About this listing
Residential neighborhood on John James Audubon's former estate
Place Details
Borough : Manhattan
Neighborhood : Washington Heights
Place Matters Profile
A small neighborhood within the larger Washington Heights community, Audubon Park's growth and development demonstrates upper Manhattan's transformation from a bucolic rural setting to a thriving, diverse urban area. Today it is home to both a strong residential community as well as to the Audubon Terrace Historic District, a grouping of major cultural institutions.
During the 18th century a portion of the Battle of New York was fought in the area that is now Audubon Park. Later, in the mid-19th century, the well-known naturalist John James Audubon had a country estate here. In the late 1800s many other wealthy New Yorkers also had homes in the area including George Bird Grinnell, who is known as the father of the American Conservation Movement.
With the extension of the subway to 157th Street in 1904, developers began to build large luxury apartment buildings in Audubon Park--many of which remain to this day as a mix of cooperatives and rentals. In the same
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A small neighborhood within the larger Washington Heights community, Audubon Park's growth and development demonstrates upper Manhattan's transformation from a bucolic rural setting to a thriving, diverse urban area. Today it is home to both a strong residential community as well as to the Audubon Terrace Historic District, a grouping of major cultural institutions.
During the 18th century a portion of the Battle of New York was fought in the area that is now Audubon Park. Later, in the mid-19th century, the well-known naturalist John James Audubon had a country estate here. In the late 1800s many other wealthy New Yorkers also had homes in the area including George Bird Grinnell, who is known as the father of the American Conservation Movement.
With the extension of the subway to 157th Street in 1904, developers began to build large luxury apartment buildings in Audubon Park--many of which remain to this day as a mix of cooperatives and rentals. In the same year philanthropist Archer M. Huntington founded the Hispanic Society of American and commissioned his cousin, architect Charles P. Huntington, to design a gallery and library for it in the midst of the Audubon Park neighborhood. This institution was soon joined by a number of others including the American Numismatic Society, the American Geographical Society, the Museum of the American Indian, and the Spanish-language church Our Lady of Esperanza--all designed by Huntington. In the early 1920s the National Institute of Arts and Letters also moved into the complex to a building designed for it by the firm of McKim, Mead & White. All these buildings share a similar Italian Renaissance Revival style and are grouped around a central plaza. Together they are listed as both a New York City Historic District and a National Register Historic District.
As of 2004, Audubon Terrace still houses the Hispanic Society, the Numismatic Society, Our Lady of Esperanza, which are now joined by Boricua College, which moved into the former Geographical Society building. The Museum of the American Indian moved downtown in the 1990s and there is some discussion that the Hispanic Society may leave as well. The surrounding Audubon Park community, from 155th Street to 158th Street and Broadway to the Hudson River, continues to be a flourishing residential community with a rich diversity of residents including a large Latino population.
Sources
Grinnell, George Bird. Audubon Park: The History of the Site of the Hispanic Society of America and Neighboring Institutions. New York City: The Hispanic Society of America, 1927.
The Grinnell Gazette. "From Minnie's Land to Audubon Park: Lower Washington Heights from 1840 to 1870." October 25, 1998, Vol 1, No. 2.
The Grinnell Gazette. "Audubon Park and Its Surroundings: 1855-1870." November 30, 1998, Vol 1, No. 3.
