MANHATTAN ISLAND. An island at the head of New York Bay, forming the borough of Manhattan in New York City, and containing the commercial and financial nucleus of the metropolis, together with its main residence portion. It is situated between the Hudson or North River and the East Diver; Spuyten Duyvil Creek and the Harlan] River separate it from the mainland on the north and northeast. The island, with tapering northern and southern extremities, a few hundred yards wide, is Miles long., with a maximum width. at Four teenth Street, of miles, and all area of 22 square miles. It has a wharfage front of 22 miles, with a depth of water sufficient for the largest vessels. The Brooklyn Bridge connects Manhattan Island, about a mile from its southern extremity, with Long Island; another bridge about a mile to the cast of this is nearing com pletion; three miles farther north a bridge will span the river where the channel is divided by Plackwell's Island. A number of bridges span the Harlem River and Spuyten Duyvil Creek, and numerous steam ferries communicate with the adjacent shores. The surface is undulating
and rocky, in the north rising from the Hudson to an altitude of 23S feet at Washington Heights, but sloping abruptly toward the east, where is a level stretch formerly known as the Harlem Hats. Farther south the elevation continues as a central ridge, with a gentle slope on either side. Extensive leveling was necessary in lay ing out the streets. With the exception of the Harlem plain and an extensive bed of beach sand to the south and east of City Ball, the island is chiefly composed of crystalline Ar•hiran rocks with intercalated veins of gneiss, mica schist, and hornblende, overlaid by generally shallow glacial drift deposits. The greater part of the city is built on the rock foundation; pile founda tions. however, are resorted to in the deeper glacial deposits and in the beach sand. Peter Minuit, the first Dutch Governor-General, is said to have received Manhattan Island in 14126 for barter to the value of about $25; the ground value alone is now estimated at over $2,500,000, 000.