New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1895-03-24
Old BROADWAY BUILDINGS iOHN ~" Y
HISTORY or THE HOUSES AT THE CORNER o'
HOWARD WHERE BILL" POOLE
WAS MURDERED

HOWARD. ST WHERE bill POOLE
WAS MURDERED.
n.y., old-r,ebloned houses at Broadway and How
,rd-at which have Just been torn down were sala
IN lac TN. Oldest buildings in Broadway. The ground
rnor which they stood was originally part Of the
old Ravard farm which embraced a large plot OF
land I'm ina. n.ighborhood. Nibo's Garden. which
,,,s ouened In ISIS also stood on land formerly
mart OF the farm. When William Niblo moved up
n what is now Prn,e-st. his place was looked upon
a. a country resort. The four old houses Ia How
ARTIST when they were built, stood on meadow
land and COWS wandered where now cable cars 20
Changing along They were built and owned by the
t,it,hn,k family nu. have changed hands many
times since then
The Increase in the value Of New-l ork rear estate
,s well Illustrated by the difference In their value
wears ago AMI now. Less than hity years ago the
land they occupied could have been purchased Tor
$1,000 A few weeks ago it was sold for S5O'c~
The two houses the uptown side were Tor many
vears noted gambling resorts In the corner house
tho notorious "Bll'' Poole kept barroom and gam
hlinr-house Poole was at one time the champion
urzcnghter in the country and hnaliy met MS death
ot the hands of some OF Morrissey's men In stan
wix Hail Stanwix Hall was opposite the Metro
politan Hotel. and was opened In lSo1 All that
nclghborhood was rather dangerous In those days
,ybcn the butcher boys were the great sports OF
the town They owned the fast horses arranged
the prlzcnghts and were at the bottom OF most ot
the lawless acts common at that time
Mark Maguirc the king Of the newsboys; Tom
uv.r Morrisscy and BIZ Poole were better
known than anybody in town. Poole had notable
funeral The coffin was wrapped In the stars and
Stripes and was carried along the streets through
a bare headed crowd, which nllcd the streets from
Bleecker.st. to the Battery.
Ills murdcrers were never punished. though
brought 10 trial and prosecuted by Ogden Hoffman.
the Attorney General: \. Oakley Hall the District
Attorney and James Il. Whiting The greatest ex-
element prevailed during the trial, whlch u!ti-
mately resulted In the acqulttal or the prisoners
Before the houses became liquor stores they were
used as dwelling houses and were considered very
comfortable country houses. The coming of Niblo :
Garden however drove the old residents OF that
locality further uptown whore they would be free
from The undesirable characters which frequened
the Garden.
The advance OF commerce and pleasure soon
crossed the Cana,-st. bridge. and Nibo's Theatre
became celebrated Before Niblo went uptown the
broadway circus the only place of entertain
ment beyond the bridge" Maggie Mitchell and
Mary Taylor the great attractions In ''Bill'
10 cents and a box could be had for 70 cents. The
New-York city. and there are many interesting
incidents connected with them Their Interior was
not altered to any extent during their ITO years OF
existence The quaint old staircases and narrow
windows remained the same. and were full or In
terest specimens of the interior OF the houses
the forefathers used TO put up.