The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-03-06
A VERY OLD ROCK HOUSE.
-rsrr STREET CERTAIN IT WAS a
BEACON ONCE.
nat wa. More Than a cOn'sr' ago. "na Only
tradition R~e'"cnecr. tho Fae' p'uiy-
$50, walls That Make the story Possible.

r,., was Store Thnn y eontury hbo' hbu WHY
T-.suuon Remembers tho Fact Dimiy-
800, walls THAT Make the story Possible.
,,is unusual for any ono ~strolling along Vesey
1000, IN Dctray interest In the tops OF tho
zee Indeed. IL is unusual for any one to
IL there at any pace except that which has
h,,n made familiar TO the tenants OF that
~,.ritv hy the sight OF commuters speeding to
W. rain. II may he all right to saunter
sto,s Madison avenue or Stuyvesant square
- nm owe to the architectural outlook, but to
S.a"cca Al snaiI's pace along vesey street, cast.
~ ir,erestcd glances around, lays one open TO
sai,,,r That was shown a few days ago
- a person with tho most ingenious motives
n. IN. world stopped TO look at a quaint little
N.,ner STRUCTURE. the wall of which botokened
End a method OF building other than obtains
now,
Tho white trocked men who weigh out raw
Az and snlsages further down on tho opposite
,,de NJ the street regarded the l0iterer with I'M
s,,,ised wonder. They called to q comrade in
,ho s,ore back Of them. and he also came out to
,oot A moor. faced German came to the door
=, his grocery, scanned the observer attcntivoly.
.ra then looked upward to where the point Of
.,,,,ctlon seemed to be. The black-mustached
wa, who soils hatchets end lamps and blaching
h-pshe, from his crowded street stand dropped
everything TO come and look also. There are
40. corners at the point where this happened.
vsssv Greenwich, and West Broadway come
toVether here. and people looked from all
e,s at the individual with curiosity enough
and time enough to be chimney gazing in vesey
.treet at IL o'clock in the forenoon. Even the
,ou,try dealer, who solicits patronage by per.
.onal methods. left off calling and gesticulatine
N see what excitement might DO afoot broad
ins lest some OF these starers should put their
vonder into words. the innocent cause Of tho
oommotion moved away at a pace rapid enough
N be reAssuring TO vesey street notions.
The neighborhood is given over to trade, body
and soul, from loft to basement. The fiaring
sisns and letterinEs sprawl all over the build.
ipss. so that only the windows show free, and
scarcely an inch Of outside wall space 10 loft un-
decorated. Nevertheless, there are people living
IN the houses still. making their homes In the
odd corners and rooms left over from tho needs
Of business. These and the commuters who
hurry BY daily have to be supplied with food
and r,iment, SO there are ample grocery stores
an three Of the fvo corners where tho streets
come together. and . sturdy little boot
and shoe store and . store for housefur-
nl,hInz goods near by. Many q commuter,
having forgotten, in the rush of business,
10 buy the ohildron's school shoes or
Ms mother.in.law's G~ArterB, makes up for the
oversight at the last minute BY . hasty visit to
The shoe store. situated 90 conveniently right ON
the road to the ferry. The corner shoe store.
Tor all OF Its scafoldinGiof signs and the gro
Sesoue big boot stuck up on the roof, 10 quaint
and interesting. Tit stretch Of rough.hewn
rock wall that shows above the piazza awning,
hints OF old-time origin and Of foundations
uunEen firmly years and yoars ago when New
strings.
II the pinssa on the vesey street aide vero
,oxn and The turb,.hinr mn that hss hesn sone
10 the Greenwich street side were rubbed on
and a mausard roof had not replaced ten years
eSo inc oa sian'ns tooi Win is seoie ena
turned TO Vosey street, the building would look
like II used TO in pre-Revplutionary dayp. There
AZ, many IN, but the stout wallis and .toutor
foundations Of the structure that you are told
about whom you 70 inside warrant the conJic-
,o, ~, ,,-n,>6 =, A.. Lee,
'"n lasa sHi'p0u otie uHy oon'enienoes
and additions. the little house would show an
T.sSia..H" ~.
ifAoiuon says INA. tne 'oha Tuck pillars ena
e,,eepers that ppderlie the building and arc yisi-
lighthouse In days when Washington street and
West street and the squares between were all
wafer, ana inc hudson RIVER washed the very
~AAkAS o~Lc SAAe
saysi y positively in the not-to.be-disputed tone
mat disarms criticismh and history does not
gainsay It History 10 reserved on the subject
u American lighthouses in early times, and Of
New forks harbor lights prior to 1888 she has
nothinR TO say. Tho American Geographical
eoclety, records admit this lapse. and tho
manuals and diaries relating to Now York'S
colonial ,atairs preserve q discreet silence
~ 10 how New Amsterdam harbor was
nsnted previous 70 U certain date. There
Y mention made Of how tho merchants of
sne city petitioned the Assembly to build tho
SANDY HOOK lighthouse in 176l, and OF the COM
pleton OF that structure two years later; but
py what means the harbor was lighted previous
70 That time, when New Amsterdam was q
SoI1ny AND subsequently,. history does not say,
Pfooaoly because she does not know. Tradition
stps 10 mere and helps her out, asserting that
one principal beacon light stood just where the
noithWest corner OF Greenwich and Vesey
stteetis now, and that tho solid foundations
Snuef me little rock house are tho original
tpunaauons that were sunk In the soft mud on
tpe cage OF the river to support the building for
ne lighthouse.
Inese foundations in the cellar of the little
t0use. SO different builders have said, arc of the
kihd used when 1t is necessary to drive piles
weep INTO mud or water to secure stability. A
Zap OF New York, as the city was In 1889,
shoWs Washington street already reclaimed
Hon the water. SO that Greenwich street was a
3lock inland by that time. This fact fixes the
sate Of the founding Of the little rock house
veEy isr back, when most Of the city clustered
Seout van and Broad streets and the lower end
" the Island. The site of the old lighthouse be-