One Broadway

As we have written previously, we will be leading a free tour on Sunday, August 16, of Revolutionary War Lower Manhattan. (See http://www.insidetheapple.net/tours.htm for more details.)

One of the stops on the tour will be One Broadway, where the Washington Building -- later known as International Mercantile Marine -- now stands. But back in the 18th century, the base of Broadway was home to Archibald Kennedy, New York's receiver-general (i.e., the customs collector), and later the Earl of Cassilis.

Kennedy built his mansion ca. 1760; because Broadway was then much closer to the Hudson, Kennedy would have had a fine view out over the harbor and in the summer of 1776, he would have seen the massive British fleet assembling beyond Staten Island. Between June 29 and August 12, nearly 200 ships arrived, the largest naval fleet since antiquity. One observer, a soldier named Daniel McCurtin, wrote in his journal:

"[I] spied as I peeped out the Bay something resembling a wood of pine trees trimmed.... I declare I thought all of London was afloat."

During the war, Kennedy left the city and the house became George Washington's headquarters during the planning of the Battle of Brooklyn, which took place in late August 1776. When the British captured New York, the home -- which escaped the Great Fire of 1776 -- was used by the British army. After the Revolution, the house was rented by Isaac "King" Sears. A prominent member of the Sons of Liberty, Sears was was involved in the Stamp Act Protests in 1765 and the Battle of Golden Hill in 1770, a skirmish just north of Wall Street that some call the first bloodshed of the Revolution. Sears paid £500 a year, probably the highest rent in the city.

The house was later owned by John Watts, a successful merchant and founder of the Leake and Watts Orphan House in Morningside Heights.

In 1882, Kennedy's house (by then a boardinghouse) was demolished to make way for the Washington Building, which still occupies the site. When the Washington Building was erected, it had more office space than any building in New York.

* * *

We will be talking more about One Broadway, George Washington, "King" Sears, John Watts, the Stamp Acts protests and more on our FREE walking tour on August 16.

Or you can pick up a copy of our book, Inside the Apple: A Streetwise History of New York City.

To get RSS feeds from this blog, point your reader to this link.

Or, to subscribe via email, follow this link.

The Leake and Watts Orphan House, Morningside Heights

photo by gmpicket on flickr

The oldest building in Morningside Heights stands on the grounds of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine. Opened in 1843, this handsome Greek Revival temple designed by Ithiel Town has a strange history. 

One hundred eighty-two years ago today--on June 2, 1827--merchant John George Leake passed away at age 75. He had no children or other lineal heirs, so he decided to leave his money to Robert Watts, the son of his best friend, John Watts. There was only one catch: Robert Watts would have to change his last name to Leake in order to claim the inheritance.

It is a little unclear what happened next, but before Robert Watts could get the courts to legally change his name he died of, in the words of one writer, "a severe cold contracted during a game of ball."  John Watts was then faced with the dilemma. He didn't really want the money--after all, his son had forsaken him to become John George Leake's heir--but what was he going to do with it?

It turned out that had his son refused the inheritance in the first place, the money would have gone to found an orphanage. So John Watts approached the state to relinquish his claim on the money. In 1831, Leake and Watts Orphan House was founded and in 1843, they moved into their home in Morningside Heights.

The only other major institution in the neighborhood was the Bloomingdale Asylum for the Insane, which stood where the main campus of Columbia University now stands.

At the end of the 19th century, a group of John George Leake's distant relatives wormed out of the woodwork to claim that they had been defrauded of their rightful inheritance. It took some time, but eventually their case was dismissed.

* * *

A much more detailed consideration of the Leake and Watts Orphan House and the early history of Morningside Heights can be found in Inside the Apple, available at bookstores everywhere or online.

A couple of weeks ago, we gave a tour of Morningide Heights (including Leake and Watts) for a wonderful group from openhousenewyork. Photos from the tour--including a great shot of the St. John the Divine's stunning white peacock--are online at http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=84219&id=48448504645&ref=nf.

Our next tour, of Financial District architecture, is on Sunday, June 21, at 5:00PM -- and it's free! For more information, see our tours page.

* * *

To get RSS feeds from this blog, point your reader to this link.

Or, to subscribe via email, follow this link.