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    Washington Heights, Inwood, and Marble Hill
    Washington Heights, Inwood, and Marble Hill
    Washington Heights, Inwood, and Marble Hill
    Ebook150 pages37 minutes

    Washington Heights, Inwood, and Marble Hill

    By James Renner

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    About this ebook

    The history of Washington Heights, Inwood, and Marble Hill is interesting not only because the communities played a major role in the American Revolution but because of their cultural and educational institutions and residents whose culture and ethnicity have contributed to the well-being of the area. These communities have always been a haven for immigrants who have come here to live and work since the pre-Columbian era. Native Americans came to trade goods, Jewish refugees came during the 1930s to flee the tyranny of the Nazis, and since the end of World War II there has been an influx of the Latino community. The area is also noted for its dolomitic Inwood marble, which has been quarried for government buildings in New York City and some of the federal buildings in Washington, D.C. Through vintage images, Washington Heights, Inwood, and Marble Hill illustrates the transformation of this area over the decades.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherArcadia Publishing
    Release dateSep 18, 2012
    ISBN9781439635711
    Washington Heights, Inwood, and Marble Hill
    Author

    James Renner

    JAMES RENNER is the author of the novels The Man from Primrose Lane and The Great Forgetting, as well as several works of nonfiction, including The Serial Killer's Apprentice. His true crime stories have appeared in The Best American Crime Writing anthology, Cleveland Scene, and Cracked.com. His method of using social media to solve cold cases was the subject of a CNN profile, in 2015. He lives in Akron with his wife and children.

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      Book preview

      Washington Heights, Inwood, and Marble Hill - James Renner

      him.

      INTRODUCTION

      For eight decades there was only one book that, for the most part, covered this part of Manhattan specifically from 155th Street to the Spuyten Duyvil Creek. Reginald Pelham Bolton’s Washington Heights Manhattan, Its Eventful Past is considered one of the few books that was researched and devoted to this area. The book was published and distributed by the Dyckman Institute in 1924.

      Northern Manhattan’s topography, demographics, boundaries, and geography have changed many times in the past 500 years. From its pre-Columbian inhabitants to its present-day immigrants, the community is still a vibrant place to live. Currently the boundaries start at 155th Street from the Hudson to the Harlem Rivers to the Spuyten Duyvil Creek. Marble Hill is the landlocked portion of Manhattan connected to the Bronx.

      Many of its noted residents, such as Henry Kissinger, Dr. Ruth Westheimer, Duke Ellington, Edwin Newman, Alan Greenspan, Tiny Tim, Lee Grant, Jean Arthur, Guy Williams, and Paul Robeson, have made major contributions to the world at large. Films and television shows such as Law and Order, Coogan’s Bluff, The Wrong Man, The Seven-Ups, Copland, and many others have been filmed in Washington Heights and Inwood.

      We must now think of the future, and this book will help bring new insights and a better understanding of the history to the future generations who will move into these communities.

      One

      WASHINGTON HEIGHTS

      Washington Heights is noted for its hills, valleys, parklands, and history. Noted for having the last major battle of the Revolutionary War in New York City, the site of Fort Washington, located in Bennett Park, is considered by many local history enthusiasts to be the Alamo of the American Revolution.

      Washington Heights has been inhabited as far back as the pre-Columbian period. The Lenape Confederacy, an Algonquin-speaking nation, used the area for fishing and trading. The area was part of a village called Nieuw Haarlem, established by the Dutch in 1658, to be used as a northern defensive post against Native American raids and as a farming community.

      In 1664, the British took control of New York and its environs, and Nieuw Haarlem was renamed Lancaster, with a definitive boundary from East 74th Street and the East River to 129th Street and the Hudson River. It became a farming community until 1837, when the Harlem River Railroad was extended north through the area.

      Mass transit played an important roll in the urbanization of Washington Heights. In the 1880s, trolley lines had been extended into northern Manhattan. There was a trolley barn on 218th Street and Broadway that housed the trolleys for the Third Avenue Railway Company.

      As time progressed and people moved into northern Manhattan, the demographics of the community changed. The census counts showed the ever-increasing population, and areas were rezoned to show the changes. As a result of these districts, the official southern boundary of Washington Heights became 155th Street, and the area was designated Community District 12.

      Washington Heights is experiencing a renaissance. For years it was teetering as an entity, and now with this revival comes gentrification and urban renewal. The rents are still affordable, and families have moved into Washington Heights from other parts of Manhattan. Actors, artists, and musicians are also moving into this little-known enclave that had gone unnoticed for years.

      These two museums are part of the Audubon Terrace Museum Complex originally called Audubon Park. It was part of the estate of John James Audubon, who was famous for his book The Birds of America. It was conceived by Archer M. Huntington and laid out in 1908 by Charles Pratt Huntington. The statues in the courtyard were executed by Anna Vaughn Huntington. The timing of this complex was to coincide with the opening of the subway. The museum complex also housed the numismatic society, Hispanic society, and

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