Recreate the Most Requested Walking Tour of 1840s New York

4.8 (12 reviews) 2–3 hours Free cancellation

out of 5

12 reviews

4.8

Recreate the Most Requested Walking Tour of 1840s New York — Photos: the activity supplier, via Viator

1840's New York City — Photos: the activity supplier, via Viator

About this activity

This 2.5-hour walking tour meets at the Public Theater in Astor Place, across from Colonnade Row and what was the highest end residential block in the country in the 1830s, the resides of Astors, Delanos and Roosevelts. We end at the Civic Center, and the old Five Points neighborhood of "Gangs of New York" notoriety.

Going from the upper class residential precinct of today's Astor Place to the gang-infested slums of the Five Points was a typical request of visitors in the 1830s and 40s. That walk down Broadway would have taken them through a part of town that would, in the 1850s, break out as the new fashionable city center, what we now call SoHo. This part of Broadway was once a tether between the locales of these social extremes. In making that walk again, we decode and deconstruct the streetwalls of NoHo and SoHo to reveal the forces at work in the architectural creation of New York City.

Day Trips Half-day Tours Cultural Tours Historical Tours Walking Tours City Tours Small Group Short term availability

At a glance

Duration: 2–3 hours
Confirmation: Instant confirmation
Ticket: Mobile or paper ticket accepted
Group: Up to 7 people
People per booking: 1–15
Guide: English
Operated by: Manhattan Unlocked Historical and Architectural Walking Tours

Ages: Adults (12–99 years)

What is included

Included

Included: Professional guide

Not included

Not included: Gratuities

Itinerary

The Public Theater

15 min

We start at the ruins of Colonnade Row, the early 1830s residence in the country's elite. We will lay the groundwork of history and the forces that passed through a landmark location of many histories. What's most to be appreciated is the high ground setting of once was a pleasure garden when "the city" was far downtown.
Noho

15 min

We walk down Broadway and decode the streetscape making sense of history through the buildings, noticing their styles, and sizes, and how they may have been adapted (and re-adapted) for re-use. Images from the past show the evolution of the SoHo section of Broadway. What went on before the fashionable shops and the artists gallery before them? Who were the people who walked the sidewalks?
Stop 3

5 min

We stop to appreciate Louis Sullivan's only building in the city, and learn its role in the evolution of the skyscraper style.
SoHo

Passing by

At Houston Street and Broadway the ancient geography makes it apparent in the asphalt why the grid began here. It was an early site of St. Thomas Episcopal Church, and an upper class residential neighborhood.

The tour continues through SoHo, a name place only since the 1950s, which begs the question, how did people refer to this part of town at different times in the past?

We go down Broadway with explanations, descriptions, and images that deconstruct of the streetscape and reveal the brick-and-mortar history of New York City.
Canal Street

Passing by

The walk down to Canal Street is a roster of social and retail history, with stories and characters from a by-gone era.
Foley Square

5 min

Today's Civic Center was a lake, the shore of which had been the African Burial Ground through much of the British colonial period. The lake would be filled in, and along its old shoreline would develop The Five Points, the most notorious slum in New York City history.
Columbus Park

10 min

The tour ends at the location of The Five Points, now 500 Pearl Street. From the high historical social standing of the beginning of the tour, we end where the most long-lived desperate and deplorable living conditions once existed, from the Irish (and The Five Points), through the tenements of Mulberry Bend, the area is now at the border of the Court District and Chinatown.

Meeting point and pickup

Everyone meets at the meeting point.

Meeting point

We meet inside the Public Theater, New York's first public library. (Bathrooms are available)

End point

Using your ticket

Comfortable walking shoes are recommended

Cancellation

Free cancellation

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

If you cancel	You get back
At least one day before	100%
Less than a day before	0%

The operator may cancel if the weather does not allow it; you then get another date or your money back.
The operator may cancel if too few people book; you then get another date or your money back.