REMNISCENSES.* 



BY GEO. M. ROOT. 



DO THE MODERN Staten Islanders know where Pavilion Hill is? 

 The great knoll that rises behind the once called Tompkinsvillo, 

 now part of Edgewater, 250 feet above tide water was a long time ago 

 called by that name. Here stood a two-stoiy structure, from the 

 upper piazza of which on a pleasant July day could be seen a land- 

 scape not excelled in beauty and picturesquness by any the world can 

 produce. Although the house is no longer there, the same grand 

 features remain, modified in later years. The distant city, which 

 then seemed a flat uniformity, varied by occasional spires, now pre- 

 sents towering buildings, which blend in the purple haze of a sum- 

 mer's day with the numerous masts of shipping which fringe the 

 surrounding rivers. The graceful lines of the great bridge stretch 

 over to the neighboring city which has spread itself far into the inte- 

 rior. The great goddess of liberty raises her flaming torch where 

 once the sentinel kept watch, the waves are ploughed by innumera- 

 ble steamers, leaving long lines of smoke. Below us in every direc- 

 tion lining our shores are rows of buildings which have arisen within 

 the last twenty years. Where now the American Docks and Ware- 

 houses, filled with cotton, and the picturesque cottages on Central 

 avenue exist, stood the old Quarantine grounds. Scarce a vestige of 

 its old brick walls remain. The officials and hangers-on of that es- 

 tablishment were then potent factors in local matters. The health 

 officer was a king in his dominions, and his influence went beyond 

 the walls. The vessels lay at anchor in the Bay, sometimes for 

 weeks, and the hospital Avhich crowned the eminences inside the en- 

 closure were often filled with all manner of diseases. The crews of 

 vessels came on shore, and with the hungry passengers were often 

 permitted to go without the gate. The father of Prof. Drissler of 

 Columbia College, was an honest German baker living near, and 



•Mr. Root has promised to continue these lleniiniseenses in suceeding numbers of this Magazine. 

 He will also contribute an article on the Commercial Supremacy of Staten Island's Water Front. 



