Church Street / Chambers Street			(40.714887,-74.007739)
Chambers Street Savings Bank		41 Chambers Street	(40.713769, -74.005162)
In 1859, the Chambers Street Savings Bank moved across the street to 41 Chambers, where they installed Gayler's great iron chest, then the biggest safe (10 ft. high, 21 ft. wide) in the U.S. In 1843, the Chambers Street Savings Bank was located at another part of Chambers Street, on the old Unitarian Church site, and moved to 67 Bleecker Street in 1856.
Hudson Terminal		Chambers Street between Church and Vesey Streets	(40.713468, -74.009099)
Hudson Terminal, the southernmost station on the IND 8th Avenue line, was located at Church Street between Chambers and Vesey Streets. It was situated at the northern edge of the World Trade Center site, under 5 World Trade Center. Under Fulton Street, the IND train would make its turn to continue to Brooklyn. IND stood for the Independent Subway System, formerly Independent City Owned Rapid Transit Railroad (“ICOS”). The line was always owned and operated by the municipal government unlike the privately operated and jointly funded IRT and BMT. In 1940, the IND merged with the BMT (Brooklyn-Manhattan Transit Corporation) and IRT (Interborough Rapid Transit Company). The IND Eighth Avenue line opened September 10th, 1932, running from 207th Street to Chambers Street. In February 1933, the IND expanded to Jay Street with the opening of the Cranberry Street Tunnel. The IND mass transit train lines were the A through G lines. The BMT R train now runs on IND tracks. The V train also runs on the IND F line, and the Rockaway Park Shuttle runs on the A train line.
Italian Opera House / National Theatre		NW corner of Leonard and Church Streets	(40.717908, -74.005902)
The National Theatre on the NW corner of Leonard and Church was the home of the Italian Opera House, the first opera house in America. Lorenzo Da Ponte helped open the opera house in 1833. A fire in September 1839 destroyed the National Theatre as well as the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, which was across Leonard Street at the SW corner of Church Street.
Tom Riley's Liberty Pole		SW corner of Franklin Street and West Broadway	(40.718705, -74.006889)
Tom Riley's Liberty Pole stood in front of Tom Riley's Hotel at the SW corner of Franklin Street and West Broadway. The 137-ft. pole was erected on Washington’s birthday in 1834 and taken down 24 years later on June 4th, 1858, after decay made it unsafe. The year after it was put up, the Liberty Pole was struck by lightening and had to be replaced by the Democrats. Many tavern-keepers during the Revolutionary era went out to find pine trees to fashion into Liberty Poles for the front of their establishments. Displaying these signs of liberty was good for business, especially from the local firemen. The taverns and beer gardens near firehouses were sure to have Liberty Poles. Riley's Liberty Pole garnered more notoriety because of the fire department than any other hotel or tavern’s Liberty Pole. Another reason for the attention stemmed from the competitions among the rival engine companies, and the public came to root for different “teams” in these days before organized sports. Volunteer firemen would compete in a sport called water throwing where, using their pressurized hoses, they would try to throw up a stream of water higher than any other fire squad to decide whose engine had the strongest pumping power. When a fire company would get a new engine, they would come to Tom Riley's Hotel to test its pumping power against the height of the famous Liberty Pole. Jealous of each others’ equipment, the volunteer firemen put their reputation on the line at every friendly competition as well the real emergencies. Tom Riley's Hotel raised its Liberty Pole the year Boss Tweed became foreman of the Big Six, the nickname of Engine Company #6 that Tweed had long run with. One water throwing tournament on a Saturday at Tom Riley's Tavern was held to see what engine company could send a stream of water over the top of the new pole. Riley would not adorn the Liberty Pole with its usual Phrygian cap until a fireman's stream of water was thrown over the top. No fire company was up to the task, but the Big Six came the closest, just 3 feet short. In 1865, the era of the volunteer fireman came to an end when the Metropolitan Fire District replaced them with paid uniformed firemen.
Unitarian Church		Chambers Street between Broadway and Church Street	(40.714663, -74.007114)
What is now the All Souls Church was first called the Unitarian Universalist Society, founded on April 25th, 1819, in the drawing room of a Mrs. Russel during a service conducted by Dr. Channing from Boston. The Unitarians’ first church was called the First Congregational Church in the City of New York. The cornerstone was set on April 29th, 1820, on Chambers Street between Broadway and Church Street, and when finished, the small white marble church could hold 500 to 600 people. The Rev. William Ware was named pastor on December 18th, 1821. After outgrowing the crowded old church, the second Unitarian Church was built in 1825 on the corner of Prince and Mercer Streets. It was destroyed by fire in November 1837. In 1839, the Rev. Henry W. Bellows succeeded Rev. Ware (on January 4th), and the congregation dedicated the New Church of the Messiah on Broadway across from Waverly Place. In 1845, Rev. Bellows and the congregation moved to a new church on Broadway between Spring and Prince Streets with a new name, the Church of Divine Unity. During construction of the new church, the congregation met at the Apollo Saloon on the east side of Broadway between Walker and Canal Streets (where the Broadway Theatre would be built). When it became All Souls Church, Herman Melville and Peter Cooper were among its members.
Zion African Methodist Episcopal Church		SW corner of Church and Leonard Streets	(40.717656, -74.006052)
The African Methodist Episcopal Church was first organized as the Zion Church (later referred to as Mother AME Zion Church). Peter Williams Sr. laid the cornerstone for the 1800 construction at the SW corner of Church and Leonard Streets. The first Zion Church was 35 ft. wide and 45 ft. deep, and in 1820 when they purchased the lot next door, it was rebuilt to 75-by-75 ft. The church burned down in 1839, rebuilt the following year, but later moved to Bleecker Street on the corner of 10th Street. Zion Church served as a stop on the Underground Railroad and became known as the cradle of freedom or the Freedom Church. In 1813, a branch of the Zion Church formed the Asbury Church on Elizabeth Street near Pump Street (now Canal Street) between Walker and Hester Streets. In 1820, the Asbury Church formed a better union with the Zion Church and they were rejoined on Church and Leonard (after the Zion Church was rebuilt in 1840). In 1822, the Zion Church separated again forming the Asbury Church. The Elizabeth Street church burned in 1823. Tobacco merchant Benjamin Aymar owned two married slaves Peter and Molly Williams, who won their freedom after taking care of the John Street Methodist Church for many years. Peter was an expert cigar maker who became John Street Methodist Church's first sexton. A free Peter Williams made a fortune when he went into the tobacco business, using his money and time to form NYC's first Negro Methodist Church in 1796. The site for the Mother African Methodist Episcopal Church had been a stable, and on July 30th, 1800, Peter Williams laid the cornerstone for the church at the SW corner of Leonard and Church Streets. Zion was added to the church name after 1820. A larger Zion African Methodist Episcopal Church was built in 1820, but burnt down in 1839, and rebuilt again the following year as a brick building. The African Methodist Episcopal Church moved to Bleecker Street, on the corner of Tenth Street, in 1864.