The Hatching Cat of Gotham

In 1805, the First Dutch Reformed Church purchased the 340 x 145 foot lot between Joralemon, Court, and Livingston Streets, and built its third church in 1807. This church was replaced in 1835 by the building shown here, which faced Livingston Street. In the 1880s, efforts were made to move the church to the other end of the lot and use it as a lecture hall, and to sell the site to the Federal Government for the new post office. Both ideas fell through and the lot was sold on March 1, 1886, to Charles L. Willoughby, a Chicago capitalist, for $250,000. The church was demolished in May 1886. From the Collection of the Museum of the City of New York.