Early 1900s map displaying the original path of Spuyten Duyvil Creek.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Harlem River

The Harlem River Ship Canal is a channel connecting the Hudson River and Spuyten Duyvil Creek to the Harlem River in New York City, separating the neighborhood of Marble Hill from the island of Manhattan. Marble Hill, part of the borough of Manhattan, was cut off from the island by the construction of the ship canal and is now located on the mainland after the previous course of the river was filled in.

The Harlem River Ship Canal was cut through upper Manhattan to allow larger ships to navigate. It was completed in 1895. To allow passage through the remainder of the river, the existing fixed bridges were replaced by drawbridges.

Spuyten Duyvil Creek originally flowed north of Manhattan's Marble Hill, and the completion of the canal to the south turned Marble Hill into an island, until 1914, when the original creekbed was filled in and Marble Hill became physically attached to the Bronx.

Today the Ship Canal, Creek, and Harlem River form a continuous channel. The Ship Canal is crossed by the Broadway Bridge, a vertical lift bridge carrying vehicular and pedestrian traffic on one level, and the subway on the upper level.

A southern meander of the Harlem River, now a bay in Inwood Park

[edit] External links

• History of Spuyten Duyvil Creek from Washington Heights & Inwood Online
• Another translation of 'Spuyten Duyvil'

Coordinates: 40°52′25″N 73°54′40″W / 40.87361°N 73.91111°W / 40.87361; -73.91111