CHAPTEE IX

PLACES OF HISTORIC INTEREST

The stranger in New York will find many places
of historic interest on the island. But few build¬
ings remain, however, of pre-Eevolutionary origin,
and of the Dutch occupancy not a trace is left.
The site of Fort Amsterdam is now occupied by the
Custom House at the foot of Broadway, in the cor¬
ridor of which is a brass tablet recording the his¬
tory of the site, and in the adjoining rooms ten
large mural decorations depict the fort as it orig¬
inally appeared and, in addition. Bowling Green
and eight colonial ports of the seventeenth century.
The little oval space in front of the Custom House
is the famous Bowling Green, once the heart of
New Amsterdam and the centre of our greater New
York of to-day. It figures largely in the history
of old New York, being first a public market and
then a park. It was a common meeting place for
the citizens, and in the centre stood a large leaden
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