LOFT PRINTED
CASTLE GARDEN. THE PUBLIC IS MOST RESPECTFULLY INFORMED, THAT THIS SPLENDID ESTABLISHMENT, IS NOW OPEN. DURING THE RECESS, EXTENSIVE ALTERATIONS, ADDITIONS AND IMPROVEMENTS, HAVE BEEN MADE; THE INTERIOR NOW IS A FANCIFUL GARDEN. P.S. THE FIRST SPLENDID AND EXTENSIVE EXHIBITION OF FIRE-WORKS, WILL TAKE PLACE ON MONDAY EVENING, MAY 22ND.
New York: Joseph C. Spear, Cor. of Wall and Water-sts 4th Loft, [1826].
(18-3/8 x 5-5/8 inches; 466 x 143 mm, deckled edges). LOFT PRINTED. Fine Item #317963
The earliest known broadside for Castle Garden in Battery Park at the tip of Manhattan. Once a circular fort (Castle Clinton), this structure became a beer garden and restaurant, exhibition hall, and theater. It later became an immigration station (predating Ellis Island), and aquarium. Today, it is a national monument.
The fort was abandoned by the Army in 1821, and the city leased the site as a place of public entertainment.
"The lessees covered it with a roof and converted it into an immense apartment, which was considered at the time to be the largest audience-room in the world. This was fitted up as a promenade and place of entertainment and immediately became a fashionable resort" (William Loring Andrews, 1901).
In 1855, it became the first immigrant processing facility in the nation, continuing to perform this function until 1892, when Ellis Island was opened. From 1896 to 1941, it was the New York City Aquarium, the city's most popular attraction for many years.
Unrecorded in.
Price: $2,500.00 Free International Delivery
