New York, NY

NEW YORK, city, the great commercial metropolis of the United States, and in population, commerce, and wealth, one of the first cities of the globe, is situated in latitude 40 42’ 40” north, and in longitude 74 1’ 6” west from Greenwich, and 3 0’ 22” east from Washington, 216 miles southwest of Boston and 86 miles northeast of Philadelphia.

The city is located on Manhattan island, between Hudson and East rivers, which unite at its southern extremity, forming one of the most admirable harbors for beauty and convenience in the world. The island is 13.5 miles long, bounded on the north by Harlem river, formerly Spuytendevil creek, and embraces an area of about 20 square miles. On the south part of this, the compact part of the city is built, extending northward about four miles from river to river, and spreading by a rate of progress which will soon cover the whole island. Its admirable position for foreign commerce, with its noble bay, and its remarkable facilities of internal communication with every portion of the Union, have been the unfailing sources of its extraordinary growth and prosperity…

The manufactures of New York, like its commerce, are more extensive than those of any other American city. Ship-building and machinery are among the branches most largely carried on. Here are built the magnificent ocean steamers, packets, and steamboats, that are the glory of New York...

The population in 1653 was 1,120; in 1661 1,743; in 1675, 2,580; in 1696. 4,455; in 1730, 8,256; in 1756, 10,530; in 1774, 22,861; in 1786, 23,688; in 1790, 33,131; in 1800, 60,489; in 1810, [?]6,373; in 1820, 123,706; in 1825, 166,136; in 1830, 202,589; in 1835, 270,089; in 1840, 312,710; in 1845, 371,280; in 1850, 515,507.