New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1855-05-04
TIE MIGRATION or BUSINESS.

n
a, between Broad snd whitbslls;s. vas occupied,
s,,y period. by several Of the principal raien,
ard WIS TOR many years the m.in business street.
R,o,d-., was originally kr own as The Diich,' bu,
IN 1855 ,uu dug cut, king large drain; and for
,v.lvs or ur,eep years it go remained When it Was
6ed no and 10 trace left OF upon the surface Of
,bs .t,.,. Thus the business localities rem4ioed uu-
III after the Revolution, shen sccessiOns being da ly
usde 10 the population OF The City, additional accom-
pOcaiiors for tradesmtn were required.
Alta sill later peri.d TIE vicinity OF odsip be-
cane he rasrt of the mercantile community, aud u
rss lere that hs impor snd bbe-i OF those days
tram acted their business Wlism St, from Maiceh-
lane 70 Fuon-st wss occu LED by fancy ana re'Nl
sores Broa6vsy, Msden-lane, Johp, Beck nan
and other streets ST this time n He'd with FeinS
houses With tie increase of the mercantile com
rrnity the obbing busress began to creep 10 o"ar'
W.u.,t tie Old fashioned Dutch houses being de-
p,olsbed 10 give place TO more convenient ana fsoy
.,uc,ures for The socoma odaiion OF merchants. 10
lsO-2-3, snd even before that toe stores ind dweH-
il es were built Water S., Ffont-st, Coffee House
slip ard slopg the East River but lite business
being transacted on the North River at that u ne
Dnrir The lapse Of IS or 30 years. the commercial
int sis hsy ing meantime eresy increased more eN
tersive accommodations were reeded oy tue Hle'-
ohan,s suo innovation, we're MADE upon streets NAV
had hitherto been occupied exclusively by dwell
mos although il wss deemed madness TO b1ild De-
yoDd certain ale.
The Increase of rents. however, from year to year,
drove many merchants beyond tie established pale,
and frt sh innovations made upon Liberty, Ce-
DIR Saiden.lan John aud other streets, and the
dwelling houses therein converted into stores, tnus
carr, ing the wholesale mercantile business inriher up
town In those days it considered great de'id'
eraiuu by the mercb snts 10 be located in the vicinity
Of The hotels The Pearls. House, City Hotel, and
Other hotels row known only in nsmc, were then 10
y tir pa miest days and constantly filled with travel
ers me silly II erchants from the country. WIKI the
ucrease of the City, hotels and houses OF accoT
mediation for travellers increased, and the immediate
n.iglborhood of each public house was deemed de-
sirabe place of business by the City merchant. The
erection of the Howard Hotel, Franklin Hotel, and
other bou,es of that class drew business around them,
and as each successive house erected further up
town, so business moved up. The Merchants Hotel
and others in Cortlsldtst. becoming fayor'e places
for country merchants, drew business arouGd them,
and low that street IS almost entirely filled with
Wholesale stores.
There beng for many years, no hotels OF note
above the ward, business confned to the south
west portion of the City and merchants, not deenng
it de-,rsble to 20 beyord the publc-housas, mads
then selves room by converting dwellings into stores
and driving the occupants further up town.
With the steady march of improvement another
great step has been taken by the mercantile comnuni-
ty and extensive innovations have been made in the
Third Wnd where the streets, which but az yester-
day were filled with dwellings, are now fenced in by
lofty and magnificent warehouses. This step cannot
be attributed entirely to the removal OF the hotels up
town, but the increased facilities by stea nboas, ca
mails and railroads on this eide Of the City among
other Inducements, have had much to do with the
move. That portion OF Broadway lying 10 the Third
Ward is now filed almost entirely by wholesale mef-
chants The move has rot been cou6red entirely to
the Third Ward, for the block in Chamoersst.,
between Broadway and Center-st, the size OF the
Manhattan Wster-Works, we now behold a row OF
magnificent structures Some builders have even
gone further, following the hotels, for wo sec lofty
buildings designed for Wholesale stores opposite the
ST. Nicholas Hotel and Collsmore Houses Jet these
will not probably be occupied by other than retail
merchants for some years to come. A halt will be
made in the Third Ward, and probably no very ex-
tens;ve innovations viii be made beyond that district
for sometime yet by the jobbers and importers.
During the pas, three years the appearance OF .be
Third Ward within the bounds of Broadway, Liberty,
Greenwich, and Duanesis., hes materially changed;
not only whole blocks of ricketty and diiapidated
buildings some OF which were nearly century Old
but most valuable and substantial dwellings, having
been demolished, and on their cites erected magnf
cent, roomy and costly structures, with every re-
cent Improvement designed for mercantile purposes.
The majority of the buildings within the limits above
mentioned are finished with marble and brown-stone
FONTS and have the appearance of palaces than
places OF business. Below Greenwich st. material
change has taken pace--the business nsacted in
that locality being confined almost entirely 10 pro.
duce dealers. In that vicinity however, soverallarge
brick buildings have, within year or two, boon
erecttd, and are now occupied BY commission mer-
chants who formerly did business down town.
The fret move of the mercantile community to this
section made about five six years ago, to Lib
erty, Dey and COurtlandt-sts. The Subsequent
widening Of Libery-st. offered eligible sites fer
stores TO the ercbsn which were seized upon with
syidty Almost as soon as the street had been laid
out the erection Of fine buildings therein was COM
menced, and the work hurried on to completion, aud
many Of them were filed with goods before the street
was fiji shed.
The ersnple ofthe fret mover was quickly followed
and msny other merchants doing business in the 10 ser
part of the City in obscure Streets AMI paying heavy
rents, seeing the advantage gained by their brother
merchants, began 70 look about. Lots in Murray,
Warren, Chan bers and other strests we're purchased
81 somewhat moderate amounts and as il by magis
the old rookories therein were replaced with stately
structures. Scarce bad ground been broken here, ere
TIE whole mercantile community seemed to have