USA > New York > New York County > Manhattan > Manhattan: historic and artistic; a six day tour of New York city > Part 2
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The church doors always stand invitingly open. Chimes in the belfry chant the hours. Inside, carved Gothic columns support a
groined roof. The reredos, which is a me- morial to William B. Astor, erected by his sons, is a perfect flower-garden of architect- ural art, composed of marbles, Caen stones, and mosaics of glass and precious stones. The middle panel of the altar is made up of a Mal- tese cross, in the four arms of which are cut cameos representing symbols of the Evangel-
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ists, while at the intersection of the arms is a delicately outlined bust of the Saviour. A ring of lapis lazuli encircles the cross, in which are set chrysoprase and carbuncles. Rays are formed of red and white tufa, with gold as an enrichment, and the whole is framed with a rich carving of passion flowers. At each side are kneeling angels, carved in white marble, framed by red Lisbon marble shafts, with white marble carved capitals and divisional bands. The side panels are very beautiful, but somewhat less elaborate. The carved panels above the altar line represent scenes in the life of Christ, the middle one being a fine ren- dering of Leonardo da Vinci's "Last Supper." Statuettes of the Apostles, separated by red granite columns, occupy the next line, with a large triangular carving of the Crucifixion. An elaborately carved course of natural foli- age, with birds and flowers, forms the cor- nice, which is broken in the middle by a gable completed by a plain cross. The four but- tresses are surmounted with pinnacles of rich carving that support angels with uplifted wings, the treatment being similar to Fra Angelico. The whole design is in keeping with the characteristics of the church, the style being the perpendicular Gothic of the four- teenth, fifteenth, and sixteenth centuries.
MANHATTAN.
The last record of many names illustrious in history may be found in the graveyard sur- rounding the church. Near the left entrance is the monument to Captain Lawrence. The tomb of Alexander Hamilton is near the Rector Street railing. Just west of it is the vault of Robert Livingston, in which also reposes the body of Robert Fulton. In the northeastern corner is a monument which was erected by Trinity Corporation in honor of the heroes who died in the British prisons. Near by are graves that date back to the first church, and in close proximity to the railing is a flat stone marked "Charlotte Temple," the unfortunate woman whose sad history is told in the novel which bears her name.
Trinity Corporation supports six chapels and numerous parochial schools and charities. It always has been munificent in its liberality to public and private interests. Its property is very valuable, the income derived from it be- ing about half a million dollars per annum. '
WALL STREET .- Directly opposite Trinity Church is a street which contains almost as many associations as the localities previously described, even its name having been derived from the fact that a protecting wall, which de- fined the northern boundary of the city, once followed its course. Elegant residences lined
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the street in later days, that subsequently gave place to government buildings and the financial institutions that, since the civil war, have be- come world-famous through the extent of their transactions.
The massive and imposing buildings that now stand at the south side of the street are the United Bank Building, at the corner of Broadway, No. 13, the visitors' entrance to the Stock Exchange,-one of the chief places of interest to strangers,-open from nine to three o'clock daily, the Drexel Building, at the corner of Broad Street, the Mills Build- ing, adjoining the Drexel Building in Broad Street, several very ornate buildings that be- long to banking concerns, and the United States Custom House,-a granite structure with a portico containing eighteen Ionic col- umns thirty-eight feet in height. The ro- tunda of this building is eighty feet high, the dome of which is supported by eight pilasters of fine variegated Italian marble. The de- partments connected with the Custom House are those of the Collector, the Naval Officer, the Surveyor, and the Deputy Surveyor,-who is in charge of the Barge Office at the Battery.
In 1709 a slave-market was instituted at the foot of Wall Street, at which time Africans were brought to the city in large numbers.
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No. 46, at the north side of the street, is the spot identified with the office where Pro- fessor Morse's telegraphic instrument and one operator long remained idle while waiting for the recognition of the commercial world. The handsome block of granite near by is utilized entirely for business offices.
THE UNITED STATES ASSAY OFFICE, where visitors may see the preparation of gold and silver bullion daily, between the hours of 10 A.M. and 2 P.M., is easily identified, being the oldest building in the vicinity.
THE UNITED STATES SUB-TREASURY, at the corner of Nassau Street, is a building associ- ated with so much of our history that a short digression becomes necessary.
During the administration of the third Dutch Governor, Kieft, a clumsy stone house was erected in Pearl Street for the purpose of ac- commodating travellers, public meetings, and later, a public school. Afterward, when the house was remodelled, and a pillory, cage, whipping-post and ducking-stool were added to its accommodations, it was called the " Stadt- Huys," or City Hall, and remained in active use until 1700, when a new City Hall was built upon the site of the present Sub-Treasury,- the ground having been a gift to the city from Colonel Abraham De Peyster, who was mayor
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in 1691. Besides the rooms necessarily devoted to public business in this later edifice, one afterward contained the Corporation Library, a gift to the city of one thousand six hundred and twenty two volumes; another was used as a fire-engine house, while the entire upper story became converted into a Debtor's Prison. From the balcony was read the Declaration of Independence, July 18th, 1776, amidst the
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Federal
Hall
rapturous applause of citizens who understood the fierce struggle it inaugurated. After the war, when Congress appropriated the building,
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it was remodeled by private subscription into the Federal Hall, where Washington was unanimously elected President of the new Re- public, where he was inaugurated, April 30th, 1789, and where Congress met while New York was the Capital of the Nation.
The subsequent rapid growth of the city necessitating a new City Hall as early as 1812, the Government purchased Federal Hall and erected the present structure on its site, in- tending it originally for a Custom House. This granite edifice is of Doric design, having a portico containing marble columns thirty- two feet in height. Through holes in the ceiling of the portico balls may be dropped should the building be attacked by a mob.
THE COLOSSAL STATUE OF "WASHINGTON TAKING THE OATH OF OFFICE," by J. Q. A. Ward, which stands at the entrance, is an ad- mirable work of art, erected by the New York Chamber of Commerce and presented to the United States Government in 1883, President Arthur accepting the gift in behalf of the Gov- ernment just one hundred years after Wash- ington's triumphal entry into New York. Near the base of the statue lies the identical stone upon which Washington stood during the ceremony of the first inauguration.
Within the building, to which visitors are
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admitted from 10 A.M. until 3 P.M., are many vaults for the storage of coins and notes. Desks of the different divisions surround the rotunda, the dome of which is supported by sixteen Corinthian columns cut from solid blocks of marble.
The last object of prominence in the street is the Astor Building, at No. 10.
LOWER BROADWAY AND VICINITY FROM WALL STREET TO THE POST-OFFICE. - At the west side of Broadway, one block north of Trinity Church, stands a building which was erected by, and bears the name of, Francis Boreel, a Dutch nobleman who married the granddaughter of John Jacob Astor. The spot on which this building stands originally was occupied by the elegant home of Lieutenant- Governor James De Lancey, after whose death the property was converted into a public house, known by a great variety of names, the most famous of which was "Burns' Coffee House." In this hotel the celebrated "Non-Impor- tation Agreement" was signed. Later, the house became a favorite resort of the British officers, on account of its proximity to "The Mall,"-a fashionable promenade in front of Trinity Church,-and after the Revolution its "great room" was the scene of Washington's inauguration ball ; also of many public dinners,
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concerts, and assemblies. In 1793 a syndicate of New York merchants pulled down the old building and erected a new one, called the City Hotel, which furnished accommodations for the entertainment of magnates, as well as for public assemblies of every description.
At the opposite side of the street is the Guernsey Building, No. 164. The Equitable Life Insurance Building, on the same side of the way, between Pine and Cedar Streets, is an excellent specimen of modern French Re- naissance. The interior contains a magnificent court, filled with offices and stalls. In the wall near the stairway is a fine mosaic. The story occupied by the Equitable Life Insurance Company is magnificently decorated with marble. A Signal Service Station may be investigated at the top of the building, and the Safe Deposit Vaults in the basement are open to inspection.
CHAPTER II.
THE FIRST AFTERNOON.
The court of the Equitable Building leads to Nassau Street, where stands a splendid granite structure, erected by the Mutual Life Insurance Company, in modern French Renaissance style.
THE HISTORIC MIDDLE DUTCH CHURCH, of quaint Holland architecture, which formerly occupied the site of the last mentioned build- ing, was erected in 1729. Here twelve elders with stereotyped countenances sat in solemn state around the high pulpit, and listened to the Dutch dominies whose learned discourses were delivered in their native tongue until 1764. It was in the wooden steeple of this church that Franklin experimented with the lightning. The bell, a gift from Colonel Abraham De Peyster, was cast in Amsterdam, where many citizens are said to have thrown silver coins into the metal while it was in fu- sion. During the Revolution the church was used by the English for a prison, three thou- sand Federal troops having endured incredible sufferings within its walls, while almost as
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many more were confined in an old sugar- house near by. In 1844 the property was sold to the Government, when for a number of
POST OFFICE
THE POST-OFFICE IN THE NASSAU STREET CHURCH.
years it was used as a post-office. The old bell now hangs in the tower of the church at the corner of Fifth Avenue and 48th Street.
A fine building, owned by the Library Cor- poration, and containing the earliest loan- library in America,-since removed to the corner of Leonard Street and Broadway,-once stood at the corner of Nassau and Cedar Streets.
Nassau, one of the oldest streets in New
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York, still retains the narrow irregularity of the foot-path which gave it its direction. Maiden Lane, which crosses Nassau Street one block north of the Insurance Building, is now a trade-centre for manufacturing jewellers, but was once a favorite resort for laundresses, on account of the little stream which flowed through it,-hence its name, " Maagde paetze," or "Virgin's path." In John Street, one block further north, was a small wooden theatre, called the Theatre Royal, in which British officers often were amateur performers, and where Major André was both amateur actor aud scene-painter. In 1786 the first Methodist church was erected in this street.
" THE RUSSIAN WEDDING FEAST," a cele- brated painting by Makoffsky, is exhibited at No. 24 John Street. In this picture the artist has portrayed the moment when a young hus- band is about to salute his blushing bride,- for the first time unveiled before him,-while the guests are waiting until this part of the ceremony shall have been performed before they drink to the health of the young couple. The figures are animated, the faces expres- sive, and the costumes and decorations superb. The grouping of endless varieties of color into a perfectly harmonious whole is the most no- ticeable feature of this painting. An entrance
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fee of twenty-five cents, which is appropriated to some charitable institution, is charged.
At the corner of Broadway and Dey Street, directly opposite John Street, is the Western Union Telegraph Company Building, the de- sign of which is sometimes called Neo-Grec. The Coal and Iron Exchange is one block south, at No. 19 Cortland Street.
Fulton, the first street north of Dey and John Streets, is known by the same name from one river to the other. Washington Market is at the Hudson River terminus, and Fulton Market is in the same street, near the East River. The region of the last named place of merchandise was once called "Golden Hill." A skirmish at Cliff and Fulton Streets in Jan- uary 1770,-caused by the indignation which the British soldiers aroused by repeatedly de- molishing the liberty poles erected by citizens, -has been termed the first battle of the Revo- lution. In this first, as in the last conflict, the British were worsted.
The southeastern corner of Fulton Street and Broadway is occupied by the Evening Post Building.
ST. PAUL'S CHAPEL, the next attraction in Broadway, was built in 1766 by Trinity Corpora- tion, and is the oldest church edifice in the city. Trinity Congregation has occupied this chapel
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several times while its own edifice was in pro- cess of reconstruction. Here divine service was conducted in 1789, immediately after the inauguration of Washington, and also in 1889, at the centennial celebration of that event. During the early part of his administration the first President worshipped in the pew which is situated under the gallery at the northern side of the chapel, about half-way between the chancel and the vestry, and adorned by a fresco of the American Eagle. Governor George Clinton occupied the pew directly opposite.
The churchyard adds to the venerable ap- pearance of the chapel. Under the portico, at the Broadway side, lie the remains of Gen- eral Richard Montgomery, who was killed in 1775 while storming Quebec, and on the wall above is a tablet erected to his memory by order of Congress. At the left stands a mon- ument to Thomas Addis Emmet,-the brilliant Irish patriot who came to America soon after his release from imprisonment in Ireland, and established himself here in the practice of law. Dr. Mac Nevin, Emmet's compatriot and fel- low-sufferer, has a monument at the right. The actor, George Frederick Cooke, is also bur- ied in these grounds. The rector and vestry of Trinity Church occupy offices in the build- ing at the rear of the cemetery.
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The block at the north of the chapel is occu- pied by the Astor House. The New York Herald Building is at the southeastern corner of Broadway and Ann Street, where, in former years, P. T. Barnum drew large crowds to visit his American Museum.
THE POST-OFFICE .- The triangular build- ing opposite the Astor House is the city Post- Office, completed in 1877. The material is of light-colored granite, and the architecture is a mixture of Doric and Renaissance, the domes having been patterned after those of the Louvre in Paris. £ The third and fourth floors are occupied by the Law Institute and Library, and by the United States Courts and their offices, but the remainder of the building is used entirely by the Post-Office Department. Eight hundred million letters, newspapers, etc., are delivered annually. From twelve to twenty collections are daily made from sixteen hundred lamp-post boxes, and over two thou- sand men are employed in the main office and the seventeen sub-stations under its control. Although the postal facilities of the present office are admirable, its capacity is not suffi- cient for the constantly increasing business of our rapidly growing city. The question of a larger building, to be located very much fur- ther north, is now agitating the public mind.
THE NEW YORK CITY POST-OFFICE.
BROADWAY
BROADWAY
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In former years, before the Middle Dutch Church was used as a post-office, a rotunda in the park north of the present building, was changed from a cyclorama to a station for the distribution of Uncle Sam's mail. The indig- nation of the merchants was at this time aroused because the post-office was located so far up-town.
In 1718 the first rope-walk appeared in Broadway, between Barclay Street and Park Place.
Columbia College, originally called King's College, formerly stood west of Broadway, in Park Place.
CITY HALL PARK .- The park at the north of the Post Office was called "The Fields," or " The Commons," in the early days, the ground now occupied by the Post-Office having been included. At a public meeting in this place Alexander Hamilton delivered his maiden speech.
The white marble building designed in the Italian style of architecture is the City Hall. At the time of its completion in 1812, it was unsurpassed by any edifice in the country ; indeed it was the only chaste and classic speci- men of architecture which New York possessed until the pure Gothic of Trinity and Grace Churches inspired a desire for something bet-
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ter than the feeble imitations of Greek temples that previously had abounded. The head- quarters of the city government are in this building; also the city library. The "Gov- ernors' Room" contains portraits of national celebrities, the chairs used by the first Con-
THE CITY HALL.
gress, the desk on which Washington penned his first message to Congress, and his inaugu- ral chair. Here the remains of President Lincoln were laid in state, while for twenty- four hours a sad procession, which even during the night did not diminish in volume, surged by him.
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THE COUNTY COURT HOUSE stands at the northern end of the park, a white marble building of Corinthian design, which perpetu- ates the memory of the gigantic frauds that occurred during the Tweed régime. Different authorities estimate the cost of this edifice to the city to have been from eight to thirty mil- lions of dollars. It now accommodates the State Courts and several of the city depart- ments. The city almshouse formerly stood on this site.
A jail, called "The Provost," which previous to the Revolution had been erected near the eastern border of the park, was used during the British occupation for the confinement of notable American prisoners, the marshal mak- ing himself conspicuous for his criminal treat- ment of the captives. This relic of Revolu- tionary times still stands. After the war it was used as a debtors' prison, common felons having been confined in the "Bridewell," which stood between the City Hall and Broad- way. A gallows frowned between the two buildings. In 1830 "Provost" was remodelled to imitate the Temple of Diana at Ephesus, and has since been used for the offices of the Register, except when during the cholera scourge of 1832 it was converted temporarily into a hospital.
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PARK Row .- Because the group of lofty buildings that face the park from the east and south are mostly newspaper offices, the place has received the name of "Printing House Square." The huge structures that stand a little to the south of the park are provided with law and business offices. Temple Court, at thesouthwestern corner of Nassau and Beekman Streets, is one hundred and sixty feet in height. The Morse Building, at the northeastern corner of the same streets, is one hundred and sixty-five feet in height. The Potter Building, opposite, at the north- western corner, is one hundred and eighty-five feet, and the Times Building, just north of this, is two hundred and thirteen feet The mate- rial of this last named edifice is light granite, and its style is a beautiful adaptation of the Gothic. The Tribune Building, which was the first lofty edifice in this vicinity, stands at the corner of Spruce Street and Park Row, with a bronze statue of its founder, Horace Greeley, on the sidewalk in front of one of its windows. The Sun Building is next to the Tribune Building, while at the north, tower- ing over all, is the Pulitzer Building, a colos- sus of the colossi, of Scotch sandstone and terra-cotta, three hundred and seventy-five feet in height. Visitors are freely admitted to the
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dome of this building (from whence the vis- ion extends over forty-five miles of country), and to the World offices and press-room. The twelfth floor contains the best appointed com- posing-room in the world. On the numerous floors above are the editorial, reportorial, and photo-engraving rooms. The distributing- room is in the basement, and the press-room occupies the cellar. In this latter apartment are eight cylinder presses connected with ma- chines that cut and fold the papers ready for delivery. To watch these mighty servants of civilization at their work is most entertaining. The design of this majestic edifice is a free treatment of the Romanesque.
On the site of these gigantic structures for- merly were the "Brick Church" (Presbyte- rian), of which the popular Dr. Spring was pastor, and the Park Theatre, a play-house where the best society witnessed histrionic exhibitions by Matthews, Cooper, Cooke, Kean, Macready, and Junius Brutus Booth.
THE STATUE OF AMERICA'S PHILOSOPHER AND PATRIOT, BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, by Plass- man, which stands in the Square, was given to the city by a private citizen in 1872.
FRANKLIN SQUARE .- A short walk in Frank- fort Street, an unattractive thoroughfare south of the Pulitzer Building, affords an opportunity
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for inspecting the supporting-towers of Brook- lyn Bridge, the arches under the bridge- approach, etc. The elevated-railroad station, which crosses the street at Franklin Square, marks a spot once celebrated for its aristocratic residences. The first presidential mansion was in Cherry Street, near Pearl, but proved to be inconvenient because so far out of town. Walton House, the palace of the city, was at No. 326 Pearl Street, the grounds extending eastward to the river. Harpers' Publishing House is the only object of interest in the vicin- ity now, business and tenement houses having obliterated all traces of former grandeur.
THE MODEL TENEMENT HOUSES erected by a company composed of members of the Society for Ethical Culture, are some distance beyond, at No. 306 Cherry Street. The houses are kept in excellent repair, and yield four and one-half per cent. on the in- vestment, the object of the company being to realize a fair profit and not an exor- bitant one. From Franklin Square to South Street is but a step; there the Belt Line cars run northeast to Montgomery Street, near which, in Cherry Street, these houses are sit- uated. Returning, the cars at the corner of East Broadway and Essex Street will convey passengers to Broadway at Ann Street.
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BROOKLYN BRIDGE .- East of City Hall Park is Brooklyn Suspension Bridge, over which about ninety-eight thousand persons daily pass. The entire length of the bridge is five thou- sand, nine hundred and and eighty-nine feet, and its. width is eighty-five feet, including a promenade for foot-passengers, two rail- road tracks-on which run passenger cars pro- pelled by a stationary engine on the Brook- lyn side-and two roadways for vehicles. The floor of the bridge at its greatest height is one hundred and thirty-five feet above high-water mark, but full-rigged ships have to strike their topgallant masts to pass un- der unimpeded. The height above water of the supporting towers is two hundred and seventy-two feet. The bridge was opened in the summer of 1883, having been constructed at a cost of fifteen millions of dollars. A ride over the railway to Brooklyn, returning by way of the promenade, will afford the best views of the bridge, the East River, and the Bay.
LOWER BROADWAY .- The yellow surface cars that pass the City Hall Park at the west furnish the best means of viewing Broadway from this point to 14th Street.
The white marble building at the Chambers Street corner, formerly was A. T. Stewart's
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BROOKLYN BRIDGE.
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wholesale dry-goods store, but is now remod- elled for offices. The site originally was used as a negro burial-ground. Two blocks further north Duane Street marks the site of the old New York City Hospital, built in 1775, and surrounded by five acres of ground containing magnificent elms. The Ionic Building at Leonard Street belongs to the New York Life Insurance Company. At this place Contoit's Garden used to call together the fashionable people, young and old, to enjoy its cool shade, and partake of its ices and lemonades. The magnificent building of the Globe Mutual Life Insurance Company is directly opposite.
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