Ferries and Bridges 189 



also proposed to fill in the eastern side and make a ball field 

 of it — if this is done, the creek will be a name only. With 

 these changes going on, the author fears that the doom of the 

 ancient bridge is sealed; and in a few years, its very site will 

 be a matter of conjecture. This will be a great pity, as there 

 is hardly any spot within the city of such historic interest. 

 Over it passed Washington and his beaten army, in 1776; 

 over it they passed again in 1783, this time with their faces 

 southward; and in colonial times it is constantly referred to 

 as the main passage from New York City to the mainland. 

 The author has suggested that the bridge be removed, abut- 

 ments and all, to Van Cortlandt Park, and there erected over 

 Tippett's Brook, or upon the land; in either case, it can be 

 properly cared for. Where it once stood, there should be 

 placed an appropriate monument with an historic legend, 

 stating briefly the history of the bridge that once occupied 

 the site. Unless something is done very soon, the whole 

 bridge will have disappeared and it will be too late ; and there 

 will be no excuse for the loss of this historic relic, as the city 

 owns it and its site. 



Near the northern approach to the bridge, the manor-lord 

 maintained a tavern for the accommodation of travellers. 

 In his novel of Satanstoe, Cooper makes the hero, Corney 

 Littlepage, and his friend, Dirck Follock, stop at the tavern 

 for meals on several occasions when they passed between 

 Westchester and the city, about 1 755-1 760; Cooper calls the 

 landlady, Mrs. Lighte. From the bridge, the whole section 

 took the name of Kingsbridge from early times, a name which 

 it retains to-day, and one which, it is hoped, it will long 

 retain to keep alive the ancient associations of the locality. 



It can be readily believed that the King's bridge with its 

 exaction of tolls was not a popular institution with those that 



