The Metropolitan Hotel was built in Niblo's Garden, on the corner that is now Broadway and Prince Street, in 1852, at a cost of a million dollars. The theatre in the hotel building was called Niblo's Garden. The building was demolished in 1894, and a business block was put up on the site.
Across the street from Niblo's, on Broadway, in a modest brick house, lived, at one time, James Fenimore Cooper, the novelist.
At No. 624 Broadway, between Houston and Bleecker Streets, was Laura Keene's theatre. On March 1, 1858, Polly Marshall made her first appearance on any stage at that theatre. Later it became the Olympic Theatre.
At Broadway and Bleecker Streets, a well was drilled, in 1832, which was four hundred and forty-eight feet deep, and which yielded forty-four thousand gallons of water a day.
Tripler Hall
Tripler Hall was at No. 677 Broadway, near Bond Street. Adelina Patti appeared there on September 22, 1852, when ten years old, giving evidence of her future greatness. She sang there for some time, usually accompanied by the boy violinist, Paul Julien.
Tripler Hall had been renamed the Metropolitan Hall, when it was destroyed by fire in 1854. Lafarge House, which stood next it, was also burned. The house was rebuilt on the site, and opened in September, 1854, under the name of the New York Theatre and Metropolitan Opera House.
Rachel the great was first seen in America at this house, September 3, 1855. Later the house became the Winter Garden.
First Marble-Fronted Houses
The first marble-fronted houses in the city were built on Broadway, opposite Bond Street, in 1825. They were called the Marble Houses, and attracted much attention. Being far out of the city, excursions were made to view them. Afterwards they became the Tremont House, and are still in use as a hotel.