HISTORY OF BROOKLYN. 505

The public buildings and institutions of the city are, perhaps, the least attractive features, yet, even in this respect, there is, of late years, a marked improvement of style, arrangement, etc. (Part XIII).

The United States Navy Yard at this place, being entirely under the control of the general government, a sort of imperium in imperio, is less identified, at the present, with Brooklyn interests, than it was forty or even thirty years ago, when its officers mingled more with the inhabitants of the place and contributed largely to the social element of the village,—yet it is a prominent attraction to those who visit our city. (Part XIV).

PART I, BROOKLYN FERRIES, 1642-1869.1

The earliest ferry established between Long Island and New Amsterdam, was from the foot of the present Fulton street, Brooklyn, to the foot of the

1 The following list of printed authorities, which have been carefully consulted, although by no means complete, will yet serve to give our readers a realizing sense of the extent of the ferry literature of Brooklyn. We make no mention of newspaper articles, whose name is Legion, nor of the valuable manuscripts to which we have had access.

1. The Law Papers and Documents relating to the management of the Old, or Fulton Ferry. Brooklyn; 1822, pp. 80.

2. A Statement of Facts, with Remarks, etc., in answer to a pamphlet, published at Brooklyn, in relation to the Steam Boat Ferry. Printed by A. Spooner, Brooklyn. 1822, pp. 46.

3. The Question of a South Ferry to Long Island, stated and argued, in several papers originally published in the New York American. By a freeman, New York; G. F. Hopkins, printer, No. 9 Nassau St. 1826, pp. 63.

4. Report of the Law Committee on the subject of a now South Ferry. 1826, pp. 8.

5. Opinion of Chancellor Kent in relation to a new South Ferry from the city of New York to Long Island. New York; printed by G. F. Hopkins & Son. 1826, pp. 7.

6. Letters of Joshua (Gen. Jeremiah Johnson) on Ferries and Corporation Rights etc., etc., first published in New York Gazette, and in Brooklyn Star, reprinted at Gazette office, in pamphlet form. 1835, pp. 10.

7. All the proceedings in relation to the New South Ferry between the cities of Now York and Brooklyn, from Dec., 1825 to Jan., 1835. New York. 1835, pp. 100. (With certain privately circulated tracts, etc.).

8. Report (of the Committee of Seven) to the Stockholders of Fulton Ferry Co. March, 1838, pp. 5.

9. Report of the Committee of the Citizens of Brooklyn on the subject of the Union of the Fulton and South Ferries. March, 1839, pp. 11.

10. Articles of Agreement, between George Wood and others, lessees of the N. Y. & B. U. F. Co., and their associates, July 1, 1839, pp. 8 (said to be the only copy in existence).

11. Opinion of Geo. Wood, Esq., on the extent and character of the Title of the City of New York, to the land lying between high and low water mark, on the Brooklyn side of the East river. 1843, pp. 8.