Chapter IV

A. Description of the Island.— B. Population at Different Periods.— C. Streets and Avenues.— D. Architecture of Manhattan— E. Business in New York— F. Churches of New York— G. Parks and Squares.— H. How New York is Supplied with Water.— I. The Schools and Colleges of New York.— J. Public Security— K. New York All the Year Round— L. The Libraries, Monuments and Markets of New York— M. The Cemeteries of New York.

Churches of New York— Reformed Dutch— Protestant Episcopal— Lutheran— Presbyterian— Baptist— Methodist— Jewish— Roman Catholic— Other Denominations and Missionary Societies.

The Old Dutch Church, Fulton Street, Corner William.
(In which originated and are now held the Fulton-street noon prayer-meetings.

edifice was erected in the southeast corner of the fort at Bowling Green. The building was 70 by 52 feet, 16 feet high, and cost 2,500 guilders. It stood 99 years, and was then destroyed by fire. In 1693, the Garden street Dutch church was erected, and in 1729 the Middle Dutch church, used since 1844 as the New York Post Office. It was in this church that the zealous Dutch submitted after much excitement and discussion to the introduction of preaching in the English language, to save their young people, who were flocking to the English churches. The first sermon in English was preached by the Rev. Dr. Laidlie, on the afternoon of the last Sabbath in March, 1764, the innovation being such a novelty that the building and its windows were packed beyond all description. This occurred just one hundred years after the introduction of the English government and language. The North Dutch church was the next erected, on the corner of what is now William and Fulton streets. The land now valued at $300,000 was donated by John Harpending; the corner-stone was laid July 2d, 1767, and the house dedicated May 25th, 1769. The structure is of stone, 100 feet long by 70 wide, with a lofty steeple, and cost nearly twelve thousand pounds. It was in this venerable edifice that the far-famed Fulton-street daily prayer-meeting, characterized by unusual catholicity, fervent spontaneity, and the devout and pentecostal mingling of strangers, originated in September, 1857. Here it still continues. The Reformed Dutch have now 25 churches and chapels on the island, many of which are large and well attended, but their paucity indicates that this excellent denomination, first on the soil, has not been very aggressive.

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