City Hall Park, New York City

Historic buildings around City Hall Park. Fragment from the plan The City of New York, published by Galt & Hoy, 1879, with some additional texts in color. At the time, several newspapers had offices in Park Row, sometimes called Newspaper Row.

The City Hall opened in 1812. In 1842, the Croton Fountain was installed in the center of City Hall Park. It was replaced in 1872 by an ornate granite fountain, designed by the architect Jacob Wrey Mould. In 1858, the City Hall was partly destroyed by fire. The Post Office was constructed in the southern part of the park between 1869 and 1880, and demolished in 1939. The Old New York County Courthouse (now Tweed Courthouse) was constructed from 1861 and 1881.

Below, fragment of a panoramic illustration of the City of New York in 1876, by Currier & Ives, showing historic buildings in Lower Manhattan including some early skyscrapers in the City, like the Tribune, the Equitable Building, the Western Union, the Mutual Life Building. The terminal of the Brooklyn Bridge is represented here, but the Bridge was opened to traffic years later, in 1883.