iEx Htbrts SEYMOUR DURST When you leave, please leave this book Because it has been said "Ever thing comes t' him who waits Except a loaned book." Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library Gift of Sfymour B. Durst Old York Library Of this book one hundred and thirty-five copies have been printed on American hand-made paper and thirty- two copies on extra qual- ity Japan paper from the Imperial Gov- ernment Mill Thirty additional copies of the Van Dyk Plan have been printed for private distribu- tion. None of these voill be offered for sale THE ICONOGRAPHY OF THE BATTERY AND CASTLE GARDEN Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2014 https://archive.org/details/iconographyofbatOOandr THE ICONOGRAPHY OF THE BATTERY AND CASTLE GARDEN BY WILLIAM LORING ANDREWS NEW YORK CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS MCMI JXP> A til 7 ? Copyright, 1901 By William Loring Andrews AUTHOR'S NOTE AN attempt has been made in this little book to produce on hand- made paper, composed of linen rags and not of wood-pulp, illustrations as satisfactory in character as it is pos- sible to obtain by the use solely of the reproductive processes of the present day. The plates for the frontispiece in color, and the illustrations on the title and on pages 3, 11, 14, 34, 35, 44 are made by a half-tone process of a fineness and a delicacy in values not heretofore attempted. These processes have come to stay ix Author s Note and will unavoidably enter into the con- struction of the great mass of modern books. We are forced to accept the situation, much as we may regret the passing away, which it involves, of in- dividuality in the manner of the execu- tion of the pictures with which our books, magazines and newspapers are filled and the substitution therefor of the operation of a mere machine. The type-setting, printing, plate- making and binding of this book have all been performed under one roof. The maker of it was obliged to seek only for the paper and the ink outside of the fire-proof building in which it was constructed. A DESCRIPTIVE LIST OF THE ILLUSTRATIONS IN THIS BOOK Castle Garden in the Middle of the Nineteenth Century, with the float- ing baths moored off the Battery Frontispiece Copied from a series of small colored lithographs published probably about i860. Battery and Castle Garden Vignette on Title From a drawing by Geo. Miller, engraved by James Smillie in "The Pocket Annual" published by J. Disturnell, N. Y., 1848. A Description and Plan of the Battery and old Fort George as they existed before the Revolutionary War . facing page 3 From the original pen and ink drawing made by Col. John Van Dyk in 1827, formerly in the possession of G. Furman,* now in that of the author. In studying this plan we must remember that " as late as 1 801 the outside street on the west side of the town was Greenwich Street from the Battery up to Cedar Street. ' ' ♦Presumably Gabriel Furman, author of 14 Notes Relating to the Town of Brooklyn." xi List of Illustrations PAGE Castle Garden from the Battery . 3 From a drawing by Wade, engraved by Dougal in " The Pocket Annual" published by J. Disturnell, N. Y., 1848. A section of the view of jpotottm 0nt0terO; tmmum in the Besc^riftnng ban 3mmka door Arnoldus Montanus. 1671 . 7 A section of the view of jpteu #m0terDam — plate No. 92 — in Peter Schenck's Hecatomopolis; A Collection of 100 Views of Cities of the World. Am- sterdam, 1702 9 A section of " A Plan of the City of New York from an actual Survey " 1 1 Made by James Lyne. Published by Wm. Bradford, New York, 173 1. A section of " A Plan of the City of New York from an actual Survey" 14 Made by F. Maerschalck, City Surveyor. Published by G. Duyckinck, N. Y., MDCCLV. A section of a PLAN of the CITY of New York and its Environs to Greenwich on the North or Hudsons River and to Crown Point on the East or Sound River by John Montresor, Engineer. New York. 1766 . .17 xii List of Illustrations South-West View of Fort George with the City of New York From "Russell's History of the War in America," Lon- don, 1788. The following collation of the four different states in which the engraving by I. Carwitham (from which the above described picture in Russell's History was copied), is found, has been kindly furnished the author by Mr. R. T. H. Halsey. 1 A View of FORT GEORGE with the CITY OF NEW YORK from the S W. I. Carwitham, Sculp. No publisher's name. Eight reference numerals identi- fying prominent buildings. A large "V" on the upper right-hand corner of sky. Uncolored. 2 Similar to above save for the fact that beneath the title is the inscription u Printed for Carington Bowles, Map Printseller at No. 69 in St. Paul's Church Yard, London." (This store was occupied by Caring- ton Bowles from 1764 until 1793, when Bowles & Carver succeeded to his business. ) Colored. 3 Similar to above save that the " V " and reference numerals have been erased. Upon the lower left-hand border appear the numerals "35." Colored. 4 Title changed to " South- West Vieiv of the CITY of NEW YORK in North America." Above the title is this line — "London Printed for Bowles & Carver, No. 69 St. Paul's Church Yard." Colored. The plate in its last state is still in existence and im- pressions from it are in circulation. It can be safely stated that this view was made between 1 764 and 1 776, as it shows St. Paul's Chapel, which was erected on the former date, and Trinity Church, which was destroyed by fire in 1776. xiii List of Illustrations PAGE A copy of this engraving in the first state is in the Library of Congress. A copy in the second state is in the collection of Mr. R. T. H. Halsey. A copy in the third state is in the collection of Mr. E. B. Holden, and a copy in the fourth and last state (barring the restrike) is in the possession of the writer. A section of the Plan of the City of New York Engraved by P. R. Maver- Showing the location of the Government House, indicated by the No. 24. No. 1 5 denotes the Bowling Green. View of the Government House (later for 1795 2 5 Goodrich in his " Picture of New York," 1828, states that the Government House was pulled down in 181 1, and with the ground upon which it stood and its garden, was in 1 8 1 2 offered to be sold by the State to the Cor- poration of the City of New York for $50,000, but President King of Columbia College, in a lecture deliv- ered in 1852, on " The City of New York and its Pro- gress During the last Fifty Years," gives the date of its demolition as after 18 14, and thus describes the building and its surroundings: " Another edifice of note was the Government House which stood on an eminence at the foot of Broadway south of Bowling Green. The house was a large double brick building with a showy portico in front to which the ascent was by many steps ; the apart- ments were many and spacious and the yard and garden behind extended to Bridge Street, and occupied the whole List of Illustrations PAGE block bounded by State Street on the west, and by White- hall Street on the east." The Batters and Harbour of New York and the Ambuscade Frigate. . 27 From " Letters Written during a Tour through the Northern and Eastern States of America," by John Drayton, Charleston, South Carolina, 1794. A section of the Map in " Views in New York and its Environs from DRAWINGS BY DaKIN, ARCHITECT" . 3 I Published by Peabody & Co., New York, 183 1. Landing of General Lafayette at Castle Garden^ New York, 16th Au- gust, 1824. . . . . . .33 From a drawing by Imbert. Engraved by Samuel Maverick. New York Harbor from the Battery 34 From a drawing by Wade 5 engraved by Booth in the " Picturesque Tourist," published by J. Disturnell, 1844. EXTRACT " Of the public squares the Battery is the principal. It affords a fine view of the bay and harbor, and of the ad- jacent islands and opposite shores. It contains about eleven acres of ground, laid out in gravel walks and orna- mented with trees and shrubbery. As a public promenade it is probably not surpassed in the beauty of its situation and general attractions by any other in the world. A xv List of Illustrations castle, built on a mole in the harbor, is connected with the grounds by a bridge, and is now used as a place of amusement, and for the exhibition of fire works." Merchants' Exchange, Wall Street, New York From the original drawing by C. Burton for Hinton's (J. H.) " History of the United States," London, 1830. EXTRACT 11 Built of white marble, 114 feet front in Wall Street, depth extending back to Garden Street, 1 50 feet. Main building two stories high besides the basement and attic story. From the attic story a flight of stairs leads to a room in the cupola where the telegraphic signals are which are returned from the telegraph at the Narrows, lY 2 miles distant. "The cost of this building including the ground was 230,000 dollars. It was commenced in 1824 and com- pleted in three years. It was destroyed in the great fire on the night of Dec. 16th, 1835, which in fifteen hours destroyed an area of fifty acres of the most valuable business part of the city; 674 houses and stores were con- sumed in this the most disastrous conflagration that has ever visited the City of New York." Interior of Castle Garden . From a woodcut in a magazine article entitled 14 New York Daguerreotyped," published about 1865. EXTRACT " Castle Garden, the unique, remains, where opera, music and the drama are presented by turns. It is a hall of un- equalled advantages for public exhibitions, which was originally a fort, but has long been appropriated to the re- fining arts of peace." xvi List of Illustrations PAGE Bay and Harbor of New York from the Battery 41 From Bourne's "Views," New York, 1831. Steamboat Landing, Pier No. i, North River, as seen from Battery Park 44 From Disturnell's " Pocket Annual," New York, 1848. THE ICONOGRAPHY OF THE BATTERY AND CASTLE GARDEN THE BATTERY AND FORT GEORGE IN PRE-RE VOLUTION ARY DAYS CASTLE GARDEN FROM THE BATTERY. 1 848 THE ICONOGRAPHY OF THE BATTERY AND CASTLE GARDEN IT was in the closing years of the seventeenth century that the southwest extremity of the Island of Manhattan — anciently known as Schreyer's Hook — was first laid out as a public park for the use and behoof of the people of New York. A ledge of rocks called the Capske reared its black craggy head, garlanded with sea- weed, above the blue waters off the out- 3 The Iconography of the ermost point of the island; and as a state of war existed between France and England, and it was feared that the enemy contemplated a descent upon the city, the Governor of the Province of New York, Colonel Benjamin Flet- cher, determined to " erect a platform on the outmost point of rocks under the Fort, whereon to build a battery commanding both rivers. " He there- fore issued a proclamation requiring the Mayor, Recorder and Aldermen of the City of New York, and Manning's * (Blackwell's) and Barent's (Great and Little Barn) Islands "to cut down 86 cordes of stockadoes of 1 2 feet in * Black well's Island was at this time the property of Captain John Manning, the officer in command of the fort at Bowling Green, who in August, 1673, surrendered it to the Dutch, for which act of treachery, as it was called, he was sentenced to have his sword broken over his head. He settled the island upon his step-daughter Mary, who married Robert Blackwell, from whom it received the name it has borne to the present time. See Mrs. Martha J. Lamb's " History of the City of New York." 4 Battery and Castle Garden length and to have them in readiness to be conveyed to New York." These defensive works, constructed in i 693, extended from the present White- hall Street westward two or three hun- dred feet and were commonly known as the Whitehall Battery. About the same time that the Battery, which Governor Fletcher found "itt of absolute neces- sity to make," was constructed, steps were also taken for rilling up the ground around the Fort for the purpose of in- creasing its area and laying it out as an esplanade and pleasure-ground. As such it has remained from that day to this, and although latterly it has fallen upon evil times, has been greatly encroached upon and sadly defaced by the heavy iron trestle-work of the elevated road, it still remains the most delightful spot on earth to all true Knickerbockers and the bourne towards which they turn with longing and delight. i The Iconography of the The appearance of this end of the island when the Dutch traders first built their thatched-roofed huts upon it, is displayed in the print on page twenty- one of the " Beschrijvinghe van Vir- ginia, Nieuw Nederlandt, etc., t'Amster- dam 1651," — provided this engraving is what it purports to be, and not, as some have ventured to assert, a clever concoction of Joost Hartgers, the pub- lisher of this rare and valuable little tract. However this may be, there is no reason to doubt the authenticity of the view inset in the map in Adriaen vander Donck's "Nieuvv-Nederlandt," which engraving shows a narrow, barren, and rather precipitous shore with a number of one-and-a-half-story houses nestling closely as if for protection under the walls of Fort Amsterdam. This and nothing more was the condition of the southernmost point of the island of Manhattan, Anno Domini 1656, as it 6 Battery and Castle Garden NOVUM AMSTERODAMUM. I 67 I is depicted in Vander Donck's "Des- cription." There are nc signs anywhere of the sunflowers, and red and white lilies which Mynheer Donck tells us the Netherlanders found growing in pro- fusion and to which they added roses, tulips and gilliflowers — or of the kitchen and herb gardens in which our Dutch great-grandmothers found heartsease and comfort, and which under their careful husbandry throve apace and produced 7 The Iconography of the goodly store of cabbages and pump- kins, rosemary, marjoram, lavender and thyme. In the view inset in Hugo Allard's second map, 1673 (?), the ground in front of the Fort (from which, by the way, the windmill, which waves its outstretched arms over that structure in all the earlier pictures, has disap- peared) presents much the same ap- pearance that it does in the Visscher and Vander Donck maps, except that a second row of houses is shown standing directly upon the brink of the water. As every other picture of New York, down to the one engraved by William Burgis in 171 7, is simply a replica of the foregoing, Burgis's six-foot pano- ramic view is our next resource. Un- fortunately the extremity of the island in this picture is almost entirely hidden by the ruins of Whitehall, the former resi- dence of Governor Thomas Dongan, 8 Battery and Castle Garden NIEU AMSTERDAM. I702 and this "South Prospect of y e Flourish- ing City of New York" is of little or no assistance to us in our present quest. Views or maps of the island of Manhat- tan and the city of New York for one 9 The Iconography of the hundred years and more after the arrival of the Dutch are few and far between; and so we come in short order to the Bradford map of 1 73 1 . The word Bat- tery does not appear upon it, but it ex- hibits the open ground or Parade around the Fort and a Ledge of Rocks extending from Whitehall one thousand feet and over to the westward, so that it would appear that Governor Fletcher did not quite reach, as he intended, the outmost point of rocks with his platform. In 1734 the Battery was ordered to be "kept clear of houses from White- hall Street to Eelds' corner," now Mar- ketfield Street. This date, therefore, probably marks the period when the one-and-a-half-story buildings in front of the fort, or their successors, which are so prominent in the Visscher, Vander Donck, Allard and Montanus Maps, were finally removed. In 1756 William Smith, Chief Justice 10 SECTION OF THE BRADFORD MAP. I 73 I Battery and Castle Garden of the Province of New York until, as a Tory, he was obliged to flee the country, completed a history of the Province of New York from the first discovery to the year 1732 in which he inserted a large folding plate entitled "The South View of Oswego on Lake Ontario. " New York print-collectors have always felt aggrieved that Justice Smith did not give them a picture of the chief town of the Province instead of a view of this far western settlement. He forces us to ac- cept the word-picture (from which we extract the following short paragraph) in lieu of the engraved one we feel that we had a right to expect as a frontis- piece in a work of this importance on the Province and City of New York : " Below the walls of the garrison (Fort) near the water we have lately raised a line of fortifications which com- mands the entrance into the Eastern road and the mouth of Hudson's River. This 13 The Iconography of the THE DUYCK.INCK MAP. MDCCLV Battery is built of stone, and the merlons consist of cedar joists rilled in with earth. It mounts 92 cannon and these are all the works we have to defend us." Hap- pily the Duyckinck Map compensates us for the shortcomings in the way of illustrations in the work of Justice Smith and his son (who wrote a con- «4 Battery and Castle Garden tinuation of his father's history from 1732 to 1762), and shows the situation and appearance of the fortifications at the Battery at the precise period cov- ered by their history, Duyckinck's Map being dated 1755. Many of the rocks lying off the Battery, as shown in the Bradford Map, disappeared under this line of fortifications. A fine line and stipple engraving, and as charming a picture of the upper Bay and the City of New York as we possess, is the long and narrow view taken from Governor's Island which decorates the large plan (three by four feet in size) of the City of New York by B. Ratzer, 1 766-1767.* This picture and the ground plan of the Battery and old Fort *The Fieiv, however, has above it this line : " London. Published according to Act of Parliament, January 12, 1776, by Jefferys and Faden, Corner of St. Martin's Lane, Charing Cross." This would indicate that the date of the picture is ten years later than the one inscribed upon the plan to which it is attached. "5 The Iconography of the George [alias Fort Anne and sundry other aliases), made by Colonel John Van Dyk, a captain of Artillery in the Revolutionary War, clearly define and present to view the construction and appearance of the Battery as it existed when the first great crisis in the his- tory of our country was approaching. The trouble that was brewing be- tween England and her Colonies kept the mother country busy spying out the land and sounding the harbors of her rebellious children. Among the charts and war maps which Great Britain's ministers made haste to prepare at this momentous period, we find the plan surveyed in the winter of 1766* by the military engineer, John Montresor, * Most of the impressions of this Plan that we see are dated 1775, but a copy in the Exhibition of New York Maps and Views, held at the Lenox Library in February, 1 901, is dated 1766, and consequently we are obliged to assign to it this date, which makes it coeval with the Ratzer Map. Is one a copy of the other ? If so, which is the original ? 16 Battery and Castle Garden which gives a scientifically accurate ground plan and full description of the Fort and Battery at New York and their means of offense and defense. The ex- terna/ appearance of these structures from the water side is shown in I. Carwith- am's engraving published in London by Carington Bowles about 1770. This print was afterwards published by Messrs. Bowles & Carver, a firm of print-sellers, which, a London book-seller has correct- ly stated, did not exist prior to 1 794, as is shown by an examination of the Lon- don Directories in the British Museum. This is damaging to the reputations of Messrs. Bowles & Carver, for it proves that they were guilty of either gross carelessness or intentional misrep- resentation in leaving the British flag flying over the fort at the Battery. Rumors must have reached their ears of the evacuation of New York by the English forces in 1783, eleven years 19 The Iconography of the before, and of the consequent disappear- ance then and thenceforth forever of every emblem of British sovereignty from this island. This attractive picture fortunately was reproduced on a smaller scale in Russell's "History of the War" (1788) and so brought within reach of a modest purse, which the Carwitham print, by reason of its scarcity, certainly is not. Russell also neglected to lower the flag of Albion in his picture as the truth of history re- quired him to do and the Union Jack still floats in vain pretence over the City of New York. About the year 1788 it was resolved to remove the old Fort, now partially in ruins, and erect upon the site a resi- dence for the President of the United States. This building was known as the Government House; the stones from the demolished Fort were used in the founda- tions. The appearance of this old Fort- 20 Battery and Castle Garden SECTION OF MAP OF P. R. MAVERICK, 1798(f) SHOWING THE LOCATION OF THE GOVERNMENT HOUSE [NO. 2.4) ress, immediately before its demolition, and of the ground adjacent to it, which later became known as the Battery, is thus described by a contemporary writer : " First a green bank which was slop- 23 The Iconography of the ing about fourteen feet high, on which were erected the walls (of the Fort) of about twenty feet additional height. In front toward the Bowling Green were two apple trees and an old linden tree, which were about the same height as the walls." The view of the Government House here reproduced from the plate in the New York Magazine of January, 1795, is taken from the northwest corner of the Battery near the end of Greenwich Street. "It exhibits a part of the city and some portion of the green and walk on the Battery. " John Drayton's " Tour through the Northern and Eastern States in 1794" contains a pretty copper-plate engraving of the Battery from a drawing by the author himself. It is an important little picture in the iconography of New York City, for it is the only one in existence, so far as I know, which shows the Bat- 24 Battery and Castle Garden tery at this particular time from the land- ward side. This view is accompanied by the following interesting narrative from THE BATTERY AND HARBOUR OF NEW YORK. I 794 the pen of our distinguished visitor from South Carolina: " After passing these islands we came opposite the Battery, which is at the ex- treme point of the town, and is situated much like that which was at White Point at Charlestown. It has no merlons or embrasures, but the guns (which are 27 The Iconography of the thirteen in number) are placed upon carriages on a stone platform en barbette, some few feet above the level of the water. Between the guns and the water is a public walk, made by a gentle de- cline from the platform, and going round the ground upon which the Battery is placed. Some little distance behind the guns two rows of elm trees are planted, which, in a short time, will afford an agreeable shade. The flag staff rises from the midst of a stone tower, and is decorated on the top with a golden ball; and the back part of the ground is laid out in smaller walks, terraces and a bowl- ing green. Immediately behind this and overlooking it is the Government House. " This drawing by Colonel Drayton depicts the Battery at the particular period when Dr. Francis, the New York extra-illustrator's benefactor par excel- lence, first knew the "charming place." 28 Battery and Castle Garden Dr. Francis's reference to the Battery in his " Old Yorker, or Reminiscences of the Last Sixty Years" (New York, 1865), is of especial interest to the arboriculturist by reason of the account it gives of the introduction into this country and the expulsion therefrom of the Lombardy poplar tree. Dr. Francis informs us that his first visit to the Battery was on the occasion of the funeral of General Washington. "The procession gathered there and about the Bowling Green. The Battery was then profusely set out with Lombardy poplar trees introduced into the country by the elder Michaux, who had been sent to America from the Jardin des Plantes, of Paris. It was pronounced an exotic of priceless value, but like many things of an exotic nature it polluted the soil, vitiated our own more stately and valuable indigenous products, and was finally eradicated as uncongenial 29 The Iconography of the and detrimental to the native riches of American husbandry/' In 1806, four hundred feet of ground under water, on which Castle Garden now stands, was ceded to Congress by the corporation of the City of New York; and Castle Clinton, then called the South West Battery, was erected on the mole constructed on these water lots and connected with Battery Park by abridge. It is built of Jersey red sand- stone. As to the date of the erection of Fort Clinton, the doctors disagree. One authority says 1 806; another 1 807— 8—9 ; another 1 8 1 1 ; and still another 1 8 14. The truth probably lies midway betwixt the extremes. Battery Park at this time contained about ten acres, and the water front extending in a crescent- shape from Whitehall Street to Market- field Street (now Battery Place) is stated to have measured about a quarter of a mile. jo Battery and Castle Garden SECTION OF MAP IN PEABODY's VIEWS. I 83 I In 1822, Castle Clinton (so named after the War of 1812), when it had been dismantled and the garrison had 31 The Iconography of the been removed to Governor's Island, was ceded back to the Corporation of the City of New York by the United States Government; and in 1 824, the Fortress, whose period of usefulness appears to have been exceedingly brief, entirely lost its martial character. It was leased by the Corporation for a period of five years at an annual rental of fourteen hundred dollars. The lessees covered it with a roof and converted it into an immense apartment, which was considered at the time to be the largest audience-room in the world. This was fitted up as a promenade and place of entertainment and immediately became a fashionable resort. The grand " Fete and Gala," given to Lafayette on his second visit to this country in September of this year, was attended by about six thousand per- sons and "far transcended," it was said, "in splendor any pageant ever before wit- nessed in the United States." The gay Battery and Castle Garden and lively appearance of the Battery on the occasion of this notable festival is shown by the scarce little print of "The Landing of Lafayette," which we re- produce. It will be noticed that the flag-staff rising out of a square stone tower, which was compared by Irving in his "History of New York " to the handle of a gigantic churn, is as con- spicuous in this as it is in Drayton's earlier picture. Now began the peaceful, palmy days of the Battery and Castle Garden. " The 33 The Iconography of the NEW YORK HARBOR FROM THE BATTERY. 1 844 felicitous situation of this spot," writes Goodrich in his " Picture of New York in 1828," "and the combination of objects that are here presented to the eye, caused a rush of genteel company during the warm season that was quite unprecedented in our City." "The Hudson River with its rugged western border, stretching far to the north, the near view of large ships of war and merchantmen moored off in the river, or the harbor, the arrival and depart- ure of steamboats at various hours of the 34 Battery and Castle Garden merchants' exchange, wall street. 1830 SHOWING THE TELEGRAPH ABOVE THE DOME day, crowded with passengers and noisy with bells, steam and bugles, and foamy 35 The Iconography of the in their progress, the distant forts and not infrequently the firing of cannon from them, and also from shipping, the large and dry terrace and parterres of the Battery walk usually swarming with visi- tors, the fine trees and regular and hand- some private dwellings around the east side of the Battery, the telegraph at work, the distant hills of Staten Island and New Jersey covered with verdure, and forming a background to a noble expanse of water and a harbor thirty miles in circumference. These are the attractions that cause the Castle Garden of New York to be the most favored place of public resort." The telegraph referred to by Good- rich was a line of signals extending from the Exchange in Wall Street, by way of Staten Island, to Sandy Hook, by means of which intelligence was conveyed to the city from incoming vessels. The poet Halleck has immortalized this 36 Battery and Castle Garden primitive mode of communication in the lines which recite how Fanny's father in the days of his short-lived prosperity learned M to distinguish well The different signals whether ship or schooner Hoisted at St at en Island ; and to tell The change of wind and of his neighbor s fortunes.''' 1 For a quarter of a century Castle Gar- den remained a popular place of amuse- ment and the Battery a rallying-spot in civic festivities, and the starting-point for processions or military parades in honor of distinguished visitors or in cele- bration of national, state and other an- niversaries. During the pleasant sum- mer-time frequent exhibitions of fire- works and balloon ascensions brought thousands of people to this cool retreat to enjoy the invigorating breezes fresh from the sea and regale themselves with ice-cream and the other delicacies of 37 The Iconography of the the season served in the booths which lined the shaded Battery walks. In 1850 Jenny Lind, under the man- agement of the great showman, P. T. Barnum, delighted with her nightingale notes the thousands who crowded Castle Garden to listen to her wonderful voice. Later the metamorphosed interior of the grim fortress " rang with the melodious tones of Malibran, Grisi and Mario, the great tenor, singing in opera under the direction of Max Maretzek." But their songs were soon hushed, for the Garden in 1855 was turned into a depot for newly landed emigrants. It was still connec- ted with the mainland by a bridge; but Battery Park was shortly afterwards en- larged, extended to the Castle, and build- ings were erected thereon for the recep- tion and accommodation of the crowds of " unbidden European guests, who landed on the shores of Manhattan," and were thence "forwarded" as expe- 38 Battery and Castle Garden INTERIOR OF CASTLE GARDEN. 1852(F) ditiously as possible " to the fertile re- gions of the great West." In 1 890 the offices of the Emigration Commissioners were removed to Ellis Island, and in 1896 Castle Garden was opened as a public aquarium, which it still remains. The "New York Mirror," "Bourne's" and " Peabody's Views " supply pleasing 39 The Iconography of the pictures of the Battery in the first quar- ter of the last century when as a pleasure resort it was in its heyday of prosperity. By these pictures we see that it was well planted with trees and shrubbery, laid out into gravel walks and surrounded on the water side by a sea-wall of masonry surmounted by wooden posts and rails. A paved walk around this embankment furnished a delightful promenade for the thousands of visitors, young and old and of all sorts and con- ditions in life, who frequented the spot and could thence enjoy a view of Gov- ernor's, Bedlow's and Ellis's islands, the shores of New Jersey and Long Island, and the harbor alive with mov- ing craft, which Goodrich so graphically describes. The front of the Battery towards State and Whitehall Streets, which is not shown in any of these engravings, was fenced in with an iron railing which was removed at the same 4 o Battery and Castle Garden BAY AND HARBOR OF NEW YORK FROM THE BATTERY. I 83 I time as were those which surrounded the other City Parks. For a number of years floating swim- ming baths were towed in the Spring from their winter moorings to the Bat- tery and there stationed during the sum- mer solstice, to the frantic delight of the youth of New York and the comfort and refreshment of many of their elders. We cannot close our monograph more felicitously than by quoting Washing- 41 The Iconography of the ton Irving's reference in his " Knicker- bocker's History of New York" to this ideal spot among our pleasure-grounds and breathing-places. " Originally this point of land was fortified by the Dutch, who threw up embankments upon which they placed some pieces of cannon. In process of time it came to be pleasantly overrun by a verdant carpet of grass and clover, and their high embankments overshaded by wide-spreading sycamores, among whose foliage the little birds sported about, rejoicing the ear with their melo- dious notes. The old burghers would repair of an afternoon to smoke their pipes under the shade of their branches, contemplating the golden sun as he gradually sank in the west, an emblem of that tranquil end towards which them- selves were hastening ; while the young men and the damsels of the town would take many a moonlight stroll among 42 Battery and Castle Garden these favorite haunts, watching the chaste Cynthia tremble along the calm bosom of the bay or light up the white sail of some gliding bark, and interchanging the honest vows of constant affection. Such was the origin of that renowned walk, The Battery, which, though ostensibly devoted to the purposes of war, has ever been consecrated to the sweet delights of peace. The favorite walk of declining age; the healthful resort of the feeble invalid ; the Sunday refresh- ment of the dusty tradesman ; the scene of many a boyish gambol; the rendez- vous of many a tender assignation ; the comfort of the citizen ; the ornament of New York and the pride of the lovely island of Mannahatta." The Battery is geographically, a uniquely situated bit of terra jirma on this island of ours, and holds a proud pre- eminence among our city parks which it must continue to enjoy until in "the 43 The Battery and Castle Garden wrecks of matter and thecrush of worlds," some wild convulsion of nature blots out of existence our beautiful bay and its setting of emerald hills. STEAMBOAT LANDING, PIER NO. I, NORTH RIVER, AS SEEN FROM BATTERY PARK 1848 tajixo u ri^-