New Castle, seat of justice of the county of the same name, in Delaware, and formerly capital of the state. The village extends lengthwise along the Delaware river, on a rising plain, and is tolerably compact and well built. It once enjoyed considerable trade. Population two thousand seven hundred and thirty-seven.
New Harmony, or Harmony, a town in Posey county, in the south-western part of Indiana, on the Wabash, formerly the seat of the Harmonists, under the German, Rapp, and more recently of the followers of Owen, of Lanark. The former establishment was removed to Economy, and the latter abandoned.
New Haven, a city and seaport of Connecticut, in New Haven county, lies at the head of a bay that runs out of Long Island Sound, and is situated on a beautiful plain, bordered on the north by bold and perpendicular eminences. It is regularly laid out and consists of two parts, the old and new town. The old town is divided into squares of different extents. The public buildings of the city are handsome and well situated. The state house is a fine edifice, on the model of the Parthenon. Several of the churches have a commanding appearance; two of them are of Gothic architecture, and built of stone. Private dwelling-houses are mostly of wood, handsome and convenient. The public square and principal streets are finely ornamented with trees; and beautiful gardens attached to many of the residences, give the town a rural and delightful appearance.
New Haven.
The harbor of New Haven is shallow, and gradually filling with mud,but it is well defended from winds, and the maritime commerce of the port is greater than that of any other town in Connecticut. Its interior trade is assisted by the Farmington canal. Packets and steamboats ply regularly and frequently between this port and New York. The Indian name of this town was Quinipiack. It was first settled by the English in 1638, and was the capital of the colony of New Haven, which remained distinct from that of Connecticut till 1665. The state legislature meets here and at Hartford alternately. Yale College, one of the most distinguished literary institutions in America, is established in this city; connected with this are a theological, a medical, and a law school. Many academies and smaller seminaries are also established here. Population, fourteen thousand three hundred and ninety.
New London, a city of New London county, Connecticut, in the south-eastern part of the state, has a fine harbor near the mouth of the Thames. It is irregularly built, principally at the foot of a hill facing the east. There are many pleasant sites in the higher parts of the town, and several of the buildings are handsome; but the general appearance of the place is not flourishing. The neighboring region is rocky and sterile, and there are no great channels of communication with the interior. The recent attention of the merchants to the whale fisheries has given a considerable impulse to the place, and promises to restore it to its former importance as a commercial city. Fort Trumbull is situated at the south of the town, and to the east, on the opposite side of the river, are the remains of Fort Griswold, which, during the revolution, was the scene of a well-remembered and fearful tragedy. Population, five thousand five hundred and twenty-eight.
New Madrid, now an insignificant village, though historically interesting, is situated on the west bank of the Mississippi, eighty-one miles below the mouth of the Ohio. This town was founded in 1787, and was intended to become a great commercial city, and the emporium of the vast tract of fertile country watered by the Mississippi, the Missouri, and their branches. It was indeed happily situated for the purpose; but the river has swept away the ground on which it was originally placed, and the earthquakes of 1812 have sunk the remainder of the bluff below high-water mark. It is impossible to visit this spot, knowing any thing of its history, and not be struck with the air of desolation it now breathes. There was a fine lake in the rear of the town, on the banks of which public walks and plantations of trees were planned for the accommodation of its inhabitants; this is now a heap of sand. As the earthquakes are occasionally recurring in this neighborhood, even to the present time, people have been cautious in respect to settling here; but as they are becoming more assured, New Madrid is gradually emerging from her prostration.
New Orleans, the capital of the state of Louisiana, is situated directly on the east bank of the Mississippi, one hundred and five miles from the mouth of the river. In the year 1717, this city was founded; and at that period, there were not, perhaps, five hundred white inhabitants in the whole valley of the Mississippi. In the beginning of 1788, the town contained one thousand one hundred houses, built of wood; in March of that year, by a fire, the number of houses was reduced in five hours to two hundred. It has been rebuilt principally of brick, which is of so soft a nature, that the buildings are plastered on the outside with a thick coat of mortar, andthen painted or whitewashed. Several warehouses with stone fronts have been recently erected. The city is regularly laid out, and the streets are generally forty feet wide, crossing each other at right angles. The public buildings are generally elegant, commodious and expensive. There are few churches. The Catholic cathedral is a noble edifice, ninety feet by one hundred and twenty, with four towers. The Place des armes is a beautiful green, which serves as a parade. Most of the houses in the suburbs have fine gardens, ornamented with orange groves. The general style of living is luxurious, and the private dwellings are elegantly furnished. The markets are plentifully supplied with the necessaries of life, and the luxuries of every country; but provisions are dear.
New Orleans will become to the United States the great emporium of commerce and wealth, if, by the draining of the marshy country in the neighborhood, it ever becomes a healthy city. The more we contemplate the present and prospective resourses of New Orleans, the more must we be convinced of its future greatness. Being built in the form of a crescent, the curve of the river constitutes a safe and commodious harbor. Defended on one side by the river, and on the other by a swamp that no effort can penetrate, the city can only be approached through a defile three quarters of a mile wide.