----- Original Message -----
Sent: Friday, November 25, 2005 9:40
AM
Subject: [NYHIST-L] Today is 222nd
Anniversary of Evacuation Day
On November 25, 1783, the British Army boarded their naval
vessels and
evacuated New York City (then coterminous with New York
County), their wartime
headquarters and their last military position in
the United States during the
Revolutionary War.
As they sailed away
in retreat through the Narrows separating Long Island and
Staten Island,
the last thing they saw, as their ships sunk below the
horizon, was the
Flag of the United States of America flying atop the Liberty Pole
(an
extended flag pole) in the frontyard of the Dutch Reformed Church in the
Hamlet of New Utrecht, Town of New Utrecht, Kings County. Today this
is at 18th
Avenue and Liberty Pole Boulevard (84th Street) in the
neighborhood of
Bensonhurst in the Borough of Brooklyn (Kings County), New
York City.
Replaced six times over the years, the 106' Liberty Pole is
the last
remaining Liberty Pole in the original thirteen United
States. On top of the Pole is
the original eagle and weathervane.
The eagle is made of wood and has a 5'
wingspan. After two hundred and
twenty-two years, the weather has weakened it
considerably and it has been
reinforced with iron bands.
Here's the URL for the New Utrecht Liberty
Pole Association:
http://www.historicnewutrecht.org/LPA.html
Here's
the URL for the Dutch Reformed Church:
http://www.newutrechtchurch.org/
I
hope this information is useful or, at least,
interesting.
Regards,
Walter Greenspan
Great Falls, MT &
Jericho, NY
--
No virus found in this incoming
message.
Checked by AVG Free Edition.
Version: 7.1.362 / Virus Database:
267.13.10/186 - Release Date: 11/29/2005