The New York herald., 1922-11-26
The Five Points Fifty Years Ago
Boyhood "Reminiscences of New York District Once
of Evil Name Which Philanthropy Redeemed.
BY MANADOES.

nent had the reputation Of having been
the witness of moro crimes. so no spot
had such repulsive features. no.
where want and woe were more ap-
parent" This was tho Five Points Of
seventy-flve years ago. A few years
later a writer spoke OF It ~ IAN exhi-
bition Of poverty without . parallel. q
soene of degradation too appalling to be
believed and too shocking to be dis
closed. where you And crime without
punishment disgrace without shame. sin
without compunotion and death without
hope" II was not quite 20 bad nfty
years ago, but even them it deserved
its svil reputation
II was in 1857 or 1888 tna& nrst
became acquainted with II Ny father
had . shop at the corner Of Walker
and Baxter streets and we lived in the
Big Flat. enormous barracks that az
tended from Elisabeth to Mott street
Just north, OF Canal street. This build
ing. housing l28 families. was ono Of
the sights shown to elephant hunters.
as Summers were then called.
Ono day as a child I strollsd from
tho shop, wandered q couple OF blocks
down Baxter street and reached an open
space In which q dognght was In prog
ress. When wanted to return saw
five corners. all alike, and 1ve streets
radiating from tho open space. was
lost began to cry and q lady took
me to q big house near by, gave me
some cake. then took me to the police
station. which was then In Franklin
street. few doors from Baxter street
That was my introduction to the Five
Points. the Five Points Mission and the
police station.
Worth street IN those days ended at
Baxter street. and tho Ave points were
formed by the oblique crossing OF Bax-
ter ana Park streets and tho junction
OF Worth and Park streets. About 100
feet back Of tho junction was Mission
place, formerly called Little Water
street, a narrow thoroughfare beginning
at Park street and ending in Cow Bay.
a blind alley on the north eide OF Worth
street. ~/
This was tho most disreputable street
in the city. Both sides were lined with
rookeries and novels. every store was
a ginmill. 1t was wiped out when the
gore formed by II, Park and Worth
streets was cleared to make way for
Paradise Park. about thirty years ago.
The magnificent work Of the Five Points
Mission raised many Of the dwellers out
Of the slough end slime and instillcd
conscience In many Of the boys and
girls Of the neighborhood, but the great
reforming influence was tho cutting
through Of Worth street to Chatham
Square in 1875. This wide street pro-
vided a short cut from Broadway to
Chatham Square ana It let daylight into
the Five Points.
About twenty years later oame the
little triangle ironically called Paradise
Park, q few years later Mulberry Bend
Park wiped out the worst section Of the
Five Points, the block between Baxter
and Mulberry streets south OF Bayard
street, and the recent clearing OF the
space to tho southwest for q children's
playground and tho new court house
destroyed the last Of tho original Five
Points, ... ..~ .
In tho carly '7os tho Sixth ward. the
Bloody Sixth. II was called, extended
from Chambers street to Hester street
b(tween Broadway and Chatham street.
now Park row. and the Bowery. The
Five Points was In the lower part. The
particularly bad block was the one
wiped out by Mulberry Bend Park. This
park, officially called Columbus Park,
has an area of az acres. In this block
an unofficial census taken In the late
eos showed a population Of 3s2 fami-
lies, consisting of s12 Irish, 21s Ger
mans, 1876 Italians, 1s9 Poles. IL French.
English. 7 Portuguese. Q Welsh. 80
negroes and 10 Americans. OF nearly
600 children only nine went to school.
ana of s1s adults eos could not read
or write.
There were no lofty tenements. most
Of the buildings having two stories with
garret and basement or cellar; there
were many novels and shanties In In
terior alleys and courts, and whole fam
lilies lived In single rooms. There were
thirty-three underground lodging houses
on the block and more than twenty
Iiouor stores. A count made at two OF
thu LIQUOR stores for ave hours on
Sunday showed that $50 men. 445
woman. OIL boys and 81 girls entered
those places
became intimately acquainted with
the Five Points in 1877 whom worked
for n short time in olaser's drug store
In Franklin street ono door from Bax-
ter street. Opposite the beginning OF
Franklin street was an alley which
ended at the wall of a hovel In the rear
Of Ragpickers row. This was a row OF
old houses on Mulberry street south OF
Bayard street. occupied by sorters and
the owners OF tho rag shops In the
Easements