![[MINETTA STREET] Map of Land in the 8th Ward of the City of New York belonging to Robert Benson, Esq.](/sites/default/files/styles/auction_slider/public/images/lots/2022-12-16/1580624.jpg?itok=QfBJXhH-)
Lot Details
Lot 45
[MINETTA STREET] Map of Land in the 8th Ward of the City of New York belonging to Robert Benson, Esq.
Manuscript plan in ink and colors on paper, with "Surveyed and laid out in lots by Edward Doughty, City Surveyor/A true copy Dec. 6 1824 Geo. B. Smith, City Surveyor." 15 1/2 x 20 inches (40 x 50 cm). The map backed. Closed tears and small losses to border, some brown spotting and toning to extremities, later pencil notation at center.
A vibrant plan of the heart of today's Greenwich Village: the intersections of "Macdougall" Street, Bleecker Street, and "Minetto" Street, bounded by an unnamed Minetta Lane and Amity Street (later renamed West 3rd Street). The land here once bustled with wildlife as the path of Minetta Creek, one of the largest watercourses into Manhattan, it's name derived possibly from the Native American term "Manette" ("Devil's Water") or the Dutch "Minnetje" ("the little one"). In the Dutch era through Bernard Ratzer's 1766 survey, the stream was also known as Bestevaer's Killetje. Into the first years of the 19th century and on William Bridges' 1807 Plan of the City of New York only the path of the stream is shown. This area is known to have been inhabited by freed Africans and the unusual curve in today's Minetta Street follows the path that ran alongside the stream then known as the "Negroes' Causeway." In the early 1820s, the New York City Common Council ordered the stream diverted underground. This fine survey map dates from that period when the streets and lots were first planned. Amity Street shown at the far right is now West 3rd St., and the lane shown between Minetta Street and Amity was later extended to meet MacDougal. The corner of Minetta Lane and MacDougal Street is where the popular Minetta Tavern sits today.
C Collection of a New York Surveyor
Additional Notes & Condition Report
No condition report? Click here to request one.