City of New York, north of Canal street, in 1808 to 1821

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Ii»the years 1808, 1800, and 1810, whilst acting as Secretary and
Surveyor to the "Commissioners of Streets and Koads in the city
of New York," and also as their Chief Engineer, superintending and
aiding in the surveys and maps of the assistants employed by them,
I went almost daily from the city to our ofiBce, then in the country,
at the northeast corner of Christopher and Herring streets, previous
to performing field work with them in the suburbs of the city, and
on distant parts of the Island ; at which times, and subsequently. I
obtained the following information .

In going from the citv to our office in 1808 and 1809, I generally
crossed a ditch cut through Lispenard's salt meadow {noio a advert
under Canal street) on a plank laid across it for a crossing -place, about
midway between a stone bridge on Broadway, with a narrow embank-
ment at each end, connecting it with the upland, and an excavation
then being made at, and said to be for, the foundation of the present
St. John's Church, on Varick street.

From this crossing-place I followed a well-beaten path, leading fnnn
the city to the then village of Greenwich, passing over open and
partly fenced lots and fields, 7iot at that time under cultivalion, and re-
mote from any dwelling-house, now remembered by me, except Col.
Aaron Burr's former country seat, on elevated gronnd, called " Rich-
mond Hilir which was from about 100 to 150 yards west of this path.
and was then occupied as a phice of refreshment for gentlemen taking
a drive from the city. Its site is now in Charlton street, between
Varick and Macdougal streets. I continued along this main path to
a branch path diverging from it to the east, south of Mancita water,
(now Mineia street), which branch path I followed to Herring street,-
passing on my way there, from about 200 to 250 yards loest, the
country residence of Col. Richard Varick, on elevated ground east of
Manetta water, called " Tusculum," the site of which is now " Varick
Place," on Sullivan street, between Bleecker and Houston streets.
I entered the south end of Heriing street, a short distance beyond
Manetta water, and continued along the easterly side of that street
to our office, at the northeast corner of it and Christopher street.

• I passed only three dwelling-houses on the easterly side of this street,
and they were two story frame buildings, connected hy fences, ex-
tending northerly to Christopher street, and southerly to about i
Jones street. There Avas no street opened eastward out of this part
of Herring street, nor did I observe any openmg in that fence for any
such street. The middle building of those three on Herring street,
all of ivhich are yet standing, is the one hereinbefore described bj'^ me
as the house occupied by a Mr. Ryder, with whom Thomas Paine
and Madime Bonneville and her two sons resided to within a few
weeks of his death, and now No. 293 Bleecker street.

Col. Eichard Varick, who was Mayor of the city of New York fori
the twelve years from 1789 to 1801, always became hail for my appear-
ance at Court, when, in the absence of the Commissioners, I was
r.rrested by the Sheriff, on numerous suits instituted against me as
agent of the Commissioners, for trespass and damage committed by >
my workmen, in passing over grounds, cutting off branches of trees,
&c., to make surveys under instructions from the Commissioners.
Tlie persons who instituted those suits were a few of the numerous
opponents of the field of operations of the Commissioners, which in-
cluded their property in the then new Plan Jor the city, many of whose
descendants have been made rich thereby.

This Plan of the Commissioners, thus objected to before its completion,
is 71010 the pride and boast of the city ; and the facilities afforded by it for \
buying, selling, and improving real estate, on streets, avenues, and pub-
lic squares, already laid out and established on the ground by mon-
umental stones and bolts, at the cost of the city ; and of greater width and
extent, safety from conflagration, beautiful uniformity and conve-
nience, than could otherwise have been obtained ; having streets from i
60 to 100 feet in width, and from 1 J to 2-^- miles in length, and ave-
nues 100 feet in width, and from 6^ to llj miles in length, and ex-
tending in straigU lines from river to river, and to the end of the
Island at Kingsbridge ; with 10 public squares, exclusive of three
triangles, containing in the aggregate 470 acres (and 576 acres, in-
cluding their surrounding streets), and admitting the free circulation
of air through them ; thereby avoiding the frequent error of laying
out short, narrow, and crooked, strce's, with alleys and courts, endanger-
ing extensive conflagrations, confined air, unclean streets, &c., must
have greatly enhmced the value of real estate on New York Island,
• thus laid out on the Commissioners' Plan.

In consequence of those suits, the Commissioners reported to the
Corporation the Impracticability of their completing the duties of

their appointment unless protected from such vexatious interrup-
tions ; whereupon the Corporation ohtained from the Legislature an
Act, passed 24th March, 1809, authorizing the Commissioners, and all
•persons under them, to enter upon grounds to he surveyed, and to
'Uut down trees, and do other damage ;" and allowing a specified time
thereafter within which to compensate the owners for such damage.
The ditch over which I passed at the " crossiiig-jdace," in going from
the city to our office near Greemoich village, was cut through I.ispenard's
salt meadow, from Hudson's River, northeastward to and under the
Stone Bridge on Broadway, and continued to the " Collect" or " Fresh
Water Pond," East of Broadway ; from which water, for the use of the
city, was taken to ''the Tea Water Pump," on Duane street, near the
present missionary church at " the Five Points"

TJiispump furnished water to the city, in addition to a scanty supply
of tea and drinking water obtained from '' Knapp's Spring," near the
west end of Greenwich lane, and from other springs, from which it
was brought to the city by carts, in hogsheads, and sold by the pail-
ful.

The Collect was at that time filled up by a collection of spare
earth and rubbish, &c., carted from the city, which being of greater
specific gravity than the debris, or mud at the bottom of ''the Pond,"
or " Collect," caused it to rise, and mix with the rubbish and stand
out ; forming a very offensive and irregular mound of several acres ;
which appeared to me, as seen from Broadway, between which and it
there were no buildings, to be from 12 to 15 feet in height above the level
of the tide, and of the water remaining in the Pond. It is now oc-
cupied by Centre street, southerly to near " Tlie Tombs," or " Halls of

Justice. ' '

On Broadway, north of Lispenard's salt meadow (now Canal street),
to " Sailors' Snug Harbor," a handsome brick building, called by that
name, erected on elevated ground near the bend in Broadway at the
present 10th street, and formerly the residence of Captain Eandall,
who bequeathed it to the Trudees of " Sailors' Snug Harbor," together
with his adjoining grounds, opposite to and also south of Grace
Church to Art street and Greenwich lane ; and from the Bowery
road, westward, to Manet ta water, there were only a few scattered
buildings, except country residences which were built back from
Broadway, with court yards and lawns of trees and shrubs in front
of them.

Between Sailors' Snug Harbor (now 10th street) and Love lane
now 21st street) were a narrow causeway and perhaps from 6 to 8

fnime dwelling-houses. This part of the present Broadway was at
that time the ^ ^ Bloomingdale Road."

By the ''Commissioners' Plan," Broadway was to have been straightened
at this pLace, by continuing it from the bend at the present 10th street,
northward between 3d and 4th avenues to 23d street, where it was
lost in " The Parade" (a public square laid out by them for military-
parade.?, containing 238 7-10 acres, which was i-educed by a statute of
loth April, 1814, to 89 1-10 acres, and by a later statute it was re-
duced to less than seven acres, and is now called '' Madison square."

This part of the Commissioners' Plan for straightening Broadway was!
repealed by a subsequent statute, and the bend in it remained as be-
fore ; otherwise, Broadway would have intersected 23d street near
the present " Free Academy " on Lexington avenue.

The Bowery was at that time (1809) the principal road leading
out of the city to Harlem and Manhatlanville, and thence to Boston
and Albany, and was settled, in part, to near North (now Houston)
street. At this street the Commissioners' Plan for the streets and
avenues commenced ; north of it we encountered in our surveys ex-
tensive ancient and neglected hawthorn hedge-fences, then groAvn to
saplings, extending along the east side of the Bowery, in front of the
Stuyvesant estate, that were impassible without the aid of an axe ; a
short distance beyond which the Bowery road and the (then) Bloom
ingdale road formed a junction at the Commissioners' 16th street
(now a point in Union Square, about 110 yards southwest of The Everett
House), and formed an acute angle at that place, which, when further
intersected by the streets crossing it, left so small an amount of
ground for building purposes, that the Commissioners instructed me
to lay out the ground, at the union of those streets and roads, for a
public square, which, from that circumstance, they named Unior»,
Place. I

From this angle at 16th street, the Bloomingdale Road (more re
centl}^ called Broadway) continued northward, through Manhattan-
ville, to near the gate of the coimtry residence of Dr. Samuel Brad
hurst (now near 147th street at 9th avenue), where it formed a junc-(
tion with the Kingsbridge Road, passing in its route from 16th street
along the westerly side of the United States 3Iagazine, opposite 25th
street and 5th avenue, across '^ The Parade," which the Commission-
ers set apart "for military exercise, and also to assemble, in case oJ
"need, the force destined to defend the city." It contained, by
their Plan, 238 7-10 acres.

This road thence crosseJ 57 th street, 120 yards east of Blooming-

at dale Square, wliich, by the Commissioners' Plan, extended from 53d
to 57th street, and from 8th to 9th avenue, and contained 18 1-10
acres ; it tlience passed through Hir.senviUe, from G8th to 72d street,
at 10th avenue, and crossed 70th street 167 yards west of 10th ave-
nue, and 500 yards west of Manhattan Square, which, by the Commis-
sioners' Plan, extended from 77th to 81st stre(}t, and from 8th to 9th
avenue, and containe 1 19 1-10 acres ; thence crossed 96th street ;
west of 10th avenue, and east of Striker s Bay, on Hudson Paver ;
thence crossed 117th street, 113 yards west of 11th avenue, and
200 yards west of tlie JVeio York Hospital and Bloomingdale Asylum
for the Insane, and tlience passed through the Barrier Gate, built
across this road at the ManhaWtnviUe Pass during the war of 1812,
at 123d street, 33 yards west of 11th avenue ; the road then passed
through Miuhattanville, frnn 126th street at 11th avenue to 132d
street, 100 yards east of 11th avenue (the end of the Manhattan-
ville wharf on Hudson's River, opposite this road, between 132d
and 133d streets, and west of it, and west of 12th avenue, is distant
from Fort Lee Ferry wharf 2,840 yards, and 1,472 yards from
i Woolsey's whirf, on the west shore of Hudson's Eiver, as mea-
sured by '■^ Triangulation" in 1821); thence passed 100 yards north
of the country residence of the widow of Col. Alexander Hamilton, at
143d street, 80 yards east of 10th avenue ; and thence to the junc-
tion of this road with the Kingsbridge Road, 10 yards east of 9th ave-
nue, between 146th and 147th streets.

•* The Eastern Post Road" diverged northeasterly from the Blooming-
dale Road, at 23d street and 5th avenue, and run by a circuitous
route through the village of Hirlem, from 118th to 125th street, west
of 3d avenue to " the Harlem Bridge," built over Harlem River, near
130th street and 3d avenue.

This road, in its route frohi the Bloomingdale road at 23d street
and 5th avenue, passed south of " the United States Magazine " at 25tli
street, and ''The Old Pottersfield," at 26 th street (both of which were
included in " The Parade," and their sites are now covered by Madi-
son square). It crossed the 4th avenue at the Middle road, near 29th
street, and passed tlirongh the village of Kij/s Bag, from 32d to 38th
street, w^est of 3d avenue; it thence passed the '' Cross Road " to
'' Burr's Corner" (on the Middle road, opposite the present Cro ton Re-
servoir) at 41st street, and the road to Turtle Bay on the East River,
between 47th and 48th streets ; thence cross3d the 2d avenue at 52d
street, and recrossiug it between 62d and 63d streets, entered the
present 3d avenue at the southeast corner of Hamdton Square, which,

by the CommLssioners' Plan, extended from 66tL to 68th street
from 3d to 5th avenue, and contained 20 6-10 acres. This
continued thence along the present 3d avenue, passing Harsen's C
road at 71st street, and east of Smith's Tavern, opposite " if i
Brulger at 77th street, where the Commissioners held their offi.|
1809 and 1810. It crossed the division line between New York
Harlem Commons between 81st and 82d streets, and continued a'
3d avenue to near 83d street. At this place several branch r!
diverged from it eastwardly to the following places on the
River near Hell Gate, to wit : Covimodore Chaunca/s, on the south
of 8oth street ; Hell Gate. Ferry, at the foot of 86th street opp.
the north end of Black well's Island ; John Jacob Ador's, on the S(
side of 88th street ; Oliver Grade's, on the north side of 88th str'
-— - Prime, on the north side of 89th street, and William rI
lander, on the north side of 91st street. The three last named c(,
try seats were nearly opposite the following rocks at the entranc
^IMGate, to wit : Hancock's Rock, 3 Gridircm Rocks, 4 Middle Reef Ro
2 Mood Rocks, and iMill Rock. The Pot Rock, in the middle of '
Gate, was about 700 yards east of Mill Eock, and south of The
was Way's Reef Rock, and north of it was The Frying Pan
Holmes' Rocks, and 3 Hogsback Rocks. Daring the war of 1812 a b\
house ^a, built on 3Iill Rock, and opposite to it, at Halki's Point
Long Island shore, Fort Stevens v,as built; and on the high groi
southeast of it a toiver was erected, called Castle Bogardus. Tb
tortifications were built to command Hell Gate Pass.

From the 3d avenue, near 83d street, this Eastern Post road
verged westerly, and crossed and recrossed the division line betwe
JNew York and Harlem commons, and crossed 4th avenue near 8^!
street; thence passed over the southwestern corner of Observatl
Place, and intersected the 3riddle Road at 90th street. This Observatc
1 Zac, or square for Reservoir, was laid out, on the Commissioners' Phi
i-om 89th to 94th street, and from 5th to 6th avenue, and contain

alon'.thoTn, ".f'' ''"'*' '"^^ ^^''''^ ^-^--^d continu
along the Middle road to 92d street, and there diverged westerly, a,
passed between 5th and 6th avenues (where it was tlso called ' t
Kmgsbridge road"), through the Barrier gate, built across it d
ring the war of 1812, at McGowan's Pass, at 107th street, about 1
yards east of 6th avenue ; thence crossing a small bridge ov;r the U
of Benson s tide mill pond, near 109th street and 5th avenue, passe

west of Third avenue, to Harlem Bridge.

Darin- the wav of 1812, the Barrier gate at McGowau's pass was con-
rcted with the Barrier gate at Mairhattanvillc pass by the following
.litary defenses, wliich were extended across the Island, from Har-
n Kiver to Hudson Eiver, to wit; ^

Fortifleations on Benson's point, near 8d avenue and 106tlr street ,
,rt Clinton, between 106th and 107th streets, and about 1,0 yards
St of 6th avenue; Fort Fish, between 103th and 106th streets, and
.out ten yards east of 0th avenue; a stone tower, about 14 yards
Klh of 109th street and 7 yards west of 7th avenue ; a stone tower,
'tween 113th and lUth streets, and between 9th and "f =';7- '
stone tower, on the south side of 121st ^t'««'*- ^^I^/'^? , ™ [^''';
St of 10th avenue ; a stone tower, on the sonth side of l-'l;^* ««''
,d lut 54 yards east of 10th avenue ; Fort Haight, at Manhattan-
,t pL, about 20 yards north of 124th street, and 120 yards east of

''!^TT7meBoad- diverged northward fronr " the Eastern FoU
oad •• near 29th street and 4th avenue, and tlience ascended Ink-
;tr,. BM- (now Murray's Hill), and connected with Manhattan
I.OW 5tb) avenue, at the present Croton Bescrvorr on 42d ^tr ^ •
nd continued along that avenue to its intersection witli Ike
'Saslem Po^lBoad- at 90tb street; and thence oontmued on a straight
' ;:, along a (then) new road, called the " The J/,',* " or ••/7„W«
Si,l,e Road,- to Harlem Bridge, at 180th street and 8d avenue
>i TMs road passed in its route from the Croton Reservoir at 42d
treet the following places, vi..; along the east side of D'- Hosack s
•El-in (Botanic) Garden," from 47th to 61st street; about -10

• -ards east of the Powder House, between 64th and 05 streets ; along
5 he west end of BmiUon Square, as laid out on the Commiss.oixei,

* Plan from 5th to 3d avenue and from 66th to 68th street ; crossed
iHhe Hai-sen Cross Road" at 71st street; crossed the division line
'between New York and Harlem commons at 87th street ; reached
■I .he southwest comer of Observatory place at 89th street, and crossed
t .hat square to 91th street; thence crossed "Harlem M'^sh ;q'raa<,
t^hich was laid out, on the Commissioners' Plan, from 106th to 109tl
!' street, and from oth avenue eastward to Harlem Eiver at Benson s
'I point," and contained 68 6-10 acres ; and thence passed through Har-
'* lem village from 116th to 125th street.

' " Tlie hnrphridgc Road" commenced at the crossing of the Middle

I road by the Eastern Post road, at 90th to 92d street ; and continued

along the Eastern Post road through the Barrier gate, at McGowan s

pass, to " Harlem lane," near 108th street, wliere it diverged east-

"wardly to Harlem ; it thence continued along that lane over Har-
lem flat to Myer's corner, about 67 yards west of 8th avenue at lolst
street — passing in its route along " Harlem lane," the residence of
Valantine Nutter, in 6th avenue, between 109th and 110th streets ;
and thence passed 73 yards west of the southwest corner of " Harlem
square," which was laid out on the Commissioners' Plan from 117th
to 121st street, and from 6th to 7th avenue, and contained 18 1-10
acres ; crossed the road leading from Manhattan ville to Harlem at
125th street, between 8th and 9th avenues, and east of the Manhat-
tanville Academy at 126th street and 10th avenue. From Myer's
corner the Kingsbridge road continued northward, between 8th
and 9th avenues, to its intersection with tlie Bloomingdale road at
9th avenue, between 146th and 147th streets ; jDassing in its route
from Myer's corner west of the country residence of Cadwalla-
der D. Golden — who was Mayor of the city in the years 1818,
1819, and 1820— standing in 7th avenue, between 139th and 140th
streets ; passing Bussing' s Point road 133 yards west of 8th avenue,
between 143d and 144th streets ; thence ascended Bradhurst hill west
of a Revolutionary redoubt at 145th street, and connected with the
Bloomingdale road 10 yards east of 9th avenue, between 146th and
147tli streets ; this Kingsbridge road thence passed the 10-mile
stone, the southern side of which is described in the Commissioners'
report as "being touched at the surface of the ground by the
southern side of 153d street ;" thence passed 120 yards west of the
residence of Madame Jumel, the widow of Stephen Jumel, and after-
wards the widow of Col. Aaron Burr, standing 150 yards east of 10th
avenue, between 160th and 161st streets. At 161st street the road
passed east of and opposite to Mount "Washington spring, at 11th
avenue, and redoubts, &c., from 11th to 12tli avenue ; at 175th to
176th street the road passed 67 yards east of 12th avenue, and 900
yards east of a fort and redoubts on a point of rocks on Hudson's
River, about 30 yards south of 176th street, and 200 yards west of
14th avenue. From this point to the wharf at Fort L3e ferry was
1,950 yards, and to the opposite shore of Hudson River, at the foot of
the Pallisade, was 1,267 yards, as measured by triangnlation in 1821.
At 183d street the road was 43 yards east of 12th avenue, and
343 yards east of Fort Washington, on 13th avenue. At 192d street
the road was 33 yards west of 12th avenue, and 533 yards west of
Fort George. At 196th street the road was 133 yards east of 13th
avenue, and 233 yards east of Foi-t Tryon. At 206th street the road
crossed the west side of 12th avcriuc, and was 730 yards cast oJ'

Tubby Hook Point, on Hudson's River, from wliicli point the oblique
distance across that river to Norman's cottage, on tlie New Jersey
shore, was 1,570 yards, as measured by trianguhition in 1821. Be-
tween 208th and 209th streets this road was opposite the residence of
Jacobus Dyckman, and 150 yards west of 11th avenue. From 213th
to 217th street the road passed along the foot of the eastern slope
of marble quarries. At 21Gtli street the road was 33 yards west of
10th avenue, and 1,070 yards east of Cock Hill Fort, on high ground,
between Spuyten Duyvel (Spiteing Devil) creek and Hudson's River.
At 222d street the road crossed the Canal cut across New York Island
from Harlem River to Spuyten Duyvel creek. At 226th street the
road was 150 yards east of Fort Prince Charles, on 10th avenue, at the
southerly side of that street. At 228th street and 10th avenue, where
the most northerly monument on New York Mand was placed by me,
Kingsbridge road was about 34 yards east of that avenue ; and
McComb's mill, built over Harlem River, along the west side of
Kingsbridge, was about 17 yards north of that most northerly monu-
ment.

'' The Harlem Road" passed from the village of Harlem over the
Harlem Flat, north of " Snake Hill," on 5th avenue, from 121st to
123d street (now Mount Morris square), and formed a junction with
the Kingsbridge road at Myer's corner.

The Bussing' s Point road diverged eastwardly from the Kingsbridge
road, between 148d and 141th streets, and intersected the 8th avenue
at 145th street, and continued along it to near 149tli street, and
thence diverged northeastward, on a straight line, to McComb's
Bridge and Dam across Harlem River, at 155th street, 20 yards west
ot 7th avenue.

All the redoubts and forts from Bussing' s Point road to Kings-
bridge were built during the Revolutionary War, and consisted of
embankments of earth, some of which remained standing, from 6 to
8 feet in height, and the outlines of the ruins of others remained
pretty well defined upon the ground, when I surveyed them in the
years 1819, 1820.

I obtained the names of those fortifications from Jacobus Dyckman,
on the Kingsbridge road, and other old gentlemen in that neighbor-
hood— some of whom informed me that they lived there when those
fortifications were being built, during the Revolutionary War.

The streets and avenues herein mentioned, although reported on
the Plan filed by the Commissioners in 1811, for streets as far north
as 155th street, and for 10th avenue thence to Harlem River near

Kingsbridge, and all the streets and avenues north of 155th street
were extended across the Island, and northward to Harlem River, on
maps subsequently made by me and filed in the Street Commissioners'
office. Yet many of the streets and avenues on New York Island
were not defined upon the ground by monumental stones and iron
bolts till as late as about the year 1818, and none of them were placed
by me north of 155th street, except on 10th avenue to 228th street,
near Kingsbridge ; and the distances herein stated in yards were ob-
tained from measurements made on those maps.

All the streets laid out by the Commissioners were numbered from
Houston (formerly North) street, which is about one mile north of
the City Hall ; and as twenty of these streets, including the adjoining
block, measure one mile (within about a yard), the proximate distance ]j
in miles from the City Hall to any of the places herein described by «
the number of a street, may be readily obtained by dividing such
number by 20, and adding one m'le to the result.

Take, for example, the village of Harlem (which is described as
extending from 116th to 125th street) as at 120th street, which, be-
ing divided by 20, gives 6 miles as its distance from Houston street,
to which add one 1 mile, and it gives 7 miles for the distance be-
tween Harlem, at 12r)tli .street, and the City Hall.

Very respectfully,

JOHN EANDEL, Junr.,

Civil Engineer.

THE END.

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