Seneca Village

Seneca Village was a small village on the island of Manhattan, New York founded by free blacks in 1825. The village was the first significant community of African American property owners on Manhattan, and also came to be inhabited by several other minorities, including Irish and German immigrants, and perhaps Native Americans as well. The village was located on about five acres between where 82nd and 89th Streets and 7th and 8th Avenues would now intersect, an area now covered by Central Park.

In 1855, a New York State Census found that Seneca Village had 264 residents. The village had three churches, a school, and several cemeteries. At this time in New York City's history, most of the city's population lived below 14th Street, and the region above 59th Street was only sporadically developed and was semi-rural or rural in character. In 1857, all private property within Seneca Village was acquired by the city government through eminent domain, for the purpose of constructing Central Park. The village was razed for park construction. The buried remains of the village have recently been the subject of archaeological investigation.

References

• "Seneca Village". The New York Historical Society. Retrieved August 11, 2005.
• Pyle, Richard (August 11, 2005). "Clues Sought in Pre-Central Park Village". Associated Press: Yahoo News.

Further reading

• Rosenzweig, Roy and Blackmar, Elizabeth. The Park and the People: A History of Central Park. Ithaca and London: Cornell University Press, 1992.