from river to river, but this was abandoned, and the stream was afterward filled up. This location, which to-day is probably as low as any part of the city, was surrounded by marshy lands that bred fever and ague among the inhabitants. A fresh-water pond, known as the "Collect," sparkled where the dismal Tombs Prison is now standing. This pond, in winter, was the popular resort of skaters, whose sport on the ice was witnessed daily by hundreds of spectators who gathered on the slope existing to-day from Broadway to Centre Street. Near the junction of Park Row (formerly Chatham Street) and Roosevelt street there was a bubbling spring as clear as crystal. The celebrated "tea-water pump," that helped to supply the city with pure drinking-water, was also located here. Various wells were found in the lower section of the city, but they furnished brackish water that was too unwholesome for the table. North of where Chambers Street now is, was the Commons, a small uninclosed park, which was rendered famous as the scene of political meetings and demonstrations. On the other side of Chambers Street were the Bridewell and Provost jails, the Alms-House, and House of Correction. The Bridewell stood at the west end of our City Hall Park. Between it and the Alms-House was the public scaffold. The City Hospital was in a "five-acre lot," surrounded by a fence on the road near Reade Street. This was a three-story brick building with a gable roof and a high cupola. The thickest settled portion of the city did not extend beyond Vesey Street. Upon the northeast corner of this street and Broadway, where the Astor House stands, was a double brick two-story house, with a gable roof and dormer windows, while on the opposite corner was the ancient St. Paul's Chapel. Hanover Square was considered the commercial district. All the large principal stores and other business establishments were centered here, but there were some private houses and mansions, the homes of merchants, in the same neighborhood. One of the most conspicuous public buildings was Fraunces' Tavern, or "Black Sam's Tavern," so called on account of the swarthy complexion of Samuel Fraunces, the proprietor. This was rendered famous, at the time and in the history of America, by Washington, who occupied it as his headquarters during the Revolution, and as the place where, on December 4, 1783, he took final leave of his officers and comrades-in-arms. This memorable structure, or the lower portion of it, stands intact on the corner of Pearl (then Queen Street) and Broad Streets. It is made of Holland brick. A century ago it was a two-story building, with a gable roof and dormer windows. Two stories were added to it, but the two lower floors are in substantially the same shape as when occupied by Washington. There is a weather-beaten sign reading "Washington's Headquarters" over the main entrance. Among the other public houses in New York at the time was one near the old "Fly Market," which, in 1822, gave way to Fulton Market; Smith's Tavern, in the same neighborhood; the Macomb House, that afterward became the Presidential Mansion, on Broadway, near Wall street, and the Bull's Head Hotel in the Bowery Lane. The Bull's Head was a two-story, gable-roofed country tavern surrounded by cattle-pens. Coffee and tea-houses were numerous and popular in various parts of the city. There was one theatre, which was in John Street. It was erected during the occupation of the city by the British, and was used by the army officers and others for amateur theatricals. After his inauguration, Washington and some of the public men of the time attended performances at this theater. The custom-house was in the Government building erected on the site of the old fort, which was located on Bowling Green. The post-office was kept in the postmaster's house in William Street. One room, twenty-five by thirty-five feet, and containing about one hundred boxes, was where the mail was distributed. Sebastian Bauman, the first postmaster of the city subsequent to the Revolution, was appointed by Washington. This post-office was enlarged to accommodate the demands of the increasing population, but it remained in the same place until 1827, when it was removed to Wall Street. At the foot of Park Place was the venerable Columbia College. There were several churches in the city, and the religious sentiment predominated largely in the daily life of its inhabitants. The Reformed Dutch Church was the prevailing denomination. The Episcopalian, the next oldest denomination, was introduced soon after the cession of the city to the English. The ancient Trinity Church belonged to this class. It was built in 1696, enlarged in 1737, destroyed by fire in 1776, and rebuilt in 1788. The Beekman House, lately removed from the corner of Fiftieth Street and First Avenue, was way out in the country." During the occupation of New York by the British, Lord Howe selected this house for his headquarters, and here the patriot Nathan Hale was sentenced to be hanged as a spy. On leaving, the family had hastily buried valuable silver and china in the garden, but some of Mrs. Beekman's gowns, etc., were left hanging in her wardrobe. These Lord Howe himself locked up, handing the key to a servant who had remained. When Mrs. Beekman returned, a few years afterwards, she found everything as she had left it, and some of her possessions thus preserved have descended to the daughters of her line, together with Chelsea and Bow shepherdesses that spent the years of British occupation under-ground. Here pretty Mrs. James Beekman served President Washington with lemonade made of fruit gathered in his presence from her famous lemon-trees. Near the Beekman house, sometimes called "The Mount," Hale is said to have hanged upon a butternut tree, that marked the fifth mile from Whitehall. The house was occupied in 1780 as headquarters by Baron Riedesel, whose wife described it as a delightful residence. There André passed his last night in New York. This old landmark was demolished about 1874, and its drawing-room mantelpiece, set with blue Dutch tiles, may be seen at the rooms of the Historical Society, in Second Avenue, New York. The Kennedy house, at No. 1 Broadway, was built by a captain in the Royal Navy, who married a member of the De Peyster family and became afterwards eleventh Earl of Cassilis. The De Peyster house in Pearl Street, a substantial dwelling built of stuccoed brick, is better known as Washington's headquarters in the Revolutionary War. The Murray house, called Belmont, on the "Middle Road," now Fifth Avenue and Thirty-seventh Street (hence Murray Hill), was screened from view by groves and Avenues, and surrounded by famous gardens. At Thirty-fourth Street and Second Avenue stood the Kip mansion, near which were the country-seats of the Wattses and the Keteltases. Far away in the remote country, the English manor-house of Colonel Thorne was built, in the present region of Ninth Avenue and Ninety-second street. Of the old Rutgers house, situated near Fifth Avenue and Thirtyninth Street, we read an amusing story of a wedding-party in 1788. One of the guests, a gentleman who was to take a packet sailing for Wilmington at daylight, remained at the house till the unprecedented hour of 11 o'clock at night, then, with a servant to show him the way through an adjacent huckleberry swamp, set forth to reach his lodgings; but losing the path, and the moon going down, he wandered all night amid thorns and briers, emerging at dawn with his clothes nearly torn off. A favorite driveled along Second Avenue, where, over a tell-tale little brook that listened and then ran away to blab to the East River, at our present Fifty-fourth Street, was the Kissing Bridge. At this |