Seneca Village

Description

Seneca Village began in 1825, when landowners in the area, John and Elizabeth Whitehead, subdivided their land and sold it as 200 lots. Andrew Williams, a 25-year-old African-American shoeshiner, bought the first three lots for $125. Epiphany Davis, a store clerk, bought 12 lots for $578, and the AME Zion Church purchased another six lots. From there a community was born. From 1825 to 1832, the Whiteheads sold about half of their land parcels to other African-Americans. By the early 1830s, there were approximately 10 homes in the Village. It was a prosperous neighborhood so that by 1855 about half of the 1600 people living there owned their own homes. With the establishment of Central Park, the land was condemned and the people moved away.

Established, 1825

Seneca Village was a significant 19th-century settlement of mostly African American landowners in Manhattan, located within what is now Central Park.A white farmer named John Whitehead, who purchased his property in 1824. One year later, he began selling off smaller lots from his property. It grew into a thriving community with around 225 residents, including Black Americans, Irish, and German immigrants. The village had homes, three churches, two schools, and three cemeteries. It was a place of early Black landownership and community life before being demolished in the 1850s to make way for the creation of Central Park. Its history is a poignant reminder of early urban displacement.

Removed, Oct 1, 1857

The community was destroyed to make way for Central Park under eminent domain. Over 200 residents, including landowners, were displaced.

Commemorated, 2001

Today, signs and exhibits in Central Park commemorate the settlement's history and its importance.

Excavated, 2011

Despite being largely forgotten, its legacy was revived through Roy Rosenzweig and Elizabeth Blackmar's 1992 book The Park and the People, leading to archaeological excavations and the formation of the Seneca Village Project.

Related Sites

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St. Michael's Episcopal Church-St. Michael’s established All Angels’ Church as a mission church in Seneca Village in 1849.

Summit Rock-Before the creation of Central Park, Summit Rock was a prominent feature in Seneca Village, the predominantly African-American community that existed in the West 80s from 1825 to 1857.

Mother A.M.E. Zion Church-African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church trustee Epiphany Davis, employed as a feed store clerk and part of the New York African Society for Mutual Relief bought twelve lots for $578. The AME Zion Church bought six additional lots the same week, and by 1832, at least 24 lots had been sold to African Americans. The AME Zion Church, a denomination officially established in lower Manhattan in 1821, owned property for burials in Seneca Village beginning in 1827. The Seneca Village congregation was known as the AME Zion Branch Militant from 1848. In 1853, the Church established a congregation and built a church building in Seneca Village. AME Zion maintained a church school in its basement. The church building was destroyed as part of the razing of Seneca Village.