The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-02-23

| est and smallest in the greater city.
Ibis the southwest corner of Rose and
New Chambers streets 1t is about twice
the size of the Lefferts parcel and OF
course is twice as valuable. 1t measures
three feet three inches on New Cham
bers Street. What It's other dimensions
are the department. apparently have
been unable to ascertain, for they are
lot given The chip of land. hardly no.
ticeable to the passerby, is valued for
taxes at S100. This is the only S100
corner TO be found in the city.
In revolutionary times Rose street
was a bypath leading to the Sugar
House, one of the famous British
prisons. Continentals taken prisoners
got their first t-sight of the Cunningham
House. as the prison was called, from
this silver of land. A big tree stood
on the property and not untll it was
reached did the captive get a glimpse
of the most dreaded jail in the coll
ones. I. was from this corner, too,
that several atteinpts to carry the
prison were made by the friends of
those imprisoned.
When New Chambers street was
opened in 1850 much of the corner was
taken by the city for street purposes
The little corner is owned by Thomas
Lewis, who owns tho property adjoin-
ing, parcel not many times larger.
The corner ig now occupied by a win
dow for barber shop.
Directly across at the southeast cor
ner of New Chambers and Pearl streets
is a corrugated iron building two
stories high. 1t has been there as
long as tie oldest resident in that
neighborhood can remember The lot
it is built ON is so small that the
building has the appearance of being
ltopheavy and about ready to pitch into
the street for lack OF foundation. 1t
is owned by James Ford. a venerable
optician who has lived in the building
for many years.
The store, with a showcase extend
Ting beyond the building line several
feet and a mechanics bench, can hold
two people. The upper part of the
house is reached by stairs as steep as
a ladder. There are also stairs run
ming up the outside of the iron house
on Pearl street. The property measures
11.2 feet on New Chambers and Pearl
streets and is IA feet wide in the rear.
| Attracts Notice
It nestles under an History build
Ing of modern construction. The odd
little building, with its wrinkled IA
cade painted a duh brown never fails
to attract attention, as there are few
buildings of similar construction now
remaining in New York. What few
there were e have disappeared before
the advance of the modern builder.
Its walls were made of the thinnest
material to give all the interior space
possible. As the owner of this building
is content with his lot and as that
part of the town is not field for
builders just now it is likely that it
will see many more Christmas days.
The house is valued at $500 and the
land on which it stands al $500. With
in a few feet of this corner is an
other minute parcel, even smaller than
the site of the iron house, yet it car
res a five-story tenement
1t is at the junction of New Bowery
and Pearl streets and is 10 feet on
one street, 13 feet On the other and
is - feet at its widest part, The land
is valued at $1,000 The building on Il
is of no value in the opinion of the
tax department experts.
The crossing of New Chambers and
New Bovery has left at the north
west corner of 1hese streets a triangle
that is about as useful for building
site as those mentioned above. \ shanty
Is about all Ii is able to support. 1t
lis 1Ox12x15 and is worth S2400 On
It is a two-story building assessed at
500. 1t is the property of George r..
Pond, who owns several adjoining
pieces. All these corners are in a
square which has been criss-crossed by
new streets in the last half century.
There was no New Chambers street
nor New Bowery in the early SOS, Pearl
street was the principal street down.
town as it served all the piers and led
to the hotels on Broadway and Chat
ham street, now Park row. 1t also
connected with the residential streets.
= To further facilitate business the
board of aldermen under pressure from
many citizens consented to extend the
I21ar,- fro 10 Sn1Iare down To