A tour around New York, and My summer acre; being the recreations of MrFelix Oldboy . an of the a match was made in these old gardens, whichto-day would seem to the eye but the acme of ruralsimplicity, but to the older city offered all that wasenjoyable on a moonlight night in the Island of Man-hattan. Crossing Canal Street—where changes are slow incoming on account of the low-lying nature of the land—as soon as one begins to mount the grade beyondHoward Street, the tokens of improvement lie thickon every side. All the landmarks have disappearedsave one—the artistic beauty of Grace
A tour around New York, and My summer acre; being the recreations of MrFelix Oldboy . an of the a match was made in these old gardens, whichto-day would seem to the eye but the acme of ruralsimplicity, but to the older city offered all that wasenjoyable on a moonlight night in the Island of Man-hattan. Crossing Canal Street—where changes are slow incoming on account of the low-lying nature of the land—as soon as one begins to mount the grade beyondHoward Street, the tokens of improvement lie thickon every side. All the landmarks have disappearedsave one—the artistic beauty of Grace Church iti thedistance. That edifice is just as fresh and attractiveto the eye as when its Gothic walls were first reared—more than forty years ago. Other churches along theline have disappeared. Old St. Thomass, which formany years stood gray and venerable at the corner ofBroadway and Houston Street, has long since givenplace to stores, and few remember where, on the otherside of the way. Dr. Chapin ministered to large con-gregations. The church was situated at 548 Broad-. A TOUR AROUND NEW YORK 69 way. opposite, at 563, the Anglo-American Churchof St. George the Martyr held forth, to which we boysof Trinity choir had contributed by singing at a con-cert, but which afterwards, I believe, died a lingeringdeath. The Church of the Messiah was at 724 Broad-way. But the churches of that period for the most partkept out of Broadway, and preferred the seclusion ofthe more quiet side streets. I have spoken of the old-time theatres, and as I passthe site of Mechanics Hall a whole host of memoriescomes trooping out, and with them comes the echo ofold plantation songs, most of which were first heardhere. It was on this spot that Christys Minstrelsused to entertain the older New York in a decorouslyjovial manner. There was none of the pinchbeckglare of modern dance-and-song minstrelsy, but therewas instead the song that wakened the tenderest chordsof the heart and the joke that wa
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, booksubjectnewyorknybuildingsst
