The Bryan daily eagle. (Bryan, Tex.) 1895-1898, 1896-05-12

w w Aut tAAtu-
sion OF New York's building ground,
and only walt the chance afforded by
,heexcavator'spick TO show that though
forgotten they are not dead. New
York city. and especially the lower
end Of Il, appears 10 be ground 80 solid
and Is covered with masses Of build
lngs 70 enormous that Il Is hard TO be-
lieve that a large portion Of II has been
built up on pools. swamps. streams and
made ground We, such Is the fact.
says a New York paper
The penlnsular tip Of Manhattan
island must have been as wet and
swampy as old Holland itself when
New Amsterdam was founded beside
the marsh which ran up to Broad
street from the East river. and. In all
probability. Il was this very swampi-
nesa that led the Dutehmen 10 select
e as their new home. This particular
plcce Of marsh land ended In
swampy pasture. which ran almost up
10 Wall street. and was drained by
anal with two lateral branches along
Bridge street called the Common
Ditch.
This was the smallest OF the marshes
A short walk beyond the wall would
cad the burghers TO a large wet field
sailed Beekman's swamp, which COW
red nearly all Of the area bounded by
Frankfort. Fulton. and William
streets and the then water front Be
fond this. going east, came a little
barrow neck Of solid land and then a
itill larger swamp called the Roose-
selt swamp. which extended almost up
o Park row and covered all the area
now included by that street. the water
front as Il was. and James and Pearl
streets Through II ran quite a stream
JAILED the Aud KIN. This stream be-
San about the junction OF Roosevelt
street and Park row In a narrow band
II marsh. whioa on the other side OF
Park Row opened into q big swamp
wing around two pools Of fresh water
;alled the Collect ponds. This swamp
and. ran up as far as Grand street.
and which filled in snearly the whole
u the space between Broadway and
he Bowery as far south "a franklin
itrect. narrowed 10 a small outlet at
he Junction Of Canal street and
broadway. and then spread out into an
extensive series OF swamps. One OF
.hese extended as far south as the cor
aor Of Franklin aud Hudson streets:
another, known as dspenards swamp,
,r meadows, ran almost up TO Houston
street. while third reached far In
and In a northestofly direction as Ear
lp as the corner OF Twelfth street and
Sixth avenue Il will be seen, there
,ore. that this series OF swamps. pools.
aud streams. extending dlagonally
across town from the foot OF Roose-
velt street TO the Hudson river. practlc-
ally divided Manhattan island into
two parts. and made subsidiary isle
u the downtown portion Through the
upper arm Of the great western chain
II swamps there flowed the stream
which has so bothered the contractor
referred to In the opening paragraph.
For some reason or other this stream
sooms to have been a subject OF as
much diversity OF opinion among the
early topographers as II has been
among the later gossips Of Greenwich
village The Dutch map makers did
not apparently venture as far north
a. this. but In map made by Col.
John Monlresor In the winter OF i775
Tor the Hon. Thomas Gage, msjor gem
sral and commandcr-in-ohlet OF his
majcsty's forces In North America.
this stream Is founu SCI down. Il O.
plottcd "a creek which apparently
drained the swamp land thar reached
iiom beyond the Obellsk road to the
Greenwich road, that "a, from about
Greenwich avenue to Greenwich street
along the line Of Christopher street
between the high land on which Lady
Wgrcn's house was built. and the hills
back Of which lay the Llspenard
wamps The popularity Of the stream
was. according TO Monrclor. that q
lad neither source nor mouth; Il Just
ay there.