The Old Brewery, and the New Mission House at the Five Points

This historic book may have numerous typos, missing text or index. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. 1854. Not illustrated. Excerpt: ... THE OLD BREWERY, AND THE NEW MISSION HOUSE. CHAPTER I. NOW AND THEN. Before presenting a picture of the Five Points in the days of its "bad pre-eminence," it may not be uninteresting to look at it ninety years since, as we find it in an old map* of the city of Xew York, as surveyed in 1766, and 1767. On this map, dedicated to "Sir Henry Moore, Captain General and Governor in and over his Majesty's Province of New York," we see Fresh Water Pond on this spot. Broadway then terminated at Duane street, and the Hospital was in the country. Orange street ran on the margin of the pond which prevented Queen, now Pearl street, from pursuing its present course. From this pond which extended towards Canal * Now in the possession of TLe New York Society Library. street, flowed a creek which ran through Lispenard's meadows. Most suggestive of the repose that reigned here is the law passed in 1733, to preserve the fish in Fresh Water Pond. The first records of human history, in this place are stained with blood, and the successive scenes of life here, have not been out of keeping with the opening tragedy. In 1741, when there were in New York but twelve thousand inhabitants, of whom one sixth were slaves, the celebrated "negro plot" occurred, and a great panic was created by frequent fires and robberies. Of the 174 persons who were committed to prison, thirteen negroes were burned at the stake, at the intersection of Pearl and Chatham streets, and twenty were hung (one in chains) on an island in Fresh Water Pond. Only the poorest class of houses were built on the low, marshy grounds in this vicinity, already claimed by poverty and crime. When Broadway was continued and opened through Thomas Randall's property, (called the Sailors Snug Harbor,) to meet the Bowery, the hills wer...