Where is the Courthouse Block?
The Courthouse Block is in downtown Manhattan. It straddles Cardina Hayes Place between Pearl and Worth streets and is two blocks east of the African Burial Ground. The Courthouse Block is located on what was once the banks of a body of water called the Collect Pond. The pond which covered the area that is now a part of Chinatown and the federal courts today, had been completely filled by 1817. Originally, it was a 60 foot deep, 46 acre pond that was rich with fish, clams and oysters.
