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Humanities and Social Sciences Library > Collections & Reading Rooms > Print Collection > MOVING UPTOWN Section V (The 1850s, including churches, houses, streets)New York in the 1850s By the 1850s, the population of New York had passed the half-million
mark, and the city continued its march north. Broadway had filled up beyond
Union Square (there were only two or three vacant lots below 14th Street)
and had reached Madison Square. Well into the West 40s, even the side streets
were becoming dotted with single dwellings and clusters of row houses,
and by the end of the decade, there were islands of row houses and tenements
on the East Side as far north as 59th Street. Business and trade commanded
more and more of the streets below Canal and soon Houston, as private residences,
exclusive shops, and hotels kept pace, moving ahead of commerce, which
dominated the southern portion of the island. The Herald boasted
in the 1850s, "Extravagance in living, extravagance in style, extravagance
in habitations, extravagance in everything prevails in New York," but such
prosperity was increasingly accompanied by poverty, and the Five Points
District, the Lower East Side, and Greenwich Street provided evidence of
terrible living conditions endured by the poor, particularly free blacks
and immigrants. John Bornet (American, active about 1850) This Trinity Church was the last in a succession of three churches by
that name at the intersection of Broadway and Wall Street. The second Trinity
Church was in such disrepair in 1839 that the vestry decided to raze and
replace the old building. The demolition of the 18th-century building inspired
Philip Hone to muse: "Think of the changes which have occurred there during
the time the venerable spire which is now removed has thrown its shadow
over the place 'where merchants most do congregate.'" The Wall Street area
had been transformed from an exclusive residential neighborhood to the
finance capital of the country. This Gothic Revival building, designed
by Richard Upjohn and completed in 1846, was well received by the congregation.
Hone wrote around the time of the church's consecration, "Every day brings
forth some new beauties, and crowds of spectators . . . visit, admire and
wonder at the magnificent edifice." Anonymous The area around Broadway, Ann, Vestry, and Barclay was relatively unchanged
from the 1830s, but this bucolic scene does not suggest the cacophony and
chaos of the traffic and street activity at this busy intersection. As
Walt Whitman wrote in 1842, "What can New York –noisy, roaring, rumbling,
tumbling, bustling, stormy, turbulent New York –have to do with silence?" John Bornet (American, active about 1850) The new Merchants' Exchange, which replaced the building lost in the
Great Fire, was designed by Isaiah Rogers and erected in 1836–42.
In 1863, it was converted for use as a United States Custom House. John Bornet (American, active about 1850) The Greek Revival Custom House (1834–42), designed by the architects
Town and Davis, was built on the site of the second City Hall, renovated
and renamed Federal Hall, where Washington took the oath of office. Ezekiel
Porter Belden, who wrote an early New York guidebook (1849), commented
that within a few years the Custom House was "too contracted for the immense
business transacted within its walls –a business constantly increasing.
. . ." When the Customs Service moved to larger quarters, this building
served as a branch of the United States Treasury, and now is a museum,
Federal Hall National Memorial. Anonymous The Astor Place Opera House, on the present site of the District 65
Building (UAW), enjoyed a brief opera season in late 1847, but is probably
best known for the pandemonium that broke out in 1849 when the English
actor W. C. Macready was performing there. Stirred up by the American actor
Edwin Forrest and the Sixth Ward Boss, anti-English mobs rioted and set
the theatre on fire. The disturbance brought out the militia and the police,
who killed 22 (more by some accounts) and wounded 48; some 50 to 70 policemen
were injured. In 1854, the building was sold to the Mercantile Library
Association and renamed Clinton Hall. Anonymous The University of the City of New York (now New York University), on
the northeastern corner of Washington Square, was a nondenominational,
private university, established in 1831 by Presbyterian and Dutch Reformed
ministers in response to the conservative curriculum and Episcopalian control
of Columbia College. Completed in 1837, this building stood on this site
until 1894. Anonymous Beginning with a small drygoods store, Alexander Turney Stewart, an Irish immigrant, is credited with creating the first department store. His "Marble Palace" (seen here on the right) opened at 280 Broadway on the southeast corner of Reade Street and the east side of Broadway on September 21, 1846; it was the first commercial building with a marble facade. James Fenimore Cooper considered it "a palace of a store," and for Philip Hone, "there is nothing in Paris or London to compare with this dry goods palace." By the 1860s, Stewart was New York's wealthiest resident. This building, later called the Sun Building after the newspaper that
was published there from 1919 until 1950, is currently undergoing renovation,
and will reopen in 1999 with stores on the ground floor; other floors will
house the headquarters of the City Buildings Department. Augustus Fay (American, b. about 1824, active 1840s–1860) The New York Herald reported in 1852, "The Metropolitan Hotel
is opened on the north-east corner of Broadway and Prince Sts., formerly
the site of Niblo's Garden. It cost $1,000,000, and is said to stand at
the head of all hotels in the world in point of elegance, comfort, and
convenience." Incorporating Niblo's Garden, the Metropolitan, designed
in the Italian palazzo style, was the second luxury hotel built in New
York (the first was the Astor House). John Bornet (American, active about 1850) This Gothic Revival church, designed by James Renwick, on the corner
of Broadway and Tenth Street, replaced the original 1808 structure on Broadway
and Rector. In the 1850s, this was considered the most fashionable church
in town. John Bornet (American, active about 1850) Established in 1832, the New York Institution for the Blind was the
first school in the country to offer formal education to children who were
blind. The building was located on the east side of Ninth Avenue, between
33rd and 34th streets. John Bornet (American, active about 1850) New York imprisoned criminals in a number of facilities during the 19th
century: at Bridewell (visible in the Baroness Hyde de Neuville's view
of Chambers and Broadway , in a state prison in Greenwich Village, at Bellevue,
and at Blackwell's Island; juveniles were incarcerated at Bellevue and
on Ward's and Randall's islands. The design of the first Tombs (1838) at
100 Centre Street (three prisons have occupied this general site) was inspired
by a picture of an Egyptian tomb in an 1837 book on the Middle East. John Bornet (American, active about 1850) In 1850, Jenny Lind drew 6,000 people to her first concert at Castle
Garden. By 1853, the Battery had expanded to reach Castle Garden, originally
some 100 yards offshore and connected by a wooden bridge. In 1855, the
popular entertainment hall was claimed by the federal government to serve
as the immigration center for the East Coast, a function it fulfilled until
1890. Isadore Laurent Deroy (French, 1797–1886)
Isadore Laurent Deroy (French, 1797–1886) Astor House is on the right, partially hiding the portico of St. Paul's
Chapel, with Brady's Daguerrian Miniature Gallery nearby. Across the street,
at Broadway and Ann, Barnum's American Museum advertises its attractions
with banners. Alexander Jackson Davis (American, 1803–1892) In 1844, when Alexander Jackson Davis designed this Gothic Revival villa for William Coventry H. Waddell on the northwest corner of Fifth Avenue and 37th Street, near the Croton Reservoir, visible in the right background, the neighborhood was still rural. In 1840, Fifth Avenue was a muddy, rutted road notable for its "singular air of desertion." James Fenimore Cooper, who could "not remember ever to have seen the immediate environs of so large a town in such a state of general abandonment," observed that even the country houses and farm buildings on Fifth Avenue "seemed little cared for." However, by 1850 the Builder noted that the streets were "springing up, lined not with houses but with palaces"; Fifth Avenue would soon surely rival the greatest streets of London and Paris. The villa was the site of many celebrated events and parties, and Benjamin
Lossing, a 19th-century historian, wrote of these gatherings, "one was
sure to meet every celebrity, American and foreign, who chanced to be in
the city at the time." The heyday of the villa was short. The Waddells
lost much of their fortune in a brief financial panic in 1854–55,
and sold their home and eight lots on Fifth Avenue for $100,000. The Brick
Presbyterian Church, which realized $270,000 on its downtown property,
was built in 1858 on this site; at a cost of $230,000, it was the most
expensive building erected to that date in New York. Alexander Anderson (American, 1775–1870) This broadside promotes the House of Mansions, 11 separate homes designed
within a single facade on the southeast corner of Fifth Avenue and 42nd
Street. A corner of the Croton Reservoir is visible in the background.
By the 1850s, Fifth Avenue up to 23rd Street was lined with handsome row
houses and an occasional mansion, with a church every block or two; by
1861, this procession had engulfed Murray Hill. An English visitor commented that New York had the "air of a town sacrificed
to trade." Merchants may have appeared more concerned about their financial
worth than with cultivating their minds and souls, yet New Yorkers liked
to be entertained, whether at the circus, the pleasure garden, the theatre,
the music hall, or the opera. Nathaniel Currier (American lithographic firm, 1835–57) When war with England threatened, Castle Clinton, a circular fort of
red sandstone, was built in 1811 on landfill near the west edge of the
Battery. Never used as a fort, it was ceded in 1823 to the city, renamed
Castle Garden, and served as an entertainment hall for more than 30 years.
Although Castle Garden was used primarily for receptions and recitals,
occasionally it was the setting for more momentous events, including a
rally in 1850 to support the Union and Henry Clay's compromise resolutions
in Congress. From 1855 to 1890, Castle Garden was the primary point of
entry on the East Coast for immigrants to the United States. Nathaniel Currier (American lithographic firm, 1835–57) Though in 1830 the city ruled supreme in the nation's commercial, industrial,
and financial endeavors, New York lagged behind in cultural and artistic
achievements. By mid-century, however, New York had caught up with Boston
and Philadelphia. New York audiences turned out in droves for Jenny Lind
when she performed at Castle Garden as part of a two-year tour organized
by P. T. Barnum. This print records her New York debut in the autumn of
1850. Tickets went for fantastic prices; Genin, whose hat shop is visible
in New York from the Steeple of St. Paul's Church, paid $225 at
auction for a ticket, considerably more than the $7 printed on this ticket
for a later, November performance. The "take" for the opening night was
$26,238; the singer contributed her share of the proceeds, $12,600, to
New York charities. Nagel & Weingaertner (American lithographic firm, 1849–57) The American Museum, originally the Tammany Museum located near the
present City Hall, housed a collection of Indian artifacts, a few prints,
farming equipment, and a live mountain lion. Relocated in 1830 to the corner
of Broadway and Ann as Scudder's Museum, it eventually closed and was purchased
by P. T. Barnum in 1841. Renaming it the American Museum, Barnum made it
a success, offering curiosities of art and nature, including fleas, jugglers,
the "Feejee mermaid," and Tom Thumb (Charles Stratton). Anonymous
Anonymous Nathaniel Currier (American lithographic firm, 1835–57) A popular form of entertainment since colonial times, circuses in the
early 19th century were performed for weeks or months in temporary buildings
and pleasure gardens (Vauxhall, Niblo's), though the introduction of tents
made them less dependent on long city engagements. Late in 1834 a number
of menageries consolidated to form the Zoological Institute at 37 Bowery;
Isaac Van Amburgh, one of the country's first wild animal trainers, performed
there. Sarony and Major (American lithographic firm, 1846–57)
Geib and Jackson (American lithographic firm, 1849–58) Tinted lithograph Letterpress The playbill for Franconi's Hippodrome, which lasted only two seasons
at Madison Square, offered an intriguing variety of circus acts, from "La
Trapaze" and "La Course Greque" to "La Perche Equipoise" and a "Contest
Between Two War Chariots." Anonymous New Yorkers enjoyed going to the theatre. One New Yorker observed in
the mid-1820s that "the lady considered herself as being ill-used by her
husband, if not conveyed at least once a week to a play-house." Park Theatre
(1798; burned in 1820; reopened 1821), visible on the right in Klinckowström's
view of City Hall , was perhaps the most prestigious and influential. Some
of the most accomplished actors and actresses from England performed there,
but the Park also nurtured native-born talent, and introduced New York
audiences to foreign-language operas. The Chatham Theatre, also on Park
Row, between Duane and Pearl, opened in 1824 to give the Park Theatre its
first serious competition, though the Chatham catered more to a working-class
crowd. Rawdon, Wright and Co. (American engraving firm, 1828–31) Like the Chatham Theatre, the Bowery was patronized by a working-class
audience. Many of the newer and larger theatres (Bowery, Vauxhall Garden
Theatre, Niblo's Garden and Theatre) were concentrated on two of the city's
central thoroughfares –Broadway and the Bowery. Sarony and Major (American lithographic firm, 1846–57) A bandmaster and violinist with the New York Philharmonic, Allen Dodworth
opened a dancing school at 402 Broadway in 1842; other studios were located
at 681 Fifth Avenue (once a temporary site for the Metropolitan Museum
of Art) and at 12 East 49th Street. Dodworth, and later his nephew, believed
that proper dance technique and etiquette, as presented in his dance classes
and his book, Dancing and Its Relation to Education and Social Life,
could help refine society. William Satchwell Leney (American, b. England, 1769–1831)
Sperry's Garden, on Bowery Lane. About 1800 Anonymous A Swiss physician, Jacob Sperry settled in New York in 1748 and purchased what was then pasture land (now Lafayette and Astor Place), where he grew flowers and hothouse plants. A mile from the edge of the city, Sperry's gardens were a charming destination for a weekend stroll. Sperry sold his gardens in 1804 to John Jacob Astor, who then leased the property to a Frenchman named Delacroix. Delacroix transformed Sperry's property into the fashionable Vauxhall Garden, where New Yorkers could eat, drink, socialize, and be entertained by band music and, in the evenings, by fireworks and theatrical events. Vauxhall Garden's days were numbered, however. With real estate values
skyrocketing on nearby Bond, Bleecker, and Great Jones streets, when Delacroix's
lease was up in 1825, Astor cut a broad street through the property to
create Lafayette Place, reducing the garden to half its original size.
Astor realized a great profit for the lots on Lafayette Place, the site
of La Grange Terrace (Colonnade Row). Anonymous In 1823, the Irish impresario William Niblo purchased Columbian Garden,
as it was originally called, and added the Sans Souci Theatre, a saloon,
and a hotel to the landscaped grounds. Niblo's opened in 1829. The fashionable
entertainment center could accommodate 3,000 spectators, who came to see
such legendary performers as Joseph Jefferson, Charles Kean, Edwin Forrest,
Charlotte Cushman, and Adelina Patti. The Philharmonic in its early years
performed at Niblo's, and it was said that the polka was introduced there
in 1844. Anonymous (possibly Sarony, Major & Knapp) Theatres had clustered primarily around Park Row, Broadway between City
Hall and Houston, and on the lower Bowery, but during the 1860s and 1870s,
Union Square was the site of the city's first theatre district. A few years
earlier, in July 1858, the Palace Garden, a "place of open-air recreation" in
the tradition of earlier "pleasure gardens," such as Vauxhall and Niblo's,
had opened on 14th Street near Sixth Avenue. Augustus Fay (American, b. about 1824, active 1848–60)
Crystal Palace in New York. About 1853 Charles Gildemeister (German, 1820–1869) and George Carstensen (Danish,
1812–1857) Inspired by the Crystal Palace of London, the New York Crystal Palace
for the Exhibition of the Industry of All Nations was built for the 1853
World's Fair on a site behind the Croton Reservoir, between Fifth and Sixth
Avenues on 42nd Street (today's Bryant Park). The architects, George Carstensen
and Charles Gildemeister, designed the building as a Greek cross, crowned
by a dome 100 feet in diameter, constructed of iron and glass, with wood
used only for the floors, doors, and sashes. The so-called "fireproof" building
burned in 15 minutes on October 5, 1858. William Wellstood (American, b. Scotland, 1819–1900) From 300 feet in the air, on the third landing of the Latting Observatory facing 42nd Street between Fifth and Sixth avenues, a spectator could gaze upon the Crystal Palace and the Croton Reservoir (the site of Bryant Park and the future New York Public Library), down the island and past the tip of Manhattan on into the distance to Queens, Brooklyn, Staten Island, and New Jersey. The Latting Observatory, an octagonal tower of timber braced with iron, was equipped with the first passenger elevator in New York City, a steam-powered lift that ascended to the first and second landings. This structure was shorter-lived than the Crystal Palace; completed in 1853, it burned in 1856. George Templeton Strong, whose diaries, like Philip Hone's, record life in 19th-century New York, wrote in 1850, "How this city marches northward!" "The progress of 1835 and 1836 was nothing to the luxuriant rank growth of this year." At about the same time, the Evening Post commented, "the rapid growth of New York has ceased to be a matter of astonishment." However, the area around Fifth and Madison in today's midtown was still sparsely settled, and until about 1865 there was concern about the future of Fifth Avenue above 42nd Street. There were a number of institutions above 42nd which affected Fifth Avenue's standing as a fashionable thoroughfare: the Colored Orphans Asylum on Fifth between 43rd and 44th, the New York School for the Deaf on 50th Street, St. Luke's Hospital on 51st and 52nd streets, and, especially disturbing, livestock pens and a slaughterhouse (though most were located on the West Side and the Lower East Side, one yard was at Lexington Avenue and 57th Street), garbage dumps, and shanty towns. One census reported over 10,000 squatters living north of 42nd Street, in communities such as "Dutch Hill" between 38th and 44th streets along the East River, in the area that would become Central Park, and on the Upper West Side. |
