New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1895-03-31
HISTORIC JONES'S WOOD.
IT'S MANY ADVANTAGES AS A SITE FOR A
PARK.
MEMORIES CONNECTED WITH THE fI-Aoh AM
INCIDENTS WHICH HAVE OCCURRED

,,ruop1rs CONNECTED WITH THE PLACE AND
INCIDENTS WHICH HAVE OCCURRED
WITHIN ITS BOUNDS.
$780,. wood has an attractive sound for thou
e,rde Of Ncw-York people. old and young IL ''ie
idea of making the property into puoHc pam
should be carried out. its name wouid peoo','
something more than pleasing memory d. F."
now The two blocks which were formerly coNe'e
with the dance yavilions and picnic buildings VI
Jones's Woods or the Empire Coliseum ana WASH
ington Park. are now little more thdh an eAp'"'e
Of haIf-burDed iron work. blackened tree stumpS
and general wreckage. Steep abutinents Dorder ''e
hank of the East River. Back OF these are gap
ing cellars and tumbng walls Inc FENCES VI
washington Park on the north side of East Sixty
,irtbe, still stand but the buildings that DOT
dered the river have gone up in smoke WIN .I'o
vcention Of these fences there is nothing standing
on the land east of Avenue ~ pet"eeh "'N''
eighth and Seventeen SITS. Nearly all OF this PoP
erty belongs u James II. Jones' whose an'e''o''
Johr Homes bought the old Louvre farm OF ninety
acres wears ago Between SiXty-eighth ana Sixty
seventh SITS. there is marble yard ana theh 'ne
brooI green fields of the old Peter ScherinerhoTh
estate stretch away to SiXty-fourth-s''' a'h"oS'
unchanged in contour from the days "heh '"c
Dutch first trod the turf of Manhattan lsiahu oHc
or two old frame houses still standing near the
river bank They are worth little but lot Hre"oou'
The whole expanse of practically uhlmpro'eu Por
ortv covers about eighteen acres OF ground, Win
nearly a third of mile OF water 'front.' III So'no
ways it has many advantages over Coriears i'ooA
or the Battery a river park III poih' Vi eie'.
ton and breezness 1t rivals the klVeFsiue ram
and in diversity of surface ii Is almost equai 10
mat famous West Side pleasure ground. some
thing more than a half of the property belongs 10
the Peter Schermerhorn estate. The remainder II
owned by the Jones family. The assessed Naiua-
ton Of the whole plot is little under >6t'Voo mat
means that its market value is somewhat oN''
sl.Oo1OOo. The Jones property has already pefn
seized upon as a bail ground 10y the youth OF the
neighborhOod
The locality is historic in many ways The iahd
became the property Of the Provost family IN Iii
1t was this family which furnished the hrst Ia mop
Of New York, who was also president oil ''"'""''
College. But It did not run entirey 10 churchih'''
David Provost. who was mixed up with the SNUG
glers and pirates who infested Hell Gate was also
of this blood ana his body buried lcO years ago
in the woods that hid the booty and tho movements
OF his reputed associates. The Provost family Ndu't
IS still intact under the ruins Of last year $ me-
When John Jones bought the property tn city was
rapidly creeping up toward i. bat even my years
ago the stage Inc ended al SlNiy-iii''-S'. ., 49,
Wncn the property was built upon To provide ac-
commo lations for picni.s and danccs' IL soon o."
Els; Side. ~ onc time, n TIC Au1iioiI|n' ito,i'
chorus Of 200 voices was heard Many Lannon'S
me az the ca, lonlau and other soc' ties were
given there In 1865 there vas ned theIr a giant
scrt1en fssi inat nst%I ten b 4yS Of , , nc
notorious FCni4n and "a man who objected 10 soTe
Of the remarks of the speaker H or, 9i me S'ssl1ns
was nearly murdered ly The crowd before The ponce
could rescue him. Kiyrrs of beer nave ho"ci ana
millions Of couples haN' dltc.i tn,It bch'LH ''',
low roofs or under the st1rIlt sky There were cool
balconies along the river front and breezy paIlohs'
where the diner could watch thu river crait ana the
l.nfortu innate on Blackwe'ts Island May ~, lsN
sudden fire burned down all the hmsy structures
ard no effort 10 rebuild has yet been mao"
\ little buriai-ground on thc sen rmcrho1n prop
er,y ON aims the iombs Of Mary At3ns Nm ita "a,
#, f,brook John IfardcnbrJpk and others VINO d''l
in the first part 81 the present century, hlt the
removal II those together with that u "a ltte IRE
wicckagc a few frame buildings and som" rickc
fences would prepare the whole ground FOR de-
Uehtful park.