ootnote 10: The last census before the Revolution was taken in 1771,
when the population of the city and county of New York was returned at
21,863. (Doc. Hist. of N.Y., Vol. I.) At the time of the war alarm, in
1775, this total must have risen to full 25,000. Philadelphia's
population was somewhat larger; Boston's, less.]

Before its contraction, and in view of its convenience and protection
from storms, the East River was the harbor proper of New York. Most of
the docks were on that side, and just above Catherine street lay the
ship-yards, where at times, in colonial days, an eight-hundred-ton
West Indiaman might be seen upon the stocks.

What is now the City Hall Park was called in 1776 "the Fields," or
"The Common." The site of the City Hall was occupied by the House of
Correction; the present Hall of Records was the town jail, and the
structure then on a line with them at the corner of Broadway was the
"Bridewell." The City Hall of that day stood in Wall street, on the
site of the present Custom-House, and King's, now Columbia, College in
the square bounded by Murray, Barclay, Church, and West Broadway.
Queen, now Pearl, was the principal business street; fashion was to be
found in the vicinity of the Battery, and Broad and Dock streets; the
Vauxhall Gardens were at the foot of Reade; and to pass out of town,
one would have to turn off Broadway into Chatham street, which
extended through Park Row, and keep on to the Bowery.

John Adams has left us a brief description of New York, as he saw it
when passing through to the first Congress at Philadelphia in 1774, in
company with Cushing, Paine, and Samuel Adams. His diary runs:

"_Saturday, Aug. 20._--Lodged at Cock's, at Kingsbridge, a pretty
place.... Breakfasted at Day's [127th street], and arrived in the city
of New York at ten o'clock, at Hull's, a tavern, the sign the Bunch of
Grapes. We rode by several very elegant country-seats before we came
to the city.... After dinner, Mr. McDougall and Mr. Platt came, and
walked with us to every part of the city. First we went to the fort,
where we saw the ruins of that magnificent building, the Governor's
house [burned Dec. 29, 1773]. From the Parade, before the fort, you
have a fine prospect of Hudson River, and of the East River, or the
Sound, and of the harbor; of Long Island, beyond the Sound River, and
of New Jersey beyond Hudson's River. The walk round this fort is very
pleasant, though the fortifications are not s