CHAPTER II.
_The Stretch of Tradition_ Stretches of the Avenue--The Stretch of Tradition--Washington Arch--Old Homes and Gardens--The Mews and MacDougal Alley--In the Fourth Decade--A Genial Ruffian of the Olden Time--Sailor's Snug Harbor--The Miss Green School--Andrew H.Green, John Fiske, John Bigelow, Elihu Root, and Others as Teachers--The Brevoort Farm--The First Hotel of the Avenue--A Romance of 1840--"Both Sides of the Avenue." A snug little farm was the old Brevoort Where cabbages grew of the choicest sort; Full-headed, and generous, ample and fat, In a queenly way on their stems they sat, And there was boast of their genuine breed, For from old Utrecht had come their seed.
-- _Gideon Tucker, "The Old Brevoort Farm."_ Passing under the Washington Arch, the march up the Avenue properly begins.

To commemorate the centenary of the inauguration of the nation's first President a temporary arch was erected in the spring of 1889.

The original structure reached from corner to corner across Fifth Avenue, opposite the Park, and the expense was borne by Mr.William Rhinelander Stewart and other residents of Washington Square.

It added so much to the beauty of the entrance to the Avenue that steps were taken to make it permanent, and the present Arch was the result of popular subscription.

One hundred and twenty-eight thousand dollars was the cost of the structure, which was designed by Stanford White.