Originally designed as a stone arch bridge, the High Bridge had the appearance of a Roman aqueduct. Construction on the bridge was started in 1837, and was completed in 1848 as part of the Croton Aqueduct, which carried water from the Croton River to supply the then burgeoning city of New York some to the south. The bridge has a height of above the Harlem River, with a total length of . The design of the bridge was originally awarded to Major David Bates Douglass, who was fired from the project. The design then fell to the aqueduct's engineering team, led by John B. Jervis. James Renwick, Jr., who later went on to design the landmark Saint Patrick's Cathedral on Fifth Avenue in Midtown Manhattan, participated in the design.