CHAPTER  XXXV,
 

(ISOO,)

History of Ci^ Hall Park—A Few of the Ocoorrences There—Fir>t Public

Building Erected Within Its Limits—Bnilding of

the Present City Hall.

Freedom's Acres would be a. more appropriate name than City Iintl
Park for the piece of ground fronting Printing House Square, as in the old
days ovcry foot of It breathed the spirit of patriotism, and to It, In the nen'
era, the citizen possessed of civic prldo repaira when that patriotism is
threatened. The history of theae fow acree. wblch at one time included the
laud on which the present PostolBce stands. Is full of local Interest to the
.\cu- Yorker. Originally a portion of the common lands granted to Che cltj
by ita charter. Its charactor for many yeara was that of an open pasture or
cattle walk. In the time of the Dutch it was known as the Vlacte, or Plat,
and at a later period as the Commons. Still later It was called the Fields,
and after Its luclosure the Park. From an entry in tbe city records In 1S99
one would conclude that a fortification had been erected near Ita south
boundaries, and that at Its northern limit was a "burial place for no^
groes, slave and free." The negroes WQre, both In the Dutch and English
limes, a proscribed race. Many of tbem were native Africans, who had been
brought over in slave ships, and who retained their native superatltlona
and burial customs, among them one of buryiuK their dead hy night, with
various incantations. The locality appropriated by them for burial pur¬
poses was. In tbe early settlement of tbe town, a desolate spot, descending^
according to a map of the period, toward a ravine which led to the Kalk-
hook pond, and, though within convenient distance of tho city, atlll far
enough away from It to Impress on them the fact that they had nothing In
common with the whites. No consideration was given hy the authorities to
the use to which this place was devoted, and not even n dedication of their
burial place was made by the church authorltleo. Indeed, In 1673 the
Dutch Governor, Colve, granted the land to a private citizen, not dis¬
tinguishing It from vacant lands. The new owner, however, allowed Its
continued use as a burial ground for many yean. It ran about four hun¬
dred feet along the east side of Broadway, near Chambers street, and was
about six hundred feet deep.

In the early history of the city the celohratlouB of the burghers were
held "on the plain beforo the fore," hut with the Inclosure of the Bowling
Green a now location was selected, and the Commons became the rallring
ground for tbe people on such annivonuiry days as the birthday of the King,
Coronation Day, Gunpowder r'^t Day. and at other times when the spirit

17'