of this singularly important piece of city infrastructure.

The present group includes detailed plans for:
- First Avenue Between 16th & 17th Streets, 1866
- Gay Street Between Waverly Place and Christopher St., 1868
- Williams Street Between Pine and Cedar St's, 1868
- Pearl Street from the East to the West Side of Broadway, 1869
- 11th Street Between Dry Dock Street and East River, 1872
- Broadway Between 27th & 28th Streets, 1873

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