Two letters from Walter Failing in New York City to his sister Mary Jane in Watertown, New York, on June 5 and September 22, 1845, together with typewritten transcripts. Walter gives a detailed description of life in New York, including the varied inhabitants, charitable institutions, prominent buildings (including Trinity Church, at that time being built), fire districts, city government, street lights, food markets, cabs and omnibuses, street vendors, rag pickers, plays currently being performed, a large visiting steamship (the Great Britain, the first iron steamer to cross the Atlantic), a neighborhood water-pump and those who use it, and the other residents of the boarding house where he lives, many of whom are European visitors or immigrants.