North Tip of Manhattan Historical Driving Tour, Fort George to Inwood

Entries on This Tour

This marble arch behind an auto repair shop on Bradway is all that remains of the Seaman-Drake property, a grand mansion that stood from the mid 19th century until the late 1930s. The former mansion dated to 1855 and was called "Mount Olympus" by its owners, John F. and Ann Seaman. The arch marks the entrance to the former estate and is the second-oldest remaining structure in Inwood after the Dyckman Farmhouse. The arch was reportedly modeled on the French Arc de Triomphe. The former mansion stood atop the hill behind the arch, where the Park Terrace Gardens co-op now stands. The Seaman-Drake Arch, sometimes called the Inwood Arch, was constructed of locally quarried white marble.

2. William H. Hurst House

This historic building was once was the home of William H. Hurst, a businessman who made his fortune selling stock ticker equipment. Hurst had the house built in 1912 for his family, including twelve children. Hurst's wife, Minnie died in January 1929 and Hurst passed away a few months later. The building was used as a convent and girls' school, the Gerard School of the Academy of the Sacred Heart of Mary, from 1946 to 1969. The Seventh-Day Adventists bought the building in 1974 to house the Northeastern Academy, along with an adjacent, newer building. The Hurst House has been vacant since the 1980s and the interior has been damaged by fire and vandalism. As of 2020, the property was listed for sale and while preservationists fear the house may be demolished, some are hoping to renovate the house to create a community center.

3. NYC's Last Gaslight Lamppost

Of the thousands of gaslight streetlamps that once illuminate the streets of New York City, only two remain. This gas lamppost in northern Manhattan in Inwood is only a couple feet from the crosswalk and was repurposed by the mid-1920s to hold the street sign. The other survivor is on Patchin Place in Greenwich Village. The Inwood lamppost consists of a cast-iron post with a fluted base now holds no signs and stands between a trash can and a newspaper box. The two lampposts, plus 60 slightly newer cast iron electric light poles and 4 wall bracket lamps, were designated New York City Landmarks in 1997.

4. Dyckman Farmhouse

The Dyckman Farmhouse is the last Dutch colonial style farmhouse in Manhattan. The farmhouse was built around 1784 by William Dyckman and would remain in the family until the late 1860s. As the northern tip of Manhattan evolved into a more urban area, the Dyckman Farmhouse was forgotten and steadily fell into disrepair. In the early 1900s, two Dyckman daughters purchased the old family farmhouse and restored it to reflect life in rural Dutch colonial New York. After the Dyckman Farmhouse was completely restored, the sisters donated the site to the City of New York. Today, the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation owns the Farmhouse and it is a thriving museum that portrays life in Manhattan prior to modernization.

5. The Met Cloisters

The Met Cloisters, often called just The Cloisters, house the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s collection of Medieval art. The Cloisters building was inspired by a variety of different structures and combines architectural styles and types. Many spaces in the building were carefully disassembled at their original location, shipped to New York in pieces, and then reassembled for museum use. The museum’s permanent collections include over five thousand works and span more than one thousand years. A wide variety of artistic mediums are represented, including painted works, sculpture, textiles, stained-glass, and architecture. In addition to exhibiting art objects, The Cloisters also host concert series and other events.

6. Subway Substation 17, Dyckman-Hillside

Subway Substation 17 is one of the eight original substations built by the Interborough Rapid Transit Company from 1904 to 1905 and continues to support the New York City Subway as a workshop for elevators and escalators in addition to providing backup equipment to support electrical power distribution in the case of a system failure. The substation is near the Fort George Tunnel, one of the deepest portions of the subway system as it passes through hilly northern Manhattan. Subway Substation 17 was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2006, and also is known as the Dyckman-Hillside Substation.

7. Former Isabella Heimath Home for the Aged

The Isabella Heimath Home for the Aged once stood on Amsterdam Avenue on the north side of W. 190th St. in the Fort George neighborhood of Manhattan. The home was established in Astoria, Queens in 1875, and provided shelter and support for widows and other elderly women. The home relocated to Amsterdam Ave. in 1889 and began accepting elderly men around that time as well. A hospital was also added to provide convalescent care. The organization's needs and capacity to serve outgrew that building's capacity of 132 residents, and as a result, they build a new seventeen story building at Audubon Avenue and W. 190th Street in 1965. This new facility was known as Isabella House, and in 1972, the fourteen-story Isabella Nursing Home opened nearby. The Amsterdam Avenue building was demolished and a parking garage now stands in its place.

8. Battle of Fort Washington

The Battle of Fort Washington took place on November 16th, 1776 which pitted the forces of the United States against those of Great Britain and the Hessians, German soldiers hired by Britain. The battle took place in modern day Hudson Heights in Manhattan. General George Washington was forced to retreat to Pennsylvania after a major victory for Britain. As a result, New York and Eastern New Jersey fell into the hands to Britain.

This Tour is a Driving or Biking Tour.

North Tip of Manhattan Historical Driving Tour, Fort George to Inwood

Created by Laurie Paonessa on November 25th 2021, 3:42:03 am.

Get a QR Code for this tour

Description

Drive through the Fort George & Inwood neighborhoods of northern Manhattan, starting at a Revolutionary War monument. Drive past the former site of an old age home, one of the original subway substations, and visit Fort Tryon Park and the Met Cloisters for a taste of medieval Europe. Tour the last Dutch colonial style farmhouse in Manhattan, then glimpse remnants of the past: one of two gaslight streetlamps left in NYC, an abandoned mansion, and an arch of local marble that once was the gatehouse for a long-gone hilltop mansion.

Entries on This Tour

North Tip of Manhattan Historical Driving Tour, Fort George to Inwood

Description

Share