New York's Manhassat Apartments were constructed in 1899. The Beaux Arts style building features a distinctive French mansard slate roof and is home to numerous apartments, and in 1910, the building was modified to include commercial spaces on the street level on the side of the building facing Broadway. The Manhassat Apartments is a New York City landmark and contributes to the Broadway-Riverside Drive Historic District. The apartments are near the north end of the Bloomingdale neighborhood/ south end of the Morningside Heights neighborhood and historic district. The building is still a residential co-op with commercial spaces along Broadway.
Lajos Kossuth was born into a prominent family but came to believe that his homeland should become independent from the Hapsburg Monarchy. In 1847 Kossuth was elected to the national assembly, the Hungarian Diet. The following year, Kosuth became one of the primary leaders of the Hungarian Revolution which seized power from the ruling monarchs. The following year, the Austrian's nephew Franz Joseph formed an alliance with Russia. The Russian army crushed the newly-independent Hungarian government in 1849. Facing a certain death sentence if he was captured, Lajos Kossuth fled Hungary. Rather than abandon his cause, he toured Europe and the United States in search of supporters. Kossuth arrived in New York in December, 1851 and toured the US for seven months. Although Kossuth was welcomed by enthusiastic crowds along the East Coast, enthusiasm for his cause dwindled quickly. in 1927, Hungarian-American Gezo Barko launched a campaign to create a monument to Kossuth that was enthusiastically supported by Hungarian immigrants.
The building at 434 Riverside Drive is the Delta Psi, Alpha Chapter fraternity house and was built for the organization in 1898 or 1899. Only one block from Barnard College and Columbia University, the five-story plus basement building is faced in white limestone and red brick and faces west toward Riverside Park. The building was entered in the New York and National Registers of Historic Places in 1996 for its architectural significance. It is an example of Early French Renaissance design and the work of two prominent architects, George C. Palmer and Henry F. Hornbostel, who were both Columbia U. graduates. The building is one of over 120 contributing to the Broadway-Riverside Drive National Register Historic District, between W. 107 and 119th Streets. It continues to serve as the Delta Psi House.
Completed in 1930, New York’s Riverside Church was modeled on Chartres Cathedral in France. The interdenominational church was the work of industrialist and philanthropist John D. Rockfeller and the minister Harry Emerson Fosdick, with both men envisioning a church open to any person of the Christian faith. Located on a prominent spot overlooking the Hudson River, the church is the tallest in the United States and one of the tallest in the world. The church is known for its activism and has a congregation representing more than forty ethnic groups. The church is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The General Grant National Memorial is located in upper Manhatten on Riverside Drive. The memorial is also referred to as Grant's Tomb. Ulysses S. Grant was laid to rest at this location after his death. According to Grant's wish, his wife Julia was laid beside him. The memorial celebrates the life and accomplishments of General Grant during and after the civil war. General Grant played an integral part in the ending of the civil war. He received a deserved honor with the dedication of this tomb.
Barnard College was formed in 1888 as the "women's annex" to Columbia College and is now an undergraduate college of Columbia University. Columbia relocated to the Morningside Heights neighborhood in 1897 with Barnard adjacent to the west, across Broadway. Three of the original buildings of Barnard College - Milbank (1897), Fiske 1897), and Brinckerhoff (1898) - are now collectively called Milbank Hall. The three interconnected buildings are four stories tall on a raised basement. The buildings face Broadway (Brinckerhoff), W. 120th Street (Milbank), or Claremont Avenue (Fiske). The buildings are Italian Renaissance style with Colonial-inspired features and were designed by architect Charles A. Rich. Milbank Hall is constructed of dark red brick accented in limestone or terra cotta with a basement covered in rusticated limestone. In 2003, Milbank Hall was listed in the New York and National Registers of Historic Places.
The Battle of Harlem Heights was a minor engagement that took place during the early phases of the Revolutionary War. Following their rapid defeat and panicked retreat from Long Island, this successful rearguard action helped slow the British advance and offered a critical morale boost to American troops. On September 16, 1776, General George Washington led the outnumbered Americans against the advancing British forces under General Sir William Howe. The battle was the first American victory of the New York Campaign. The victory was only temporary, as Washington's troops were still vastly outnumbered and forced to continue their retreat. The battle also resulted in the death of one of Washington's most competent officers, Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Knowlton. Despite these setbacks, the battle served as a boon to American morale and allowed the bulk of Washington's army to evade capture so they could continue their war for independence.
The Alma Mater statue at Columbia University in Manhattan, New York has been a symbol of the university ever since its dedication in 1903. Harriette W. Goelet commissioned Daniel Chester French to design the statue in honor of her husband, Robert Goelet, who graduated from the University with the class of 1860. The bronze statue rests on a marble and granite base in front of Columbia University’s Low Library.
Buell Hall, the brick building to the southeast of Columbia University's Low Library. is the oldest building on the Morningside Heights campus and is actually older than the campus. Columbia College bought the land for their new campus in Morningside Heights from New York Hospital in 1892. Prior to then, the property was the site of the Bloomingdale Insane Asylum, a hospital for the mentally ill. "Macy Villa" was built in 1885 to house wealthy male patients in more comfortable surroundings, apart from the general population of the asylum. Macy Villa was moved uphill to this spot from nearby in 1905 to make room for a new campus building (Kent Hall); the house's front porch was not rebuilt. Since 1977, Buell Hall has housed the Maison Francaise, founded at Columbia in 1913 as the first center for study of French civilization and literature to be established at an American university. Offices of several architectural institutes are in Buell Hall as well.
The Cathedral of Saint John the Divine is the home of the Episcopal Diocese of New York, and it is located on Amsterdam Avenue. The Cathedral is technically incomplete, despite its construction spanning the last three centuries, having begun in 1892, but it is still the fourth-largest Christian church in the world. The Cathedral not only holds weekly services but also hosts many other cultural and civic events for its congregation and the surrounding populous.
This Tour is a Walking Tour.
Get a QR Code for this tour
Walk past historic buildings, statues, monuments & plaques between Morningside Park & the Hudson, from W. 109th northward; loop back south by the Barnard & Columbia campus (you may not be able to get inside campus without a college ID).
