Baxter Street
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Baxter Street () is a narrow thoroughfare that runs in a north–south direction in the borough of 
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 in
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in the
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in North America. It lies between Mulberry Street and Centre Street. It runs through
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and the edge of Chinatown. Today, it runs one-way southbound from Grand Street to Hogan Place, and one-way northbound for its southernmost block from
Worth Street Worth Street is a two-way street running roughly northwest-southeast in Manhattan, New York City. It runs from Hudson Street, TriBeCa, in the west to Chatham Square in Chinatown in the east. Past Chatham Square, the roadway continues as Oliver ...
to Hogan Place. Originally named Orange Street, Baxter Street was famous as the primary street to form the notorious Five Points intersection (originally a regular corner of Orange and Cross Streets, and then, Anthony Street, which was later renamed Worth Street, was cut through to the intersection in 1817, bisecting one of the four corners into two, so that the resulting
junction Junction may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Junction'' (film), a 2012 American film * Jjunction, a 2002 Indian film * Junction (album), a 1976 album by Andrew Cyrille * Junction (EP), by Basement Jaxx, 2002 * Junction (manga), or ''Hot ...
consisted of five “points” on a map). The street is named after Lt. Colonel Charles Baxter, a hero of the Mexican War who was killed in Chapultepec in 1849.


History of alignment

Previous to the middle of the eighteenth century, the area was still undeveloped. Orange Street is first shown in a 1754 map as a two block street running from the "High Road To Boston" (which later became Chatham St. and finally, Park Row), and ended at a small clearing where the later "bend" in the street would occur, which was at the time along the banks of the unnamed body of "fresh water" later known as the
Collect Pond Collect Pond, or Fresh Water Pond,, p. 250. was a body of fresh water in what is now Chinatown in Lower Manhattan, New York City. For the first two centuries of European settlement in Manhattan, it was the main New York City water supply syste ...
, with its
marsh A marsh is a wetland that is dominated by herbaceous rather than woody plant species.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p Marshes can often be found a ...
lying to the north. The future "Five Points" intersection was a normal crossing of two streets, Orange and Cross, with Cross Street running from
Mott Street Mott Street () is a narrow but busy thoroughfare that runs in a north–south direction in the New York City borough of Manhattan. It is regarded as Chinatown's unofficial " Main Street". Mott Street runs from Bleecker Street in the north to ...
(as it always would), to an unmarked "Little Water Street", and then ending at the banks of the pond. Anthony Street (which would complete the "fifth point" and was later renamed Worth Street) did not exist. By 1797, the alignment north of the bend is shown, running all the way to Prince Street, but this section was called "Mary Street". A walkway had been built next to the street, along the pond and its marsh and running from the bend to almost Hester Street. In the new century, the street (the whole length by now renamed "Orange Street", and the areas to the west of it built up) was shown beginning in a dead end north of Prince Street. An 1803 plan, however, had it merge with Crosby Street at
Houston Street Houston Street ( ) is a major east–west thoroughfare in Lower Manhattan in New York City. It runs the full width of the island of Manhattan, from FDR Drive along the East River in the east to the West Side Highway along the Hudson River i ...
. At
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, Elm Street merged with Orange Street; and at Broome Street, Centre Street merged with Orange Street. The triangle formed by Broome, Orange, and Centre Streets was later the location of the original Centre Market. By 1850, the current alignment was set in place with Centre Market becoming a full block between
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and Broome Streets, with the portions of the original street alignment north of Broome being connected only to Centre Street and renamed Marion Place (and is currently known as Cleveland Place, with Elm, now Lafayette St., taking the alignment north of there and extending past the original dead end). The street on the east side of the Market, which was displaced a bit east of where Orange ends at Grand, also had taken on the name Centre Market Place. On the southern end, Orange Street always ended at Chatham Street. Past there, another street, slightly to the east, named Roosevelt Street, continued to the
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waterfront.


Five Points

The southern end of the street deteriorated into a slum, largely due to the infilling of the Collect Pond, which lowered property values, causing the middle class to move out, and poor immigrants and African Americans to move in. The area, particularly the street, eventually became known for gang violence. In between, the first
bowling alley A bowling alley (also known as a bowling center, bowling lounge, bowling arena, or historically bowling club) is a facility where the sport of bowling is played. It can be a dedicated facility or part of another, such as a clubhouse or dwelling ...
s also were opened on the street, behind the saloons at Nos. 51 and 63, and the
tap dance Tap dance is a form of dance characterized by using the sounds of tap shoes striking the floor as a form of percussion. Two major variations on tap dance exist: rhythm (jazz) tap and Broadway tap. Broadway tap focuses on dance; it is widely perf ...
was created by competing black and Irish dancers at a tavern at 67 Orange. In 1854, to try to remove some of the stigma the area had taken on already, some of the primary streets were renamed, including Orange Street, which was then named after Charles Baxter, a state legislator who also to fought and died as a lieutenant colonel in the
Mexican–American War The Mexican–American War, also known in the United States as the Mexican War and in Mexico as the (''United States intervention in Mexico''), was an armed conflict between the United States and Mexico from 1846 to 1848. It followed the 1 ...
. Nonetheless, the area, and the street, would maintain its seedy reputation. Gangs included the Baxter Street Dudes, who ran the Grand Duke's Theatre from their headquarters on the street during the 1870s. When various artists and photographers (most notably,
Jacob Riis Jacob August Riis ( ; May 3, 1849 – May 26, 1914) was a Danish-American social reformer, "muckraking" journalist and social documentary photographer. He contributed significantly to the cause of urban reform in America at the turn of the twen ...
) would capture the scenes of the Five Points intersection and the squalor of the area in the 1870s and '80s, many Baxter Street scenes, including such residences as the "Dens of Death" would be seen.


Revitalization

Later, much of the Five Points area was cleared. The east side, the
Mulberry Bend Mulberry Bend was an area surrounding a curve on Mulberry Street, in the Five Points neighborhood in Lower Manhattan, New York City. It is located in what is now Chinatown in Manhattan. Boundaries It was bounded by Bayard Street to the north, ...
, was turned into the Columbus Park in 1895. The west side of the street, and the entirety of Baxter Street south of Worth Street, was demolished for the Manhattan
Civic Center A civic center or civic centre is a prominent land area within a community that is constructed to be its focal point or center. It usually contains one or more dominant public buildings, which may also include a government building. Recently, the ...
in the 20th century. South of Canal Street, Baxter Street's west side adjoins the rear of the
New York City Criminal Court The Criminal Court of the City of New York is a court of the State Unified Court System in New York City that handles misdemeanors (generally, crimes punishable by fine or imprisonment of up to one year) and lesser offenses, and also conducts a ...
, which is lined with numerous law and bail bond offices; Baxter Street is heavily connected to police and the law, despite having a history rife with crime.


In popular culture

The street's past was portrayed in a play by New York playwright Barbara Kahn, ''The Ballad of Baxter Street'', which premiered in 2005 at
Theater for the New City Theater for the New City, founded in 1971 and known familiarly as "TNC", is one of New York City's leading off-off-Broadway theaters, known for radical political plays and community commitment. Productions at TNC have won 43 Obie Awards and the P ...
."The Ballad of Baxter Street"
/ref> In the
backdoor pilot A television pilot (also known as a pilot or a pilot episode and sometimes marketed as a tele-movie), in United States television, is a standalone episode of a television series that is used to sell a show to a television network or other distri ...
of the
Arthur Arthur is a common male given name of Brythonic origin. Its popularity derives from it being the name of the legendary hero King Arthur. The etymology is disputed. It may derive from the Celtic ''Artos'' meaning “Bear”. Another theory, more wi ...
spinoff
Postcards From Buster ''Postcards from Buster'' is a live-action/animated children's television series that originally aired on PBS. It is a spin-off of the '' Arthur'' TV series. The show stars Arthur's best friend, 8-year-old anthropomorphic rabbit Buster Baxter ...
, Arthur and Buster notice the street sign while walking in Chinatown.


See also

* Five Points


References


Bibliography

*


External links


New York Songlines: Baxter StreetExperiencing Baxter Street: Then and Now, Reality and Fiction
{{Manhattan Streets, state=collapsed Streets in Manhattan Chinatown, Manhattan Five Points, Manhattan