Manhattan Cavalcade—1625-1860

JAMES GROTE VAN DERPOOL
 

T
 

(/■ ]f ^O THOSE devotees of the life of our city as expressed
in its buildings, the title of this paper may well need
some clarification. They are only too well aware that
our city has been peculiarly remiss in its efforts to preserve a con¬
tinuous record of the building achievements which took place on
the island of Manhattan o\er the more than three hundred years
of its existence. To complete an architectural survey such as this,
we have to have recourse to original drawings and old prints since
the gaps in the architectural remains of our early days are indeed
sadly numerous. I trust this prerogative will be permitted me.

In even a rapid summary of the changing tides of our archi¬
tectural taste, reference must be paid to at least four phases of
architectural development in New York City up to the period
centering around i86o. Stated with brevity, these are:

a.  The phase marked by work of Medieval Derivation which mainly
characterizes our building efforts up to 1700.

b.  That phase which we all too broadly refer to as Georgian, although
we understand it to include the delightful architecture associated
with the reign of Queen Anne. In an active sense, this design spirit
carries on until about 1784.

c.   The Federal phase extends to about 1820 and marks the architec¬
tural work achieved during the early years of the establishment of
our nation.

d.  The phase of Revivalism, which for our purposes deals mainly with
the lioman, the Greek and the Gothic aspects of this nostalgic
effort, extends with force up to the i86o's—the limit, time-wise, of
our analysis.

I propose briefly to characterize the spirit of this work and cite
a few examples of remaining buildings, or views of lost buildings,
which throw light on the subject of our discussion.

16