Thomas Janvier quotes from some anonymous writer of an earlier day:
"From the crest of this small eminence was an enticing prospect; on
the south, the woods and dells and winding road from the lands of
Lispenard, through the valley where was Borrowson's tavern; and on the
north and west the plains of Greenwich Village made up a rich prospect
to gaze on."
Lispenard's Salt Meadows lie still, I suppose, under Canal Street
North. I have not been able to place exactly Borrowson's tavern. Our
old friend, Minetta Water, which flowed through the site of
Washington Square, made a large pond at the foot of Richmond
Hill,--somewhere about the present junction of Bedford and Downing
streets. In winter it offered wonderful skating; in summer it was a
dream of sylvan loveliness, and came to be called Burr's Pond, after
that enigmatic genius who later lived in the house.
One more description--and the best--of Richmond Hill as it was the
century before last; this one written by good Mistress Abigail, wife
of John Adams, one-time vice-president of the United States, during
their occupancy of the place.
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