Civil War. Richard Croker, later Tammany chief, was said to have been
one of the leaders.

In 1854 an order of the Common Council further restricted the use of
steam-power, and the horsecar lines were extended to Forty-second Street.
Here, in 1871, the Harlem Railroad Company opened the Grand Central
Depot. Horsecars were replaced in the late 188o's by cable cars and in
1896 the Harlem road leased the lines below Forty-second Street to the
Metropolitan Street Railroad Company. Streetcars were replaced by motor
busses in 1933 and the use of the old Fourth Avenue tunnel was limited
to private motor vehicles. At Fortieth Street the tunnel gives access to the
ramp around the new Grand Central Terminal.

The venerable Murray Hill Hotel, crowning glory of the elegant
1890's, fronts Park Avenue between Fortieth and Forty-first Streets. This
hostelry was patronized by such diverse celebrities as Mark Twain, Sena-
tor George Hearst, Jay Gould, "Diamond Jim" Brady, and Presidents
Cleveland and McKinley. Completed in 1884 after plans by Stephen
Hatch, the hotel with its red and white marble floors, carmine plush, gilt-
framed mirrors, and rococo walls and ceilings, has been little changed. It
is eight stories in height, and has six hundred rooms, many of which
retain the original furniture. The exterior is faced with a conglomeration
of granite, brownstone, and red brick that was considered in its day the
acme of architectural raiment. Fine circular fire escapes of wrought iron
grace the bays of the Fortieth Street facade. The lobby, entered from Park
Avenue by a double stairway, is decorated in red and gold in the best
Victorian tradition. At the southwest corner of Forty-second Street and
Park Avenue formerly stood the Hotel Belmont, famous for the magnifi-
cence of its bar and the cuisine of its French chefs; and at the southeast
corner the popular Grand Union Hotel, headquarters for visting officers
during the Civil War. The latter's host for many years was Simeon Ford,
bon vivant and prince of after-dinner speakers.

Fifth Avenue Shopping District

Area: 34th to 57th St.

At Thirty-fourth Street, Fifth Avenue abruptly emerges from a street
of buildings housing wholesale clothing, textile, and bric-a-brac concerns
to become the aristocrat of shopping thoroughfares. Some of New York's
most exclusive hotels and clubs and fashionable churches as well as many
nationally known retail establishments front its broad sidewalks. The top