Bowling Green - Late 19th Century

This is Bowling Green at the end of the 19th century, with the Monument to Abraham de Peyster, New York’s first mayor, installed in 1896 in the Park.

Illustration published in 1899 by Mail & Express in A Pictorial Description of Broadway. Original title: East Side. Bowling Green to Morris St. Source: The New York Public Library.

Message from the original publisher: "The neighborhood of the Bowling Green, whence Broadway takes its origin, is second in historic interest to no spot on the surface of the globe. Here it was that, on the southern end or the wild island of Manhattan, the original Dutch settlers pitched their tents in the year 1625, and founded the city of Nieuw Amsterdam."

The US Custom House was erected in the early 20th century on the site of the buildings on the right.

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