Catskill, principal town of Greene county, New York, is situated on the west bank of the Hudson river, nearly opposite the city of Hudson, andthirty-one miles south of Albany. It exhibits gentle elevations in the neighborhood, and the soil is generally good; it is well watered, has fine meadows, and good mill sites. Population, 5,339.
Charleston, the chief city of South Carolina, stands upon a piece of land projecting into the bay, at the confluence of the Ashley and Cooper rivers, and has a deep and safe harbor. Ships drawing twenty feet of water pass the bar. The city is regularly built; the fine houses are very large, many of them inclosed like the great hotels in Paris, and all of them covered with verandas, and situated in gardens neatly dressed, and in summer and fall, not only adorned with the finest evergreen shrubs, but with a great variety of beautiful roses, jonquils, and other flowers. On the other hand, many of the streets are dirty and unpaved, and the houses in some parts of the town have a filthy appearance. The churches and public buildings are handsome, especially St. Michael’s church, with its steeple one hundred and sixty-eight feet high. The post office is a large, handsome building. Most of the finest buildings here were erected previously to the revolution. There are many charitable institutions, among which the Orphan Asylum stands in the first rank.
The society of Charleston is refined, intelligent and hospitable. The commerce of the place consists chiefly in the export of rice and cotton. On account of its level character, the city is liable to occasional inundation; but it is, nevertheless, a fine commercial mart, and highly prosperous, exhibiting most of the institutions which mark a liberal and opulent community. This city is celebrated in the history of the revolution. Population, twenty-nine thousand two hundred and sixty-one.
Charlestown, in Middlesex county, Massachusetts, is an irregular town, containing some fine situations. Here are the United States navy yard, and the finest dry-dock in the country; the Massachusetts state prison, an insane hospital, and the Ursuline convent. This town was burnt in 1775, by the British troops. On the eminence of Bunker Hill, a splendid monument of granite has been for some time in an unfinished state; but there is every hope of its immediate completion. Population ten thousand eight hundred and seventy-two.
Chilicothe, in Ross county, Ohio, formerly the seat of the state government, is situated on the west bank of the Scioto, on a beautiful and extensive plain. It is laid out on a large scale, with a great number of out-lots attached to it. The plan is regular; the streets cross each other at right angles, and every square is divided into four parts. In the vicinity are several mills and manufactories, and the Grand canal is cut through the town. The town was laid out in 1796, on the site of an old Indian village. Population, three thousand nine hundred and seventy-seven.
Cincinnati, the largest town in Ohio, is handsomely built, and surrounded by a range of fine wooded hills, which command a beautiful prospect. The plain on which it is situated occupies about four square miles; the height of the rising ground above the alluvial plain is about fifty feet. The population is much mixed, being composed of emigrants from all parts of the union, and most of the countries of Europe. Its progressive increase has been most wonderful. In 1813, Cincinnati numbered about four thousand inhabitants; in 1820, ten thousand; in 1840, forty-six thousand three hundred and eighty-two.
It has extensive flour and sawmills, worked by steam, and various manufactures.The public buildings are twenty-four churches, the College Athenæum, Medical College, Mechanics’ Institute, four market houses, a theatre, two museums, a famous and tasteless bazaar, a bank for the United States branch, court house, and other edifices. The charitable and religious associations are numerous. There are sixteen periodical publications. There are three city insurance companies, and two branches of companies at Hartford, Connecticut. Water is furnished for the inhabitants from the Ohio river, and is distributed over town at an average expense of eight dollars for a family.
Vast remains of ancient fortifications, embankments, stone walls, earthen mounds, the latter containing rude stone coffins filled with human bones, have been discovered within the precincts of this town; and many curious articles dug up, composed of jasper, rock crystal, cannel-coal, copper, sculptural representations on different substances, altogether tending to prove that this country was formerly inhabited by a race of men very different from the present American Indians.
Circleville, the seat of justice of Pickaway county, Ohio, is situated on the Pickaway bottom, about half a mile east of the Scioto. Its site is two mounds of earth, one circular, and the other square, containing about twenty acres. In the centre of the town is a small vacant circle. From this focus the streets diverge in regular radii. The growth of this town has been owing to the wealth of the surrounding plantations. Population, two thousand three hundred and twenty-nine.
Columbia, the capital city of South Carolina, is situated on the Congaree, one hundred and ten miles north-north-west of Charleston. It is the seat of the college of the state. The town is regularly built, and occupies an elevated plain gently sloping on every side. Population, four thousand two hundred ninety-five. There are eleven other towns called Columbia in the United States.