Coenties Slip, Wharf and Lower Market, City of New York, 1716-1718

This view of Manhattan waterfront shows the old Coenties Slip, the wharf, the Lower Market and other buildings about 1717. Illustration engraved by G. Hayward for the D.T. Valentine's Manual for 1858. Original title: View in New York, 1746. Source: NYPL.

Hayward probably based his engraving on the Thomas Bakewell 1746 reissue of William Burgis View, originally drawn in 1716-1718 (on the right). This Hayward engraving has some modifications compared to the Burgis or the Bakewell views, such as some building façades, a tree missing in the Coenties Slip and a simpler crane.

The Coenties Slip, named after 17th-century Dutch settlers, was originally part waterway for mooring boats and a major marketplace. It was land-filled in 1835. Today, it is a street in the Financial District of Manhattan.

Comments from Stokes (Iconography of Manhattan Island, ... 1915): The house standing on the east side of Coenties Lane or Alley and on the north side of Pearl Street (number 47) belonged to Tobias Ten Eyck. It was a double dwelling under one roof, and remained in this family until 1784, when it was sold to Cornelius Ray, one of the most eminent New York citizens of his day. The north-east corner of Coenties Slip (48) was Conraet Ten Eyck’s property. The Ten Eyck heirs did not remove from this site until 1801. No. 49 belonged to Johannes Outman; No. 50 to Helena Griggs, and No. 51 to Jacobus Van Cortlandt. This last property included the large house which fronts on Queen (Pearl) Street, the small extension or gateway to the left of it, and the three small stores or buildings on the wharf. It remained in the possession of the Van Cortlandt heirs until 1775.