Crowds gathering to board an excursion steamer on the East River, New York City, Harper's Weekly September 15, 1877. Although this engraving was published nearly two decades after the picnic grounds at Davids Island closed, it captures the bustle and excitement of New Yorkers about to take a day trip out of the city on an excursion boat (reproduced from J. Grafton, "New York in the Nineteenth Century," Dover Publications, 1977).