THE ESTABLISHMENT OF
PUBLIC PARKS

CITY OF NEW YORK

GHERARDI DAVIS.

Read before

he New York Historical Society,

April 6, 1897.

i a

THE ESTABLISHMENT OF
PUBLIC PARKS

IN THE

CITY OF NEW YORK.

BY

GHER.ARDI DAVIS.

Read before

The New York Historical Society,

April 6, 1897.

'•■AUK

.4 «H»i6<?r 0/ requests for copies of this paper having
been made to me, I have had it reprinted. Many changes
have been made in some of the parks, and others are
contemplated. If I might suggest one thing to the powers
that be, it would be that parks should be made up primarily
of trees, grass and flowers, and not of concrete walls and
asphalt pavements.

A very interesting history of Central Park has recently
been published by the American Scenic and Historic
Preservation Society.

GHERARDI DAVIS.

New York, May. 1913.

THE EVENING POST JOB PRINTING OFFICE
156 FULTON STREET. N. Y.

2639 O

THE ESTABLISHMENT OF PUBLIC
PARKS IN THE CITY OF
NEW YORK.

EW subjects have attracted more
attention in matters relating to
the comfort of the inhabitants
of large cities than the question
of Parks. Those stretches of green grass
and trees have been well called breathing
spaces for the people of a city; and as cities
grow and become more and more densely-
populated, the need of parks is more and
more recognized. The health of cities neces-
sarily depends, to a great extent, upon these
open spaces, where, especially in summer,
people of all ages congregate in masses, to
get at least a breath of open air, free from
the heat and oppressing confinement of tene-
ments. Our parks have not been always as
jealously guarded as they should have been
in the past, and in at least one instance in
New York City a park was sacrificed to busi-
ness needs. The memory of the beauty of
this park is, perhaps, now tinged with senti-
ment, but no one can deny that such sacri-
fices are not only unnecessary, but are sen-

4

ously to the disadvantage of the city and its
inhabitants.

New York is a city of wonderful natural
advantages, lying, as it does, between two
broad rivers, where there is a heavy flow of
tide, and this, probably as much as anything
else, has made it healthy. But as New York
becomes more and more built up, the demand
for parks increases, and, within the last few
years, vast tracks of land have been bought
by the city for the purpose of laying out new
parks.

With that pride which every one naturally
has for the city in which he lives, we are
inclined to think that our New York parks
are the most beautiful in the world. We
speak of Central Park as a wonderful pro-
duction of landscape gardening, as, indeed,
it is, and in a city so devoted to business
as is New York, it is truly remarkable that
so much space has been given up to mere
trees and grass and water. But if we
stop for a moment to consider the condi-
tion of things in this city, we quickly real-
ize that New York is far from being the
equal of some of our own cities, as regards
trees and grass, and that many European
cities are far better supplied with parks and
avenues bordered with trees than is New
York.

From the Battery to 59th Street the area of
the parks and squares is insignificant, and

5

there is not one block of avenue with grass
and trees like the Boulevard. And yet, in
the very heart of London are the Gardens of
the Inns of Court ; near by are those of the
Temple, from which the tree-bordered Em-
bankment leads along the Thames to within
a few rods of a series of parks, so that one
can walk for miles from near the centre of
this great city to its outskirts within parks
and parkways.

Again, in Paris, not only are the various
Boulevards lined with trees, but, from the
site of the old Tuileries, in the very heart of
Paris, to the gates of the city to the west-
ward, there is a series of gardens, avenues
and parks several miles long, which are
famous the world over.

And even Buffalo, in this State, has been
laid out with an eye to beauty as well as con-
venience. Delaware avenue, the pride of
every inhabitant of Buffalo, with its fine
trees, and the connecting avenues, squares
and parks, lead from the business centre of
the city to the Niagara River, a distance of
about two miles.

Whatever may have been the causes which
prevented the people of this City from pre-
serving more open spaces south of 59th
Street, the fact remains that in this part of
the City, New York is far behind many
American cities, as well as Paris, London and
Vienna, and the citizens of New York must

6

admit that their ancestors did not, in this
respect, look to the future convenience and
beauty of the City as they might well have
done.

And yet the necessity of parks presented
itself to some of the people of New York over
a hundred years ago, for in 1785, August
15th, a letter was published in the New
York Packet, addressed to the Mayor and
Aldermen of this City, in which appeared
the following :

"It is a very general complaint that there
is not in this great City, nor in its environs
any one proper spot where its numerous
inhabitants can enjoy, with convenience, the
exercise that is necessary for health and
amusement."

The writer (whose name is unknown, he
signs his letter "Veritas") goes on to speak
of the fact that the well-to-do have ample
means of getting fresh air by driving in
summer and winter, an amusement which
the greater part of the citizens cannot, of
course, indulge in. He then refers to the
well-kept parks of London and Paris, and the
necessity of having parks in all cities, and he
says, referring to the growth of New York :

"The size and consequence that this town
must one day arrive at, ought strongly to im-
press the necessity of attending to this ob-
ject, as well from a desire to contribute to the
comfort and health of the inhabitants, as from
the propriety of adding to the public orna-

7

ments of the City. In this view the Battery
naturally presents itself as a subject capable of
vast improvement. Were the margin of this
ground laid out with judgment, planted with a
row of trees, and furnished with seats, from
whence, after being jaded with the heats of
August, we could enjoy the cool breezes of
the evening, and admire the beauties of one
of the finest harbors in the world — what an
ornament would this city derive from it!"

How correct this writer's judgment was,
all who have ever seen the Battery well
know.

The Battery, however, was not the first
open space in the City, which is now a park
or square. It is the Bowling- Green which
has this distinction.

The name " Bowling Green " reminds us

from the City, in order to play the now well-
nigh forgotten game of bowls. As is well
known, there once stood on the land south
of the present Bowling Green Park a fort
which dated back to the times of the Dutch.
It was built in 1645, and there Peter Stuy-
vesant and other noted men, including the
Lieutenant-Governors of the Colony, resided.
The entrance to this fort was on the side
facing north, and in front of it was an open
space, once called the Parade (1728), kept
open, as much as anything else, in order to

Bowling
Qreen.

that in 1732 certain gentlemen,
who then lived in lower Broad-
way, leased this plot of ground

prevent an attacking force from approaching
too near the fort under cover. It was subse-
quently put to various uses by the citizens
of the then diminutive city. In 1649 it was
a cattle market ; in 1676 a market fair was
ordered to be held there, and later on it was
used as a place of recreation. Its turf was
apparently well cared for, as may be judged
not only from the use it was put to as a
bowling green, but also from the advertise-
ment in 1745 for bids for laying new turf.
In this year also the line of the houses on
Broadway was ordered to be straightened, so
as to improve the appearance of Bowling
Green. The gallants and ladies of those
days walked there, as they were afterward
allowed to do on the ramparts of the old
fort, little dreaming that in a few years this
plot of grass would witness many acts that
have become famous in the history of our
city.

In the middle of the square was erected in
1770 a statue of George III, made of lead,
and standing on a pedestal, and in 1771 an
iron fence was put up around the green,
which was then four-sided, not oval as at pres-
ent. From pictures of the statue, it would
seem to have resembled a hundred other
statues of monarchs erected in Europe at
about that time. After the Declaration of
Independence a mob (at least such it was in
the eyes of the English), tore down the

9

statue and broke it into pieces. The lead was
used to make bullets by the Americans, but
the base of the statue remained in the square
for many years, until it was finally removed
and its place taken by a fountain, in 1818.
The slab which was on top of the pedestal
is in the possession of the New York His-
torical Society.

In 1786 Chancellor Livingston received au-
thority to lay out Bowling Green as a green,
and it has since then been one of the most
pleasing of the smaller parks in this City. Its
surroundings were much improved after the
destruction and removal of the old fort. On
the site of the fort the Government House
was erected in 1790. It was originally de-
signed for the residence of President Wash-
ington, but, the Capitol being removed to
Philadelphia, he never occupied it. It then
became the Governor's house, and was the
residence of Governors Clinton and Jay. The
building was used for the Custom House from
1799 until 1815, when it was taken down. It
must have been a handsome building, old
pictures of it showing it to have been of
brick and stone, with a handsome portico of
four columns the whole height of the build-
ing.

Bowling Green is too well known to require
any very lengthy description or to be in need
of any particular praise. It was at one time
surrounded by fashionable residences, and

for a time, in 1809, the New York Historical
Society occupied rooms overlooking it. Its
trees and flowers still make it in summer a
very attractive spot, and even the overpower-
ing height of the surrounding buildings can-
not destroy its beauty.

No less beautiful is the adjoining Battery,
in spite of the disfiguring mass
Battery Park, of the elevated railroad struct-
ure. It must be borne in mind
that where the present Battery Park i^, there
was open water when the old fort, of which
mention has just been made, was built. This
condition of things existed until near the end
of the XVIII century. Where the Staten
Island ferry-houses now stand was open
water. What is now Castle Garden was also
under water. State Street was not laid out
until 1789, and then was bounded by the bay
on one side. What is now Battery Place — in
earlier days called Marketfield Street — was
water. A ledge of rock stretched across the
lower end of Manhattan Island (they are
under the present park) and facing these
rocks, along the edge of the water, there
was built in the early days a line of works,
then known as "The Battery." These works
extended from Whitehall Street towards
what is now Rector Street, and cannon were
mounted behind them, which according to
numerous accounts looked much more for-
midable than they actually were. The name

1 1

which was then given to these works, "The
Battery," will, it is to be hoped, always cling
to this part of the city, and not be changed, as
Chatham Street was changed, and as some
people would have the Bowery changed.

In about 1723 the first steps were taken in
connection with filling in in front of the
fort, out towards the present water-line, but
it took many years for the land to reach what
is now the bulkhead line. During the Revo-
lution the works along the water front were
repaired and again armed, but as the Ameri-
cans had no navy, and could not make an at-
tack upon New York from the water side,
they were never put to any practical use.

In 1806 the United States Government
constructed Fort Clinton, now known as
Castle Garden, upon land ceded to it by the
State, some distance out into the water from
the mainland, with which it was connected
by a bridge. It was generally considered to
be a formidable structure, but its use was
not of long duration. In 1822, March 30,
the United States Government ceded Fort
Clinton to New York City, and in 1823, June
16, it was entirely given up as a fortification.
In May, 1824, the City leased it as a place of
amusement, and it became a fashionable re-
sort known as Castle Garden. Upon the
roof seats were built, sloping towards the in-
terior. The building, it was said, could hold
between ten and fifteen thousand people.

12

All kinds of entertainments were had there,
fireworks were let off, balloons were sent up,
and glowing descriptions are to be found of
the beauties of the place, where lanterns
and colored lights and other decorations
helped to make it attractive. There Gen-
eral Jackson was received, and General
Lafayette was feted. In 1847 the place be-
came an opera house, in 1855 it was an emi-
gration bureau, and in 1876 it was in part
destroyed by fire. There Jennie Lind sang,
and there hundreds of thousands of emi-
grants have landed. It is now an aquarium.

On the Battery Park itself, as early as
1794, one Corre was licensed to sell small
drinks. He occupied a kind of stand or
kiosque, and this event was apparently of suf-
ficient importance to be referred to in many
books giving an account of the Battery at
that time. Not far from his stand was a
stone tower, surmounted by a flag staff, and
called the " Churn," from the fancied re-
semblance of the structure to a churn.

As has already been said, the old fort which
faced the Battery, as well as Bowling Green
(its northwest bastion was at the corner of
State Street and Bowling Green), was de-
molished in 1788, and the space occupied by
it and the gardens south of it were used for
building purposes. Numerous private houses
were built on its site, facing the water along
State street, and many residences stood as

*3

well along Marketfield Street (now Battery-
Place), and along lower Broadway. There
resided many of New York's old families,
like the Rays, the Schermerhorns, the Primes,
the Gracies, the Watts, but of their old
residences few, if any, are now left. On
State Street in particular, a few years ago,
several old houses could still be seen.

In 1826 an iron railing was erected around
the Battery. In 1844 the Battery is described
as being one of the most beautiful places in
New York City, although the writer says that
it is abandoned to children. In fact, at that
time both the Battery and Bowling Green
seem to have been neglected by New
Yorkers, who had already begun to make
Sunday excursions up towards Harlem — a
matter which brought forth bitter complaints
in the newspapers by the Harlemites.

Beautiful as Battery Park is, and attract-
ive as is the view which is to be had from it,
there are few persons who would be willing
to use the following romantic language,
which is quoted from a description of this
city made by a Philadelphian in 1806:

"Were I an inhabitant of New York, I
should like to pass the fine summer evenings
there, particularly when the moon casts her
mellow lustre on the surrounding waters,
when the busy hum of men has subsided, and
all is tranquil; when the slumbering winds just
fan themselves into action, and bring refresh-
ment to the fainting bosom."

'4

Leaving the Battery and going north
along Broadway past Trinity Churchyard
and St. Paul's, one reaches City Hall Park,
— ground which has witnessed many fa-
miliar incidents in New York history. One
can hardly say of Broadway what a writer,
a certain Mrs. Child, said in 1844, on a
walk to the park: "Why need I sigh for
green fields? Does not Broadway super-
abound with beauty?" And yet, even to
the matter-of-fact residents of New York,
City Hall Park, especially in the spring,
is still a very beautiful spot.

City Hall Park is but a small portion of

land stretching from where the Post Office
now is, northward towards the Tombs, and
from the present line of Broadway, eastward
across what was at one time the Boston Post
Road (now Park Row) to where the Sun
Building and the entrance of the Bridge now
stand. This land under the Dutch was used,
as all Common Lands generally were, mainly
for the grazing of cattle, and prior to 1700 does
not appear to have been the scene of anything
historically interesting. It was in general a
sort of undulating meadow, and at its north-
easterly end was a pond, called the "Collect,"
or the "Fresh Water Pond," near where the
Tombs now stand. One's imagination can

City Hall
Park.

what in the latter half of the
seventeenth century was the
Common Lands, a large area-of

IS

run riot with the scenes of country life that
must have been found here, and with the
views across the commons to the east, or
Lispenard's Meadows to the north, but no im-
agination is needed to make this part of the
city of historical interest to the citizens of
New York.

The Commons were, as a portion of the
unappropriated lands of Manhattan Island,
granted by the Dongan charter, April 22,
1686, to the Mayor, etc., of New York, and
this grant was confirmed by the Mont-
gomerie charter, February u, 1730.

What ultimately became City Hall Park
was very gradually carved out of the Com.
mons, the open space being steadily re-
duced in size by the laying out of streets,
and by the construction of buildings. Thus
near the site of the present City Hall was
built a Powder House, in 1684, and in 1725
a gallows was erected near by. In 1747 a
line of palisades was run across the Commons
above where the present City Hall
stands. It was about as useful as the old
one at Wall street a hundred years or so be-
fore had been. In 1757 what is now used as
the Register's Office, (some times called the
Hall of Records) was erected. It was built
for a jail, and was known as the New Jail.
In 1774 another building of equally sor-
rowful memories, the Bridewell, was built,
west of what is now the City Hall, while

i6

north of it were erected barracks for the
housing of the British soldiers. The site of
the City Hall itself was at this time occupied
by an alms house.

As the City and its business grew, certain
restrictions were naturally put upon the
use of the Commons. Some were very
peculiar. Under a decree made in 1726
no hoop sticks were to be cut on the Com-
mons ; why, it does not appear. In 1734 an
order was made that no fish should be
caught in the Fresh Water Pond (which, as
has been said, was situated near the present
Tombs north of Chambers Street, on Centre
Street), except by angling. As business
grew, the tanners established themselves at
this end of the Commons, and were allowed
in 1745 to tan at the Fresh Water Pond.

The boundaries of the Commons became
more restricted when in 1760 Broadway was
laid out. There had been a ropewalk along
the Commons where Broadway now is.
Chambers street was laid out about 1760;
Park Row is a part of the old Post Road. In
1787 the first steps were taken towards im-
proving the present park, by making prepar-
ations for the sowing of grass. But in this
space of twenty-seven years much had
happened. The Revolution had occurred
and the City had been the scene of much
misery ; the Colonies had gained their free-
dom and had become the United States, and

i7

New York had entered upon a new era.
During these years City Hall Park was the
scene of many exciting events which are
well worth recalling.

In 1765, the notorious Stamp Act aroused
as much excitement in New York as it did
in Boston. As soon as the stamps were
brought to New York the good citizens held
a meeting on the Commons to protest against
this unjust infringement upon their rights
and liberties. On November 1 of that year
an excited crowd of citizens met there and
proceeded in a body to Lieut. -Gov. Colden's
stable under the guns of the fort at Bowling
Green, carried off his coach to the Commons;
erected a gallows with two arms, upon one
of which the Lieutenant-Governor was hung
in effigy, with a very forcible inscription
attached, while from the other arm swung
a figure of the devil. But not content with
this, the mob paraded down Broadway again
with the coach and the gallows, and, tearing
up some of his Excellency's stockade, burned
up coach and gallows and effigies under his
very eyes.

His Excellency, the Lieutenant-Governor,
thus describes this event in a letter to the
Rt. Hon. H. S. Conway, November 5, 1765:

" In a day or two after the date of my Letter
of the 26th of last Month which I had the
honour to write to you, the Packages of stamp'd
Papers were landed from his Majesty's ship

[8

Garland at noonday without a Guard or the
least appearance of discontent among the Peo-
ple. This gave me great hopes that 1 should be
able to deliver up the administration of Gov-
ernment to Sir Henry Moore as I had inform'd
you I had much at heart to do.

" But on the evening of the first day of this
month the Mob began to collect together, &
after it became dark, they came up to the Fort
Gate with a great number of boys carrying
Torches & a scaffold on which two Immages
were placed: One to represent the Governor in
his grey hairs, & the other the Devil by his
side. The scaffold with the Immages was
brought up within 8 or io feet of the Fort gate
with the grossest ribaldry from the Mob. As
they went from the Gate they broke open my
coach house, took my chariot out of it, & car-
ried it round the Town with the Immages, &
return'd to the Fort Gate from whence they
carried them to an open place, where they had
erected a Jibbett within ioo yards of the Fort
Gate, there hung up the Immages. After
hanging some time they were cut down, &
burnt in a fire prepared for the purpose to-
gether with my Chariot a single Horse chair
and two sledges, our usual Carriage when
Snow is on the Ground, which they took out of
my Coach House. While this was doing, a
great number of Gentlemen of the Town, if
they can be called so, stood round to observe
this outrage on their King's Governor. The
Garrison was at the same time on the Ram-
parts with preparation sufficient to have de-
stroyed them, but not a single return was made
in words or otherwise from any Man in the
Fort while this egregious Insult was perform-
ing. You may be assured, Sir, that the Peo-

i9

pie of this place have not had at any time the
least provocation from me, either in words or
any kind of action other than the receiving the
Packages with the stamped Papers into the
Fort, & putting the Fort in a Posture of De-
fense, after open and bold Threats were made
of takeing it by Force, tho' every artifice was
used to make me say or do some rash thing."

Two days later (November 3, 1765), in
order to prevent their use by the citizens,
the guns along the Battery, of which there
was a large number, were carefully spiked.
It was surmised that this was done under
Colden's instructions, and, as a matter of
fact, the surmise was correct. When the
citizens discovered this they took a cannon
to the Commons, put on it the effigy of
Lieut. -Gov. Colden, with a drill in his hands,
as if he were working to get the spike out of
the vent, and burned it amidst great excite-
ment. But no open breach occurred between
the citizens and the Lieutenant-Governor's
forces, and with that singular change in opin-
ion which sways a mass of people in a man-
ner often quite unaccountable, when, in 1766
the Stamp Act was repealed, there was a
great celebration by the citizens on the Com-
mons in honor of the King's birthday. This
was, however, one of the last acts done in
honor of the King on that land by the Ameri-
cans. For, with the erection of a liberty
pole at the time of the celebration just spoken
of, and its destruction in 1767 by the Eng-

2 a

lish soldiers, began a series of tumultuous
scenes, which culminated with the Revolu-
tion. The liberty pole was cut down four
times, and each time re-erectcd on the Com-
mons. The last one set up in 1770 stood un-
til 1776. In January, 1770, there was a fight
between the Sons of Liberty and the soldiers
in front of the jail, arising out of a scurrilous
article posted about the town by the soldiers
after the destruction of the fourth pole. The
fifth pole was raised in February in spite of
opposition by the soldiers, and on land pur-
chased by the Sons of Liberty somewhere
near Warren street. It was strengthened
and protected with iron bars and rods, and
bore a vane, with the word " Liberty," and a
flag, with the inscription," Liberty and Prop-
erty," the first of its kind in New York.

Event followed event rapidly until in July,
1776, the Declaration of Independence was
read on the Commons. Then came the bat-
tle of Long Island, which resulted in New
York City being occupied by the English.
The next years saw many American pris-
oners confined in the New Jail, with much
suffering and no little unnecessary cruelty.

At the close of the war improvements in
the Park began to be made. In 1792 the
first post and rail fence were erected. In 1 794
a lottery was authorized to raise funds for a
new Alms House. The old Alms House was
torn down and the new one erected in 1796

2 1

on Chambers street. The erection of the
present City Hall, the handsomest and best
piece of architecture that has survived from
those days was authorized in 1802; its corner-
stone was laid by Mayor Livingston in 1803,
and in 181 1, July 4, the Corporation met there
for the first time. The building is well worth
a careful examination, its handsome front and
its interesting staircase, as well as its inter-
ior decorations, as far as they have escaped
the blight of restorations, are as fine as any-
thing of their kind in this country. It is
built on three sides of marble, and the writer
will surely be pardoned for referring to the
fact that the north side was built of brown-
stone, and not of marble. This has recently
been painted white.

In 182 1 an iron railing was put up about
the Park, and at the entrance at the southern
end there was a gate, the posts of which were
surmounted by some old Turkish stone can-
non balls, brought from the East by a Grecian
pilot, as the story goes. It is said that this
railing was brought into this country under
a trick, so that the duty on it was much less
than it should have been. But all this has
long since disappeared, and on the site of
this entrance stands now one of the greatest
eyesores on lower Broadway, the Post
Office.

The Alms House, which was built along
what is now Chambers Street, and where,

22

as has been said, the British barracks once
stood, was occupied by the Historical Society
and other institutions for a short period
(about 1816). This building-, afterwards
known as the "New City Hall," was occupied
in 1840 by the Marine Court and Court of
Sessions ; then it was used in part by the
Law Library, while part of it was used for
offices. In January, 1856, it was destroyed by
fire. On its site the new Court House was
afterwards built.

In the mean time, the Park itself became
more and more beautiful. When the Croton
Aqueduct was built, a fountain was erected
on the Broadway side of the park, which was
spoken of with great enthusiasm. It was said
that there was nothing equal to it in France
or Italy. Its jets could be made to take vari-
ous shapes, and when the water rose in a
single jet it reached a height of 70 feet. Be-
tween 1800 and 1861 little of interest occurred
in the Park. During the Rebellion sheds
were built on the triangle, where the Post
Office now stands, and there the soldiers
were supplied with food. After the war,
most unfortunately for the city, this plot of
ground was transferred to the LTnited States
Government for its present purpose.

City Hall Park is unique in its character
among New York parks. Through no other
park in the city do such vast throngs of
people pass every day. Every morning and

23

every evening thousands upon thousands of
men and women, young and old, cross be-
tween the City Hall and the Court House on
their way to and from the Bridge. Judges,
lawyers, clients, clerks and jurymen, and the
numberless outside hangers-on of the courts,
are to be seen about the Court House. Poli-
ticians are numerous about the City Hall,
and the constant stream of wagons in Mail
Street, is one of the many proofs of the size
of the city and the extent of its business.

This park is the scene of the greatest ex-
citement on election nights, and has at times
been the scene of sorrowful processions and
meetings, as when Lincoln's and Grant's
bodies lay in state in City Hall. With all
its past history it was quite fitting that the
monument of Hale, who gave his life for the
liberty of his country, should be placed so
near to where the Sons of Liberty first
erected their Liberty Pole, and fought to
save this outward mark of their independ-
ence from destruction.

Still farther north in the City are to be
found a number of well-known parks and
squares, all of much more recent date, how-
ever, than the Battery and City Hall Park.

Madison Square was laid out as a Potter's

used by the Alms House as a burial place.

Madison
Square.

Field in 1794, at what was then
the junction of the Post and
Bloomingdale roads, and was

24

Serious objections having been raised, how-
ever, by the property owners of adjoining
land to its use for this purpose, it was
abandoned in 1797, and the Potter's Field
was moved to Washington Square. In 1806,
the United States Government erected in
Madison Square an extensive arsenal which
was subsequently abandoned. In 1823 the
buildings for the Society for Juvenile De-
linquents, one of the first institutions of its
kind in the City, were erected on the
square and there remained until 1830, when
they were destroyed by fire.

Washington Square, after being a parade

resided for many years past. Here the
Washington Arch has recently been erected,
but the picturesque old university building
is gone. The ceremonies attending the lay-
ing of the corner stone of the arch, and its
final dedication, are too recent and too well
known to be commented on. Like every
other City Park, this square is crowded with
men, women and children in the summer,
particularly in the evening, a striking proof
of the necessity of breathing spaces for the
people of a great city.

On the plan of the Commissioners in 1807,
an enormous parade ground was laid out,
extending from 23d Street to 34th Street,

Washington
Square.

ground and a Putter's Field, be-
came a public square, where
many well-known citizens have

2 5

and from Third Avenue to Seventh Avenue,
and including, of course, what

fortunate for the City that this parade ground
was abandoned. Valuable as it would have
been, it could not have been kept as a square,
and would necessarily have been cut up by-
streets, for the reason that it blocked so many
of the main arteries of the City. Imagine it
crossed by two lines of elevated roads, three
lines of cable cars, and numberless horse cars!
Union Square, which is situated at the

Avenue and Broadway, respectively, is, from
a historical point of view, no more important
than Madison Square. In 1815 a small square
called Union Place was laid out here, and
appears to have been early enclosed in a rail-
ing, and ornamented with a fountain. It was
not, however, until February 1, 1832, that an
act was passed enlarging the square to its
present size. Until recently a stone was to
be seen in the sidewalk upon the easterly side
of Fourth Avenue opposite the square, bear-
ing an inscription referring to its foundation.

Those who have not seen Union Square
in summer can form no idea of its beauty
and of the careful work done by the Depart-
ment of Parks, in connection with the flowers

Parade
Ground.

is now Madison Square, and
much other property. It is

Union
Square.

junction of the old Boston Post
Road and the Bloomingdale
Road, now known as Fourth

26

and plants which are set out by it during
the summer. Especially beautiful is the
display of water plants in the fountain,
where water lilies, lotus and papyrus, can be
seen growing in great profusion.

Tompkins Square, situated on the east
side of the City, between 7th
„ and 10th Streets and Avenues

Square

A and B, is a very large open
space originally laid out in 1833. It was used
for a parade ground, and was at one time
(about 1869), paved to a great extent. It has
since been remodeled, and is now covered
with grass. There, again, hundreds of people
congregate during the evenings of the sum-
mer months.
Gramercy Park, which intersects Irving

Place, between 20th and 22d
arparkCy Streets, is the only remaining

private park in New York.
Gramercy Park, while it has not as fine trees
as some of the other parks, is, nevertheless,
well worth a visit, especially in the spring,
as it is well cared for, and the trees and
grass are always in good condition. It was
laid out by Mr. Ruggles, who owned much
property around the park.

Some years ago St. John's Park, another

private park, once known as
St. John s jjucjson park the site of which

is now occupied by the freight
station of the New York Central Railroad,

2 7

at Hudson and Laight Streets, was the pride
of that part of the City, and there are un-
doubtedly some people who still think,
with regret if not with bitterness, of the
destruction of the park, and of its fine
trees. These trees are referred to by many
writers of New York, as it existed forty
years or more ago, as being very beautiful.
Stuyvesant Square, through which Second
Avenue runs, between 15th

^Sware"' and I7th Streets> and which is
thus divided into two parts, is,

as far as its western half is concerned, to be
compared with any other of the small parks
of the City. Like Gramercy Park, it is sur-
rounded by a high iron railing, and it re-
sembles that park, although it is not as
picturesque.

The parks, the history of which has been
followed so far, and of which some are
among the oldest parks in the City, were not
laid out pursuant to any particular plan or
under any special law, and in some instances
are but the result of a very gradual de-
velopment. The parks at the Battery and
the City Hall, and Washington, Tompkins,
Union and Madison Squares, and the other
open spaces in the lower part of the City,
some of which have been public grounds for
two centuries or more, were used either as
squares, or parade grounds, or at times even
for markets or burial places. They were

28

maintained by the Board of Supervisors, the
Commissioners of Streets and other city
functionaries, who, from time to time were
charged with that duty before the present
Park Department was created. But Central
Park and the other parks in the upper part
of the City, were laid out upon well-defined
lines and in pursuance of carefully con-
ceived plans, and, in fact, the great develop-
ment of the present park system, which now
covers an area of more than 5,000 acres, was
begun with the laying out of Central Park.
In 185 1 Mayor Kingsland addressed the

Common Council in a short,
jKlSfc spirited message on the subject

of new parks in New York.
He urged the Committee on Lands and
Places to examine into this question, and
the matter was taken up so promptly and
vigorously that in July, 185 1, at a special
session of the Legislature, an act was passed
authorizing the taking of St. John's Wood
as a park. This was a wild and beautifully
wooded tract of land lying between 66th and
75th Streets, Third Avenue and the East
River, with a high, steep bluff overlooking
the river.

Hardly had this act been passed when
vigorous opposition was aroused, prompted
mainly by worthy motives, in part, it is said,
by personal feeling, and a very strong move-
ment was begun in favor of what is now

29

Central Park. A committee of the Common
Council reported strongly in favor of Central
Park, and in July, 1853, an act was passed
creating a Commission, and authorizing
the taking of land between 59th Street
and 106th Street, Fifth Avenue and Eighth
Avenue as a public park. The proceed-
ings which were subsequently commenced
for acquiring title to the land, were
confirmed February 5, 1856, and on the
17th of April of the following year an act
was passed designating the land as " The
Central Park," and providing for its laying
out, improvement, regulation and govern-
ment by a board consisting of eleven per-
sons, styled "The Commissioners of the
Central Park." This commission consisted
of Robert J. Dillon, James E. Cooley, Charles
H. Russell, John F. Butterworth, John E. C.
Gray, Waldo Hutchins, Thomas C. Fields,
Andrew H. Green, Charles W. Elliott, Wil-
liam K. Strong and James Hogg. By an act
passed April 2, 1859, the lands for the Park
were extended northerly to 110th Street.

The Commissioners entered upon their
duties early in the year 1859, and vacancies,
which until April, 1859, were filled by nomina-
tion of the Board, added to the Board August
Belmont, Henry G. Stebbins, Richard M.
Blatchford and Moses H. Grinnell. In the
spring of 1870 the charter of that year
created the Department of Public Parks, to

to

be governed by a board of five members,
and extended the jurisdiction of the Depart-
ment over all parks and public grounds
above Canal street. A law of a few days
later, amending the charter, included the re-
maining parks south of that street. This
law remained in force until 1873, when the
present charter reduced the Board to four
members, its present number.

The Commission appointed in 1853 called
for plans for the Central Park, and thirty-
three were submitted — some fantastic, some
wholly unpractical, others good. But the
design which seems to have been unques-
tionably superior to all others, and which all
see and enjoy in its execution, was that sub-
mitted by two men, whose names will ever
be associated with this wonderful piece of
work — Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert
Vaux.

While it would not be possible to describe
the Olmsted and Vaux plan, it may be well
to refer to some of the methods pursued in
laying out Central Park. There was to be a
driveway so laid out as to give as long and
as beautiful a road as possible. There were
to be cross-drives and walks for pedestrians ;
there were to be ponds and cascades, meadows
and flower beds; there were to be gates at
various points, and the}'' appear on the maps
with such name as Scholars' Gate, Artists'
Gate, Strangers' Gate, Woodman's Gate,

3i

Warriors' Gate — names which are seldom, if
ever, applied. Great care was taken to pre-
serve as much as possible of the natural
beauty of the ground. At the same time, in
many instances, the skill of the landscape
gardener was applied to the production of
effects so like Nature that it is difficult to
tell where Nature ends and landscape
gardening begins.

The grounds now forming Central Park
were described forty years ago as being
thickets and swamps, pestilential pools and
rocky gulleys, covered with unsightly hovels,
and their attending nuisances. The char-
acter of the soil was rough, covered with
rank herbage, and without much healthy
vegetation. All this has been changed.
While the general topography remains the
same, and the lakes and water- courses are
natural, they were subjected to careful treat-
ment to secure the best effects. Thus the
westerly end of Harlem Creek, which ex-
tended from uoth Street and Fifth Avenue
to the East River, was made into a lake ; the
ravines just west of this lake were carefully
preserved, and the wisdom of the extension of
the park from 106th to uoth Streets is appar-
ent to all who know this part of Central Park.

From old Fort Fish, at the northeast-
erly end of the Park, on one of its highest
points, one can easily follow with the eye the
chain of hills which extends across Man-

$2

hattan Island from about 125th Street and
North River in the direction of 80th Street
and East River. These hills run south from
125th Street, forming- a ridge on which now
stand Columbia College and St. Luke's Hos-
pital, and upon which the Cathedral is to be
built. Their eastern face is now known as
Morningside Park ; their western slope is
Riverside Drive. At 110th Street a line of
hills branches off east and south across the
northern end of the Park, and thence to the
East River. These hills were crossed by
McGowan's Pass, and along the top of the
hills were constructed various military works
during the Revolution, and again at the time
of the War of 181 2. The remains of some of
the old fortifications erected in 18 12 can still
be traced, among others, Fort Fish. It de-
fended McGowan's Pass, which crossed the
hills near what is now the East Drive. A
great many remains of military works have
been discovered in this neighborhood, in
making excavations for improvements, and
on the elevation known as Great Hill, on the
westerly side of the Park from 104th to 106th
Streets, traces of old encampments were
found in the shape of tent floors, camp uten-
sils, and other similar articles. The Block
House, at the northwesterly corner of the
Park, overlooks the hillsoverwhich theBritish
retreated in the Battle of Harlem Heights.
As has been more than once described in

33

papers read before the New York Historical
Society, they passed over the present site of
Columbia College, and crossed to where the
northwest corner of Central Park now is,
followed by the Americans to near this
point.

From the hills at the northern end of the
Park to the great Reservoir, the land is very
irregular, and here and there the rocks
show unquestioned traces of the action of ice.
Just north of the Reservoir in a broad valley
are the meadows, where in summer tennis
courts are laid out, and hundreds of people
enjoy themselves at this game. Standing
here, it is difficult to believe that one is in a
city, less than half a mile away from elevated
roads and cable cars, and all the other roar
and bustle of a very noisy city.

The southern half of Central Park differs
very much from the northern part. It has
been laid out more artificially than the upper
end, and has been much more carefully
cultivated and ornamented. This was of
necessity the case by reason of the different
formation of the land, there being no such
natural beauties in this part of the park
as are to be found among the hills and
rocks at the northern end. Neverthe-
less, the fine trees along the Mall and else-
where, the broad meadows and the lakes,
well merit admiration, and anyone who
has been in Central Park about the first of

34

May will be convinced that these meadows
are withoutquestion the greatest playgrounds
of the children of New York. Near, too, we
find the Metropolitan Museum of Art, whose
influence has not, however, prevented the
continued existence of such statues as those
of Burns and Scott.

Of course, the cost of the land taken for
Central Park was great, the amount being
over five millions, and its construction and
maintenance, as the writer is informed by the
Secretary of the Park Department, has cost
up to the present time upwards of fifteen
millions of dollars. The area of Central
Park is 840 acres, its length a little
more than 2\ miles, and its width a trifle
over £ a mile. The space occupied by the
Croton Water Reservoirs and the Trans-
verse Roads reduces the actual park area to
about 683 acres. Its lakes and ornamen-
tal waters cover an area of nearly 44^ acres.
What the value of the land is, it is difficult
to say. Ex-Mayor Gilroy put it, in an article
written by him on the wealth of New York,
at two hundred millions, and it can hardly
be doubted that this is a reasonable estimate
of its value. The great improvements made
in the Park have at the same time unques-
tionably affected adjoining property, and
helped to enhance its value. In 1856, the
year before the Park was taken, the assessed
value of land and property in the various

35

wards adjoining Central Park was some-
what under twenty-one millions, while in
the year 1895 its value had risen to over six
hundred and eighty millions. Much of
this increase is without doubt due to Central
Park.

After Central Park was laid out, nothing
was done for some years in connection with
adding additional area to the park lands of
the City, but in 1869 what is now known as
Riverside Park was laid out along the west-

Street. The bank of the North River is here
high and steep, and no better use could have
been made of it than that to which it has
been put. The land for the park was ac-
quired in 1872 at a cost of over $6,000,000.
The area of the park is 177.8 acres. The
first improvement was the construction of
Riverside Drive, from 7 2d Street, north,
which was opened to the public in 1880, and
is now practically complete, with the excep-
tion of a viaduct, which is to carry it over
the depression at 96th Street. The park on
the west of the Drive, that is, on the slope of
the hills running down to the river, has not
yet been completed, but much work has been
done in planting shrubs and in the preserva-
tion of trees, many of which are fine and
large, and the result of natural growth. At

Riverside
Park.

erly slope of the hills, which
have previously been spoken of
as running south from 125th

36

the upper end of Riverside Drive is the well-
known Claremont, overlooking the river, and
here is the magnificent tomb of General
Grant. Near by, in striking contrast, is the
odd little monument erected to the memory
of "An Amiable Child," around which many
sentimental stories have been woven.

Morningside Park runs along the easterly
slope of the range of hills, the westerly
slope of which is taken up by
MOrparkS'de Riverside. Morningside, River-
side and Central Parks do not
quite meet, but are so connected by broad
streets, that one may drive or walk from j2d
Street and the North River up to 1 20th Street
across to Morningside Park, and south again
to 110th Street, thence to Central Park, and
through that park to 59th Street, nearly all
the way within the domain of city parks
Those who ride a bicycle are undoubtedly
familiar with this stretch of park land.
Morningside was a few years ago a rugged
bluff of bare rocks, now made beautiful by
shrubs, grass plots and flowers, where under
the usual New York system of laying out
streets, one might have expected to find
gullies with vertical walls of rock, like rail-
road cuts.

Much money had to be spent in accom-
plishing the results obtained here, and Morn-
ingside Park, which contains slightly over 31
acres, has cost over $1,500,000 for the land

37

alone. But the results are well worth the
money spent. At the northerly end of the
Park are further remains of some old fortifi-
cations of 1812.

The view east from the top of this park is
well worth seeing. The roadway overlooks
the flat land of Harlem, and beyond this one
sees the East River, and far beyond Long
Island and the upper end of New York
across the Harlem River.

The stretch of parks from 59th Street and
Fifth Avenue to 125th Street and the North
River is unrivalled for beauty in any city in
the world. Much admiration seems to have
been wasted on the plan adopted by the
Commissioners in 1807, in so far as it made
provision for parks. Too much, however,
cannot be said in praise of Mayor Kingsland
and the able Commissioners who had charge
of Central Park, and adopted the Olmstead
and Vaux plans. Nor can too much be said in
praise of the policy which led to the creation
of Morningside and Riverside parks, and has
since led to the laying out of parks north of
the Harlem.

In the early eighties a new burst of energy

led to the extension of the Citv's
Parks North of , , ,
the Harlem ^a domain m a wholly un-
precedented manner. Instead
of waiting for New York to cover what is
known as the Annexed District, and then pro-
ceeding to lay out parks, the City has wisely

$8

adopted a very extensive plan for new parks,
bought the land and begun to improve it, thus
anticipating the needs of an ever-increasing
population north of the Harlem. This was
done under an act of the Legislature of
April 19, 1883, which provided for the ap-
pointment of Commissioners to select and
locate lands for public parks in the Twenty-
third and Twenty-fourth wards and in their
vicinity. Under this act Mayor Edson ap-
pointed Luther R. Marsh, Louis Fitzgerald,
Waldo Hutchins, Charles L. Tiffany, William
W. Niles, George W. McLean and Thomas J.
Crombie, and, following their report to the
Legislature, that body passed a law on June
14, 1884, laying out and providing for the
acquisition of the following parks:

Van Cortlandt, which contains. 1,132.35 acres.

Bronx, which contains 661.60 "

Pelham Bay, which contains.. .1,756 "

Crotona, which contains 141.65 "

Claremont, which contains . . . 38.05 "

St. Mary's, which contains 28.70 "

Bronx and Pelham Parkway,

which contains 95 "

Mosholu Parkway, which con-
tains 80 "

Crotona Parkway, which con-
tains 12 "

a total of 3,945-35 acres,

that is, an area nearly five times that of Cen-

59

tral Park. At that time the total area of the
city parks was only 1,094 acres — less than
Van Cortlandt Park alone.

The report of the Commission appointed
to acquire the lands was confirmed by the
courts in the year 1889. The total cost to
the City of acquiring- the land was $9,969,-
603.04. These parks reach from the Sound
nearly to the Hudson, and cover a vast area
of beautiful country, where there are hills
and valleys, meadows and woods, streams
and lakes, far surpassing in beauty Central
Park.

The development of these new parks
will be gradual with the growth of the city,
and consistent with economical expenditure.
For, of course, it was not intended that these
vast park lands should be immediately com-
pleted. Their area is so great that the ex-
pense would be prohibitory. Comparatively
little has been done as yet toward the
permanent improvement of these parks,
with the exception of the parade ground in
Van Cortlandt Park, where a

CanTttdt traCt °f 120 aCr6S haS beeU im"
Bronx Parks Prove^ an^ set apart for the use
of the National Guard. Some
work has also been done in connection with
the macadamizing of a part of the roads in
Van Cortlandt and Pelham Bay Parks. A
new roadway is now being constructed on
the line of the Bronx and Pelham Parkway,

4o

and this, and other similar work, is being
carried on by the Department with an ex-
penditure of several hundred thousands of
dollars annually. Each year's work may not
show for itself, but the result will, in a few
years, be very apparent.

The natural beauties and peculiar fitness
for a public park of the lands lying along
both banks of the Bronx River led to the
selection of this valley by the Park Commis-
sion for what is now Bronx Park. As that
Commission said in its report to the Legis-
lature: "That such a spot should exist in
its original state, in its native wildness, so
near the settled portion of the great city,
and yet be almost so wholly unknown and
unsuspected, will awaken surprise." The
river runs through the park from end to
end, over rocks and old mill dams, and
here and there forming small ponds.
Along its banks is a rich growth of trees
and shrubs, as wild in appearance in
places as if the hand of man had never
touched them. Among them is a fine tree
of over 150 feet in height, which has long
been known as De Lancey's pine, having
received its name, it is said, from the De
Lancey family, who formerly owned the
land. There is also a huge boulder, which
is evidently a glacial deposit, weighing
probably more than 100 tons, yet so bal-
anced on the rock upon which it was

41

originally deposited ages ago, that it can
easily be made to swing on its rocky base.
The reservation set apart for the use of the
New York Botanical Garden and Arboretum
in Bronx Park covers an area of 250 acres
of land. The Park Board has also approved
of the use of a portion of the same park
for the purposes of the New York Zoologi-
cal Society — a decided improvement on
the present Zoological Garden in Central
Park.

St. Mary's Park, Claremont Park and
Crotona Park, all south and west of Bronx
Park, do not call for any particular mention.
There is, however, a feature of the new park
system which ought not to be overlooked,
and that is the Parkways, — broad avenues

connecting Bronx Parks with
Parkways. Van Cortlandt, Pelham and

Crotona Parks. They are sev-
eral hundred feet wide, and are so laid out
that one can pass from one park to another,
without going through city streets — a plan
which ought to have been adopted to con-
nect Central Park with Morningside and
Riverside. These parkways are Mosholu
Parkway, connecting Van Cortlandt with
Bronx Park ; Crotona Parkway, connect-
ing Crotona with Bronx Park, and the
Bronx and Pelham Parkway, which connects
Bronx Park with Pelham Bay Park on the
Sound.

43

Pelham Bay Park has one feature which

Neck. The laying out of this park was in
part urged in order that the people might
have access to the water by way of a park.
No one who has seen the Sound on a sum-
mer afternoon can doubt the wisdom of the
Commission which laid out this park so that
it should reach the water. Objection was
made that it was outside, of the city, and it
is true that the park was originally in West-
chester County. But no equally well-situ-
ated land was to be had nearer to the city,
and when the so-called Annexed District
became part of New York, this park was
brought within the city limits, its northerly
boundary being the same as the northerly
boundary line of the city at this point.

This Park, too, is of historical interest.
Here occurred on October 18, 1778, a fight
between the British and the Americans,
when General Howe made an effort to get
in the rear of Washington's army, and cut it
off from its base of supplies in Connecticut,
just before the battle of White Plains.
There, too, the Hutchinson River recalls the
romance of Anne Hutchinson

The incidents connected with the land
where these parks are situated, and relating
to our early history, have often been told in

Pelham Bay
Park.

no other park possesses, and
that is its water front on the
Sound, just back of Throggs

43

the New York Historical Society in a man-
ner far more complete and more interesting
than the writer can possibly relate them.
There is the Old Manor House in Van Cort-
landt Park, a residence of the Van Cortlandt
family, erected in the middle of the XVIII
century (1748), where General Washington
and Rochambeau dined just prior to the York-
town campaign. When Washington decided
in July of 1781 to join Lafayette at Yorktown,
he lighted his camp fires on the summit of
Vault Hill to deceive the enemy in regard to
his movements. The vault, which gives its
name to this spot, was the burial place of
the Van Cortlandt family, and still exists.
The country near this and the Mosholu Val-
ley was the scene of many bloody fights
between the Stockbridge Indians and the
English. The spot, known as Indian Field,
received its name from a grave, which is said
to have held the remains of forty Indians.
There are still a few smaller parks to be

and constructed, like Central Park, solely for
the purpose of creating open spaces for the
benefit of the public.

Manhattan Park, which surrounds the
Natural History Museum, does not call for
any especial comment. With the completion
of the Museum, there will be hardly any of

Smaller Parks
and Squares.

mentioned, several of which
have been recently laid out,
and all of which were designed

44

the open space left, and, as a park, it will
practically disappear.

Bryant Park, between 40th and 42d streets,
known to most people because of its prox-
imity to the old reservoir, is as beautiful a
spot as can be found in the city. It is here
that the new Public Library is to be erected.

Mount Morris Park, which lies across Fifth
avenue at 124th street, is well worth more
than a mere passing notice. It is a large
space in the centre of which is a bold, rocky
eminence formerly called Snake Hill, or, in
Dutch, Slange Berg. After having remained
an abandoned space for many years, the
records show that in 1869 work upon it was
being actively pushed, and it was soon com-
pleted as a park. The fact that it contains
a hill, which rises abruptly above the sur-
rounding streets, adds very much to its
beauty.

East River Park, which lies at the foot of
88th street and the East River, is one of the
most recent of the public squares or parks
which has been opened. It is near, or covers
a part of the old country places of a number
of well-known New York families, like the
Gracies, Schermerhorns, Crugers, Waldrons
and Rhinelanders. The house which stands
at the point overlooking the water was for-
merly the residence of Mr. Gracie, one of the
ancestors of a well-known family of this city.
It overlooks the waters of Hell Gate with

45

Mill Rock and the upper end of Blackwell's
Island but a short distance away. Many of
the trees on this country place, until re-
cently, overhung the water. The writer has
heard one of Mr. Grade's descendants say
that in the early part of the century a large
warship, passing through Hell Gate, was car-
ried by the current so near the bank that
her yards caught in the trees, while the ship
floated in deep water.

For the past few years greater attention
has been directed toward the acquisition and
improvement of additional parks in the
lower portion of the City, and more especi-
ally in the crowded tenement house districts.
Corlear's Hook Park, in the Seventh Ward,
is very near the site of a garden, where a
hundred years since New Yorkers were ac-
customed to go for refreshments and amuse-
ment. It and Mulberry Bend Park, in the
Sixth Ward, now take the place of squalid
tenements. Jeanette Park, at Coenties Slip,
is a small plot of green along the water's
edge, and Old St. John's Cemetery lands, in
the Ninth Ward, have just been acquired for
park purposes, and are about to be improved.
Other proceedings are now pending for ac-
quiring title to parks in the lower part of the
City as a result of the efforts of the Tene-
ment House Commission to procure breath-
ing spaces, where most needed, for the relief
of the poorer classes. The acquisition of

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Fort Washington Park a few months ago,
and the proposed Colonial and St. Nicholas
Parks, on the upper West Side on Manhat-
tan Island, will still further increase the park
area of the City and add much to its beauty.

To go further into this interesting subject
would lead to the presentation of a mass of
figures and scientific descriptions, if an at-
tempt were made to examine the laying out
of the parks from the point of view of the
landscape gardener; or the dry domain of
legal technicalities, would soon be reached
if the writer were to go farther into the ques-
tion of how the land was acquired for the
parks; or again, it would call for a review of
much of the history of the City, if reference
were made at any greater length to the his-
torical events connected with the parks and
the land they occupy. To do justice to the
beauties of the landscapes in the City parks,
calls for an artist rather than a writer.

New York may well be proud of the work
done by the Park Department during the
past twenty years, for the care which the
Commissioners of that Department have be-
stowed upon our park system has already to
a great extent made up for the former lack
of parks in the lower half of the city.

NOTE.

In the libraries of the New York Histor-
ical Society and of the Association of the
Bar there are many interesting maps show-
ing-, among other things, the development of
Battery Park.

The former library owns a unique set of
water-colors, made in 1812, of the defenses
of upper New York, which show quite clearly
the appearance of Manhattan Island in the
neighborhood of the present 1 10th Street
from river to river.

The Manuals of the Corporation contain
not only much information about the parks,
but also many views of Central Park, the
Battery, etc.

The reports of the various Commissions
should be consulted for information about
the original laying out of the new parks.

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