Fifth Avenue Hotel
For twenty years, or more, prior to 1853, the site of the present Fifth Avenue Hotel, at Twenty-third Street and Broadway, was occupied by a frame cottage with a peaked roof, and covered veranda reached by a flight of wooden stairs. This was the inn of Corporal Thompson, and a favorite stopping-place on the Bloomingdale Road. An enclosed lot, extending as far as the present Twenty-fourth Street, was used at certain times of the year for cattle exhibitions. In 1853 the cottage made way for Franconi's Hippodrome, a brick structure, two stories high, enclosing an open space two hundred and twenty-five feet in diameter. The performances given here were considered of great merit and received with much favor. In 1856 the Hippodrome was removed, and in 1858 the present Fifth Avenue Hotel was opened.
The Madison Square Presbyterian Church, at Madison Avenue and Twenty-fourth Street, was commenced in 1853, the earlier church of the congregation having been in Broome Street. It was opened December, 1854, with Rev. Dr. William Adams as pastor.
College of City of New York
At the southeast corner of Twenty-third Street and Lexington Avenue, the College of the City of New York has stood since 1848, the opening exercises having taken place in 1849. In 1847 the Legislature passed an Act authorizing the establishment of a free academy for the benefit of pupils who had been educated in the public schools of this city. The name Free Academy was given to the institution, and under that name it was incorporated. It had the power to confer degrees and diplomas. In 1866 the name was changed to its present title, and all the privileges and powers of a college were conferred upon it. In 1882 the college was thrown open to all young men, whether educated in the public schools of this city or not. In 1898 ground was set aside in the northern part of the city, overlooking the Hudson River, for the erection of modern buildings suitable to meet the growth of the college.
Old House of Refuge Wall
The House of Refuge in Madison Square was, after the fire in 1839, rebuilt on the block bounded by Twenty-third and Twenty-fourth Streets, First Avenue and the East River. It was surrounded by a high wall, a section of which is still standing on the north side of Twenty-third Street, between First Avenue and Avenue A. The river at that time extended west to beyond the Avenue A line. The old gateway is there yet, and is used now as the entrance to a coal-yard. Some of the barred windows of the wall can still be seen. In 1854 the inmates were removed to Randall's Island, and were placed in charge of the State.