The North Battery, also called the "Red Fort," was erected 1808-1810 in the Hudson River off the foot of Hubert Street in Greenwich Village, which was at that time an outlying suburb of New York. The fortification was one of a series erected at the same time to protect the city against an enemy attack. The fort was ceded by the United States to the city in 1831 and later was joined to the shore by landfill.

During the American Revolution a number of blockhouses were erected at West Point as part of a chain of fortifications designed to block the Hudson River against the British. A small military garrison continued to serve here after the war until West Point was selected as the location for the United States Military Academy. The blockhouse delineated by Robertson is typical of those constructed here and is believed to have stood in the area later known as Kinsley Hill.

At lower left of Wade's illustration, outside the picture, is a pencil sketch of a view titled Corner of Rector St./& Broadway. At the lower right, outside the picture, is a small sketch of an omnibus with the inscription: "To be put in place/of Chariot." The "chariot" is depicted in Wade's watercolor, but an omnibus has been used in the engraved view.

Art critic Thomas Craven was the author of "Men of Art" (1931), "Modern Art" (1934), "A Treasury of Art Masterpieces" (1939), and "A Treasury of American Prints" (1939). His portrait is part of Kaufman's series of portraits of notable American men and women.

This sketchbook contains sketches made during the New York draft riots of July 1863 during the Civil War along with a few loose sketches of ca. 1877. The sketches are mainly of officers, soldiers, policemen, street groups, and troop encampments. One sketch is entitled Home of The Rioters, and on the reverse is written: "On the 13th of July not a single thief was left in the Five Points.--Capt. John Jourden 6th Ward Metropolitan Police."

The area depicted in this view is now occupied by Knickerbocker Village and Alfred E. Smith housing project.

This is a view of the world-famous street in the days when it contained residences as well as business establishments. The three buildings depicted are the Bank of New York, the New York Insurance Company, and the Branch Bank of the United States. The Bank of New York, established in 1784, still occupies the same site at the corner of William Street and is the oldest bank in the city. Wall Street, at this time, was the social center of the city.

This is a view up Wall Street toward Trinity Church. New York's City Hall at the corner of Wall and Nassau streets was reconstructed in 1788-89 from plans prepard by Major Pierre Charles L'Enfant for the use of the new federal government. The Congress of the United States met here from March 1789 to August 1790, when the Federal capital was moved from New York to Philadelphia. The building was the first home of The New-York Historical Society, from 1804 to 1809.