Please note: this text may be incomplete. For more information about this OCR, view
About OCR text.
m^.
Vol. LXXXVII
JULY I, 1911
No. 2259
CITY HALL IN AN OLD-FASHIONED CELEBRATION
Its Centennial will Revive Memories of the Time When the Fourth
Was Kept with Patriotic Parades and Functions in City Hall Park.
THE City Hall, which was officially
opened on Indeipenden-ce Day one
hu'ndre'd years ago, although it was iiiot
finished until some weeks later, enjoys
th© dis'tinotaon of bein'g more 'Closely as-
sociiaited with th'e liistory and growtih of
the iciity than any other existing struc-
tUTe. An architectural monument, ad-
Tn'ired for its purity of desiign, it is
a wortihy meanorial of older New Yark.
Even the park in whicli it .stand's is of
tractor, and the corner stone beans his
name as archite^^it. Hisitoria-ns have dis¬
puted McComb's claim â– s.s archi-tect and
have named John Mangin as 'the real de¬
signer of the bui'lding,
Whdle there may be some doubt as lo
who d'rew the plans, it is at lea;st known
that the work of supea'vis-ing: and con¬
structing the building wa.s oajrried out
by McComb. In the Aldermani'C records
one may read tha't his salary wa.s six dol-
The â– site .selected presented aJi unob¬
structed view of Broadway iCo Bowling
Green, bU't wajs surrounded by buildings
not calculated to enhance ^the beauty of
the new structure. On 'the side to the
wesit was the Ei-idewell, in the reatr the
Almshouse and on the site of the old Hall
O'f Recio-rds, which was 'demoHs'hsd wihen
the subway was built, Stood the jaiil. On
the 'si'te of the Bridewell now isJtaai'ds the
donnly Court Hoilse, a sitruciture not
X-:?;::^.'-' j;.. -)r^'.,--'*-, " 'X'*^..
hisitoric 'i'nterebt. There', 'on the Oth of
July, 1776, 'the Declaration of Independ¬
ence W'as reaid to the army of the United
States, in the presence of 'the commander-
in-chief, General George Washington.
In order to h'onor jthe ah'nivensary in a
fitting manner, Miayor Gaynor has ap¬
pointed a, committee to arrange an old-
fasMioneid celebration intended to revive
memories of (the 'time when Indepeindence
Day was celebrated with parades, the
Id'Jisplay: of Rei\'oIuitionary "ban'neirs and
th& reading of the Declairation of In¬
dependence from the 'steps of the City
Hall.
A'S in the 'Oase 'Of miany of our public
buii'diings, nrany years were 'Oonsumed In
the erection of 'the City Hall, nearly a
decade being required for its oorapletion.
In ISOl, a committee was appointed by
the Aldermen to take steps 'towards the
erection of a new City Hall and laiter a
prize was offered for the best design fo'r
the buildin'g. The plan that was ac¬
cepted is officially credited to John
Macomb. Jr., who was a New York -con-
THE PARK AND CITY HALI>.
(Reproduction from an old print.)
lars a day and it is also recorded that he
P'Srsonally pasised on every stone put into
the bu'ilding. Oiie may learn farther
lihat John Lemair -wajs the sculptor of
the Ionic pillars and pilasters of the first
stoi-y-
At this itirae the population, which num¬
bered some 97,000, was for the most
part housed in 'the distriot south of City
Hail Pai'k, from river to river, and the
site chosen for the City Hall was one
whicli ill ithe e'stimation of 'the building
commi'ttee wa'S des'tino'd 'to become the
center of the future city. Por this reason
the original plans called for a marble
front O'n all sii'des of the buildinig a.nd the
cost wag placed ait about $250,000. This
enormous sum staggered the thrifty
Aldermen and revised plans, with brown-
Sitone in place of marble, were called
fcr.
The good judgment 'Of the building 00m-
m'jttee 'and of M'cOomb finally prevailed,
amd a compromise was effected, whereby
ttie soutiieast and west fz'onts were to be
of marble and the rear of brownstone.
nearly the eQinal 'Of the City Hall, from
.an architectural standpoint, but which
cost, under the beneficent rule of Boss
Tweed, the considerable sura of $13,-
000,000.
The original appropriation for the City
Ilall under the amended plans was
$ijO,000. This was far from 'adequate
and the work was delayed from year to
I'ear, sometimes ceasing entirely, until
ni'ore appnopi-iations were made, and the
final cost of the structure W'as about
,$•'.38,000.
The cornerstone was laid on May 27,
1803, by Edwiard Ijivingston, who was then
the Mayor. Shortly after thi's 'a pestilence of
yellow fever bi^oke out and the worlt was
delayed for some time. In the five years
following, cons'tmctiO'n dragged slowly
along, 'di'sse'nsions among the Aldermen,
lack of appropriations, and strikes of the
workmen all con'tnibuling lo 'the delay.
Duiring these years, the d'oU'ds of wia/r
were again g^thei'ing 'and 'the finances of
the city were low.. In 180S, times became
particularly hard and the wages of the