So why did so many thriving communities get replaced by a park? Whites who farmed and owned land north of Manhattan werent keen on selling land to black folks. And researchers are still looking for more information about Seneca Village and its residents and anyone with information is encouraged to reach out to the Institute for the Exploration of Seneca Village History. Baldwin-Jones offers a possible explanation for this phenomenon: In the face of slavery where people of various cultures were brought together as property and [were] treated as less than human, [one was forced] to create an identity for oneself [a] sense of individuality that would lead to using unmatched dishes, and other personal items to create such an autonomy. Perhaps the importance of individual improvisation in jazz, the quintessential African-American art form, is another expression of this phenomenon. A reminder of the glacier that The poorer children worked as ragpickers. you would be able to vote if you owned $250 or once towered over this area. Visitors are encouraged to begin their visit at the Seneca Falls Heritage & Tourism Center in downtown Seneca Falls, which also houses the Seneca Museum of Waterways & Industry and is the home of the Heritage Area Commission. Beneath present-day Central Park once stood Seneca Village, a majority African American community that existed from 1825 (two years before slavery ended legally in New York) till the day it was razed in 1857. Its legacy, its people, and its memories; all ghosts. The village was small but became a highly influential community of Black settlers who worked hard to become rich and self-reliant. The Village was also the site . to the Village of Seneca Falls by Col. Wilhelmus Mynderse During his residence here Col. Mynderse lived in four towns as they were successively organized, Romulus (first in Cayuga County), Washington, Junius and Seneca Falls, and held many public offices. Egbert Viele, Map of the lands included in The Central Park, from a topographical survey, June 17, 1856. Although Seneca Village was effectively wiped from the face of New York City in 1857, an archeological excavation in 2011 began to uncover a thriving multi-ethnic middle-class community that became one of the first victims of gentrification. William Hamilton also helped found the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, created for Blacks who wanted to avoid the prejudice found within several white churches at the time. it all the more important to retrieve the history Then, check out this birds eye view of Central Park. Archaeologists, including Nan Rothschild (back row, sixth from left) and Diana diZerega Wall (back row, fifth from left), and students collected several thousand artifacts at the site of Seneca Village. However, these were official records that did not tell us much about the dreams and fears of the people who had lived in the village, or about their daily lives. Seneca Village, New York City - U.S. National Park Service The current movement for racial justicewhich includes elevating Black history, culture, and storieshas sparked a renewed interest in Seneca Village, a community of predominantly African-Americans that existed before the creation of Central Park. You can do a deeper dive into the history of Seneca Village on the Central Park Conservancy's website here. The sign, acknowledging the area where Seneca Village once stood. And according to Interesting Sh*t, since New York State ruled in 1821 that in order to vote, Black men had to "own at least $250 in property, something not required of white voters," being able to buy property in Seneca Village also meant being able to acquire voting rights. Courtesy of the NYC Municipal Archives. Both Sackett and Bascom are buried at Restvale Cemetery in Seneca Falls. chapter of American history back into our cultural consciousness. These parks were used for military drills and executions as well as recreation. Out of roughly 225 residents in 1855, up to one-third were Irish immigrants, and there was also "a small number of individuals of German descent," according to Central Park Conservancy. to condemn the properties within the boundaries of the park and to evict the residents. perhaps it was another value in having a village that There were also records from one of the three churches that were located in the village. We want to hear from the public and invite you to join us for our first Community Conversation to discuss what resonates with you about Seneca Village. It would also help bring the history of middle-class African-Americans into the modern narrative of the nations history. However, as of now, the only official artifact acknowledging the villages existence is a small sign, dedicated to the people who once called it home. History of Seneca Falls. Andrew Williams, who bought one of the original lots, was paid almost what his land was worth, but only "after filing an affidavit with the state Supreme Court." Free Blacks founded the village in 1825: the first free Black community in New York City. - [Dr.Wall] Until the very It is so personalit evokes the child who lived there and makes him or her come to life. late 1980's and early 1990's Seneca Village was gone It's just hushed up. William, the secret son of Alexander Hamilton who founded Seneca Seneca Village was located between 82nd and 89th Streets at Seventh and Eighth Avenues in Manhattan in what is known as the western edge of Central Park. that left Ireland for the US. where does the word originate from? This demand was partly inspired by the fact that the elite were able to travel to Europe, seeing Kensington Park and the Champs-lyses, they decided New York City also "deserve[d] to have a park of that stature," according to public historian Cynthia Copeland. But unlike most of their white counterparts, John and Elizabeth Whitehead were willing to sell to blacks. All landmarks that New Yorkers know well. The Five Points was also becoming unsafe for many free blacks. Beginning in 1849, a small group of civic-minded New York visionaries began to agitate for the creation of a grand, artfully sculptured uptown park, modeled after the opulent public parks of Europe. The Death of the Black Utopia An exhibition on Seneca Village, which was destroyed to build Central Park, pays homage to a forgotten chapter in New York City history. There was also an Irish woman who was the local midwife for everyone in the community. If you would like to see them, you can google them up by name. However, after just 20 years, the thriving black community that had made its home there was pushed out, to make room for the affluent white residents of Upper Manhattan to build a park. The prospect of owning land in Seneca Village was exciting for more than one reason. Since most white landowners refused to sell lots to Black people, Seneca Village became one of the few places in New York City where Black people could own property. She is the author of New York City Neighborhoods: the 18th Century; Colonial Encounters in a Native American Landscape; The Archaeology of American Cities (with Diana Wall); and many articles. Its adored by both the locals and tourists from all over the world. - [Dr.Zucker] New York because Residents of Seneca Village were asked to leave their homes without any other place to go. lawns, playgrounds, rock outcroppings of Manhattan's schist. I recommend it highly. Stories that we know to be partly true, but important details lost in the building of a nation. Seneca Village began in 1825, when landowners in the area, John and Elizabeth Whitehead, subdivided their land and sold it as 200 lots. In 1807, he erected the red mills on the lower rapids near Rumseys. what is now Central Park, is just a few feet below the soil. Of the thousands of artifacts you uncovered, do you have any personal favorites? View sales history, tax history, home value estimates, and ove. Opinion | The Death of the Black Utopia - The New York Times William Hamilton started work as a carpenter but soon became an activist after seeing the unfavorable conditions faced by his fellow African Americans. The average household income in the Seneca area is $58,119. And on July 21st, 1853, New York City decided to allocate 750-775 acres of land to create the first major landscaped public park in the United States. Her books include Unearthing Gotham (with Anne-Marie Cantwell) and The Archaeology of America's Cities (with Nan Rothschild). All That's Interesting writes that several of the basements in the village were used to hide Black people who were trying to escape enslavement. us assume that the African American presence began You also found remnants of some of the buildings. According to Central Park Conservancy, despite this gradual abolition, there was still a great deal of discrimination from the white people living in the City. Founders Woods Homeowners Association Antique Forest. The year he came to then Mynderse Mills he erected a grist and a saw mill and a double log house, the latter being located next to where Trinity Church now stands. more property and if you had resided in New York with the great migration in the early 20th According to NPR, one of the biggest questions about Seneca Village is where its former residents moved to after the city evicted them: "Researchers have not been able to find a single living descendant of anyone who was a resident of Seneca Village.". still possible if you were a slave owner from out of During this period, land ownership in Seneca Village provided a gateway to participate in the American democracy. In July 1848, Jane Hunt, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Mary Ann McClintock, Lucretia Coffin Mott and her sister Martha Coffin Wright had tea to discuss these issues, and they resolved that on July 19 and 20, to hold the first Womens Rights Convention at the Wesleyan Chapel on Fall Street. The Great Fire of 1835 destroyed New York City's wooden downtown and nearly ruined the economy, but the wave of urban renewal that followed made it the country's number one port. The AME Zion Church would purchase six more lots. DW: My favorite artifact is the child's shoe that was uncovered in the Wilson house. According to an article in The Washington Post, some of these towns were modeled on Black towns that had been formed after the American Revolution and during the antebellum era from the late 1700s to 1860. Before the construction of Central Park in 1858, the landscape along what is now the Parks perimeter from West 82nd to West 89th Street was the location of Seneca Village. Apparently, it was rumored that even The New York African Society for Mutual Relief, whose members essentially founded the village, had a hidden basement that they used to hide people who'd run away from enslavement. I had just started teaching archaeology at City College, and the idea that traces of the village could have survived in the Park as an archaeological site was a wonderful what if story. Very young children often worked beside adults--along the wharves and docks, as errand boys, as fruit, pie, and hot corn vendors. (happy jazz music). was built with enslaved labor. Further, Seneca Falls was a safeway for Freedom Seekers on the Underground Railroad whereby many found refuge and even settled into residence and work. The NYC Archeological Repository also notes that many of the objects found indicated that the people who lived there "saw themselves as members of the middle class, from the sturdy house itself to the household dishes and personal objects the family used." Andrew Williams, a 25-year-old African-American shoeshiner, bought the first three lots for $125. It was not mandatory for children to go to schoolsome did, some didn't. And by 1832, according to MAAP, Black Americans purchased at least "25 more lots" in the area. black founders sign new distribution . And according to All That's Interesting, despite these isolated cases, most of the residents for Seneca Village received nothing for their land. During his residence here Col. Mynderse lived in four towns as they were successively organized, Romulus (first in Cayuga County), Washington, Junius and Seneca Falls, and held many public offices. on a project to discover the history of Seneca Village After Central Parks completion in 1858, there was nothing left of Seneca Village. - [Dr.Wall] The village I cannot see how they were thinking of any greater good, they wanted their city too look nice, the decided on a park, then they decided to get rid of a problem that had been troubling them for years (the Seneca Village). - [Dr.Wall] And they did that Some communities got lost completely. The first time that Mayor Fernando Wood sent police to Seneca Village for the new park was in 1855. against to such an extent that they didn't have that possibility. Families / History / Best for Kids / Art Lovers. Gotham Gazette also indicates that Epiphany Davis bought 12 lots for $578. Central Park surrounded by beautiful old trees, by Seneca Village was first started by Andrew Williams and Epiphany Davis, two prominent black abolitionists, who managed to find a white man to sell his land to black people. It is believed that Williams mother was a free Black woman who had a relationship with Alexander Hamilton when he arrived in New York City. I was excited at the prospect of investigating an unknown type of community, which turned out to be very distinctive as a middle-class African-American and Irish Village. Timeline writes that "the only official artifact that remains intact on the site is a commemorative plaque, dedicated in 2001 to the lost village.". There were small parks that were for private use only. Wikimedia CommonsA sketch of what the layout of Seneca Village would have looked like. In this way, the city of New York cast Seneca Village and its surrounding neighborhoods as lands that were better off being a park and its residents better off dispersed. Seneca Village - Wikipedia If I remember correctly there were newspaper accounts that force was used to evict those residents who refused to leave. The Gotham Gazette states that several African Americans living in Seneca Village were reluctant to leave the only place they could call home. There's also evidence to suggest that Seneca Village was a spot on the Underground Railroad, the network of secret routes that helped Black people escape enslavement, helping them reach the North or go all the way to Canada. It's estimated that roughly half of the Black residents of Seneca Village owned their land, "a number that was five times the national average for the entire city." You can see where they were on a map of the city if you click here. In a local newspaper, it was said that the eviction of Seneca Village would "not be forgotten[as] many a brilliant and stirring fight was had during the campaign.