A HISTORICAL TOUR OF THE GREATEST STREET IN THE WORLD.......BROADWAY
THE FORT AND THE BOWLING GREEN
Prior to 1911
1. THE FORT
The fort at Garden Street (1612) was a block-house surrounded by
palisades, or, in the language of the times, "stockadoes." The fort erected
by the West India Company under Kieft at the lower end of the island was of
similar description: but it was the first building intended to be
permanent. It was called Fort Amsterdam, and the settlement which grew up
about it, New Amsterdam. In 1633, a more pretentious fortification was begun
by Van Twiller. This was planned to be three hundred feet long and two
hundred and fifty feet wide, with four corner bastions built of stone, the
ramparts between being of earth. It was finished in 1635 at an expense of
$1688, and contained the governor's house, barracks for the garrison,
secretary's office, etc. The stone church, seventy-two feet long, fifty-two
feet wide, and sixteen feet over the ground, was begun by Kieft in 1641 and
finished the following year. The roof was of split shingles; and upon the
front was placed a tablet stating in Dutch: "Anno Domini, 1642, Wilhelm
Kieft, Director-General, hath the Commonalty caused to build this Temple."
The cost of the church, one thousand dollars, was raised by subscription,
advantage being taken of a wedding party to get the merry guests to
subscribe sums at which in the "cold, gray light of the morning after," they
opened their eyes. The church was named Saint Nicholas in honor of the
patron saint of Holland; but later it was also known as "The Dutch Church
within the Fort." The contractors were John and Richard Ogden of Stamford,
in Connecticut.
During colonial and provincial times, the fort was the centre of
political action, and, to a great extent, owing to its being the official
residence of the governor, of the social life as well. Its site was on the
plot of ground bounded by Whitehall, Bridge, and State streets, and the
Bowling Green. The last named was on a hill outside the fort_____ it is
there that Broadway begins. Whitehall Street was so called because it led
down to a white building erected by Governor Stuyvesant, afterwards used by
the English Governor Dongan, and later as a custom-house. J.H. Innes* (New
Amsterdam and its People)
suggests that it may have been so called by the English in derision, as the
building was not an imposing one and may have recalled to them the
dilapidated appearance of their own Whitehall Palace in London. Bridge
Street led to the "long bridge" across the canal in Broad Street. State
Street, afterwards the locality of some of the finest mansions in the city,
was named in honor of the State.
Under Colonel Nicolls, New Amsterdam became New York, and the fort
became Fort James in honor of the lord-proprietor, James, Duke of York and
Albany (afterwards King James II.). For nine years, the English remained
undisturbed; then, England and Holland being at war, a Dutch fleet of five
vessels under command of Admirals Benckes and Evertsen appeared off New
York, and the province became once more Dutch, with Captain Colve,
commanding one of the vessels, as Governor. The city was called New Orange,
and the fort, Fort William Hendrick, August, 1673. In November, 1674, the
Dutch, by the treaty of Westminster, ceded the colony to the English, and
the fort and city became again English, to remain so until the Revolution.
As stated above, the fort was the centre of the political and social
life of the city. Here the governors resided, here the taxes and quit-rents
for land grants were payable, and here was quartered the garrison,
consisting usually of a regiment of foot and a company of artillery.
The German, Professor Kalm, in a visit to the city in 1748 describes
the fort as "a square with four bastions," situated upon the southwest point
of the city and containing the governor's residence, three stories in
height. This house, which was called the Province House, was destroyed by
fire during Governor Tryon's time, December 17, 1773, with the loss of one
life, that of his daughter's maid.
On August 27, 1776, was fought the battle of Long Island; and on the
twelfth of September, a council of war was called by Washington which
decided that the city was untenable and should be evacuated. The fort was
dismantled, and on the fifteenth, the British occupied the city. Once more
the banner of Great Britain flew over the ramparts of the fort, while the
Parade was trodden by men in the red coats of the English, the kilts of the
Highlanders, and the green coats of the German yagers. They all departed
forever on November 25, 1783, when the American army of occupation resumed
possession of the city and fort and flung the starry banner to the breeze
amid the roar of cannon and the cheers of the multitude.
When the fort was demolished in 1787 and 1788 to make way for the
Government House to be erected on its site, a number of interesting objects
was disclosed; among others, the stone tablet of 1642, which had been placed
upon the front of the church to commemorate its building by Director-General
Kieft and the vault containing the leaden coffins of Lord Bellomont, and his
wife, which were identified by the silver plates. The bodies were removed to
unmarked graves in St. Paul's churchyard, while the silver plates, at first
intended for exhibition in a museum, went at last into the melting-pot, and
were converted into spoons. (From the grave to the gravy, as it were.) The
stone from the fort was used for the foundations of the Government House,
while the earth was used for filling in the adjoining Battery Park.
Sometime during 1815, the Government House is said to have burned down.
2. THE BOWLING GREEN
The Bowling Green was the open space north of the fort, originally
called ' t Marckveldt (the Marketfield) or "The Plaine." A lane led to it
from Broad Street, called 't Marckveldt Steegie, popularly known in English
days as Petticoat Lane. A portion of the ancient lane is still hidden away
between the Produce Exchange and the American Bank Note Company's building
at Broad and Beaver streets. Beaver Street also led into the Marketfield;
and on the west, leading to the Hudson, and the landing-place of the Jersey
farmers, was the Beaver path, an extension of Beaver Street, but closed as a
highway and granted to private parties before 1650.
In 1641, Director Kieft ordered that an annual fair for the sale of
hogs should be held in the Marketfield on the first of November. In 1658, a
meat market, the first in the city, was established in the same place, and a
shed was erected for the purpose. In the following year (1659) a great,
annual, cattle fair was established in front of the fort between October
twentieth and the last week in November, during which time no one could be
arrested for debt. This, no doubt, added materially to its popularity, for
it lasted for thirty years. The cattle to be sold were ranged along the
west side of Broadway and fastened to stakes driven for the purpose in front
of the burying-ground (Morris Street).
The open place served not only as a market, but also as a parade for
the soldiers, for a common out-door meeting-place of the inhabitants, and
for bonfires, Maypole dances, and similar celebrations. In 1691 a shambles
was established on the Marketfield, where meat only was to be sold.
The first Indian war of Kieft's administration was ended here on
August 30, 1645, when the chiefs and sachems of the hostile tribes assembled
on "The Plaine," smoked the peace pipe, and buried the tomahawk in sign of
amity, at the same time marking their totems in sign of acquiescence upon
the treaty which the Dutch had prepared for them.
3. THE BATTERY
South of the fort was a point of land, anciently called Schreyers'
Hoek, or Weepers' Point, after a similar point old amsterdam, where people
saw the last of departing vessels, carrying away those who were near and
dear to them. A number of rocks, called Capske, projected their heads above
the water. In 1693, during the progress of a war between France and England,
the governor, fearing an attack by the French fleet, caused the edge of the
point to be filled in and erected a platform upon which was placed a number
of guns to command both rivers. The works extended from the present
Whitehall Street westward about three hundred feet and were commonly known
as the Whitehall Battery. This was the beginning of the present Battery; but
much more land was subsequently filled in, making here one of the most
delightful spots in the city. When fashion ruled in this neighborhood, the
Battery park was the favorite resort of the citizens. No disfiguring
railroad structure then intercepted the view, nor was conversation
interrupted by the thunder of passing trains. Even now, one can travel to
many places before he will see a view equal to that he gets from the Battery
of the beautiful harbor of New York, with Bartholdi's grand statue of
Liberty, and the constantly passing vessels lending animation to the scene.
In 1732, the city council:
"Resolved, that this corporation will lease a piece of land lying at
the lower end of Broadway, fronting the fort, to some of the inhabitants of
the said Broadway, in order to be enclosed to make a Bowling-Green thereof,
with walks therein, for the beauty and ornament of said street, as well as
for the recreation and delight of the inhabitants of the city, leaving the
street on each side thereof fifty feet in breadth."
By this act, the first, and oldest, public park in New York city came
into being. The section adjacent to the Marketfield had become the wealthy
and fashionable quarter of the city, and the residents did not like the open
market in front of the fort and so near to their own habitations. The
lessees under the act were John Chambers, Peter Bayard, and Peter Jay; the
rent was one peppercorn a year, and the lease was for eleven years. There
was no golf in those days and the sport of bowling was popular; for at the
expiration of the first lease, it was renewed for eleven years more at a
rental of twenty shillings a year to John Chambers, Colonel Frederick
Philipse, and John Roosevelt.
4. THE STAMP ACT RIOT
In 1765, the British Parliament enacted the Stamp Act. A meeting of the
merchants of the city was called at Burns's Coffee House on Broadway, and
the first non-importation agreement was signed, October 31, 1765. On the
evening of the next day, two companies of the Sons of Liberty appeared on
the streets. One company marched to the Commons where they hanged in effigy
Lieutenant-Governor Cadwalader Colden; the other company broke into Colden's
stable and took out his chariot, in which they placed a copy of the
obnoxious act and an effigy of the lieutenant-governor. Both companies then
united and marched in silence to the Bowling Green, where they found the
soldiers drawn up on the ramparts of the fort ready to receive them. General
Gage, the British commander, thought it prudent not to fire upon the
rioters; and, as they were refused admission to the fort, they turned their
attention to the wooden railing which surrounded the little park. This they
tore down for fuel; and, having burnt railing, carriage, act, and effigy,
they dispersed to their homes.
The Stamp Act stirred up a hornet's nest from Georgia to
Massachusetts; and in order to allay the excitement, Parliament, on February
20, 1766, repealed the hateful act. When the news of the repeal reached New
York, the inhabitants went wild with delight, the city was illuminated, and
special bonfires were lighted in the Bowling Green.
The wooden fence was replaced temporarily in November of the same
year; but the general assembly of the province feared: "That unless the said
Green be fenced in, the same will soon become a receptacle for all the fifth
and dirt of the neighborhood, in order to prevent which, it is ordered that
the same be fenced with iron rails, at an expense of L800."
Source: The Greatest Street in the World
(The story of Broadway, old and New, from the Bowling Green to Albany)
Author: Stephen Jenkins
Publisher: G.P. Putnam's Sons-New York and London
The Knickerbocker Press
Copyright: 1911
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Researched, Prepared and Transcribed by Miriam Medina
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