Lower Manhattan

History is hiding here

Author: By Victor Block, Globe Correspondent

Date: SUNDAY, September 27, 1998

Page: M1

Section: Travel

A visitor to this spot today finds a very different scene. Steel and glass skyscrapers reach for the clouds. The hustle and bustle of the world's financial center fill sidewalks with people, and streets with cars.

Yet hidden among modern-day amenities are reminders of earlier times. Narrow alleyways and architectural remnants of pre-Revolutionary days coexist with the contemporary setting. An old seaport, early tavern, and other historic gems serve as reminders of the past.

Streets that were laid out by those early settlers retain their original names, if not functions. Beaver Street in the financial district, as its name implies, once attracted a different kind of trader. The thoroughfare that replaced a boundary wall torn down in 1699, so the growing village could expand, still is named Wall Street. Maiden Lane is all that remains of a pathway where young women of the community once washed their clothes in a stream.

While overlooked by most visitors to New York City, Lower Manhattan is well worth a detour. Historic renovations and restorations, erection of towering office complexes, and opening of restaurants and galleries have transformed the neighborhood's personality. Not many years ago, it was just another out-of-the-way, out-of-mind enclave. Today, it offers an enticing variety of things to see and do.

Some of New York's leading visitor attractions are perched at the tip of the island, including the Stock Exchange, World Trade Center, and South Street Seaport. This also is the departure point for boat trips to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, the immigration station that processed 17 million people who entered the country between 1892 and 1954. The emotionally charged story of the hardships they overcame is told at the Ellis Island Immigration Museum.

And that is but one chapter of America's past that comes alive in Lower Manhattan. Surprising to many, the neighborhood is home to the city's greatest concentration of historic sites.

St. Paul's Chapel, one of the most beautiful colonial-era churches in the country, was built in 1776 of schist quarried at the site. George Washington prayed there after he was sworn in as president. The adjacent graveyard serves as resting place for many prominent families.

Fraunces Tavern, which predated St. Paul's by more than a half century, was built in 1719 as the residence of a wealthy merchant. In 1763, innkeeper Samuel Fraunces established a tavern that became a popular meeting place for revolutionary minded citizens.

The lower floor continues to operate as a restaurant, and the upper two levels have been transformed into a museum. Among historical tidbits, visitors learn that in 1783, after the British evacuation from New York, George Washington bade an emotional farewell at the tavern to the generals who had helped him win the Revolutionary War.

By the early 1820s, New York had become the shipping capital of the world. A forest of masts lined the East River piers along South Street, transforming the neighborhood into a thriving port.

Those heady days are re-created at the South Street Seaport. A number of buildings have been restored, including some that have been in continous use for almost 200 years.

Wander over to the Street of Ships, a maritime museum that boasts the largest (in tonnage) fleet of historic vessels in the world. Catch ``The Seaport Experience,'' a multimedia presentation that describes the area's history. Sample the sights, sounds, and smells of the Fulton Fish Market, which has supplied restaurants and retail outlets with the daily catch since 1884.

Part of the past also is depicted in an old-new setting. The National Museum of the American Indian is located in the historic Alexander Hamilton US Custom House, a Beaux Arts-style gem that is a designated National Historic Landmark.

Native American life and culture are portrayed by exhibits as diverse as sculpture, pottery, masks, and artifacts used in everyday life. Exhibits are made even more lifelike by sounds, like beating drums and chirping birds, that were familiar to the Indians.

But not everything in Lower Manhattan holds interest for visitors because of historic merit. The World Trade Center and adjacent World Financial Center form a development that in many a city would constitute an entire downtown.

The twin towers of the World Trade Center, which soar 110 stories, dominate the Lower Manhattan skyline. The towers and five other buildings in the complex form a semicircle that overlooks a five-acre plaza, which during summer serves as a stage for performances.

Within the World Trade Center is the largest enclosed shopping mall in New York. Spectacular views of Manhattan await those who take the 58-second elevator ride to the enclosed observation deck on the 107th floor or venture out on the Rooftop Promenade on the 100th floor, the highest open-air viewing platform in the world.

The four granite and glass towers that make up the World Financial Center contain other attractions. In addition to housing corporate headquarters for numerous international financial firms, the center encloses nearly five acres of shops, restaurants, and cafes. The hub of activity is the Winter Garden, an expansive open space covered by a 100-foot-high vaulted glass roof. A grove of palm trees serves as backdrop for tables and benches where people eat, chat, and relax.

An imaginative arts program presents a year-round series of free music, dance, and theater in the Winter Garden and equally inviting outdoor spaces. Entertainment ranges from jazz and classical concerts to art exhibits and salutes to the cultures of other countries.

The enticements of the World Financial Center would be appealing enough on their own. The added allure of the history-rich corners of Lower Manhattan combine to make it one of the most inviting, if overlooked, sections of New York City.