arch

The Undiscovered Country: Northern Manhattan in 1904

Seaman Drake Arch in 1904

In 1904 Inwood’s first modern apartment building appeared on the corner of Dyckman and Broadway (then still referred to by many as the Kingsbridge road). The erection of the Solano and Monida Apartments should have have served as warning that the agrarian lifestyle residents had known for so many generations was  nearing an end.  So [...]

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The Inwood Arch and Mansion: Circa 1896

Thumbnail image for The Inwood Arch and Mansion: Circa 1896

On the west side of Broadway, formerly known as the Kingsbridge Road, at 216th Street, stands a neglected and nearly forgotten monument to Inwood’s past.  The great marble arch, constructed in the 1850’s, once led visitors to the glorious Seaman mansion, which, until the 1930’s, stood on the current site of Park Terrace Gardens on [...]

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Inwood’s Mount Olympus: The Seaman Mansion in 1869

Old Seaman Mansion in Inwood New York City

A while back I wrote a history of the old Seaman mansion that once stood on the grounds currently occupied by Park Terrace Gardens. Today the only trace of the Seaman estate is the crumbling marble arch located down the hill on Broadway. The following description from 1869 finds the home occupied by its original [...]

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The Old Seaman Mansion

Seaman Mansion, Inwood, New York City

For nearly a century, the huge Seaman-Drake estate, constructed in 1855 by John T.  Seaman, stood on the grounds now occupied by Park Terrace Gardens. Famous for its fanciful gate at the bottom of the hill, actually a scale model of the Arc de Triomphe, the home quickly earned the nickname “Seaman’s Folly.” The Seamans [...]

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Suburban Riding and Driving Club

Seaman Arch, Inwood, New York City

In the 1890’s the Harlem River Speedway, currently the Harlem River Drive, became the private playground of New York’s elite. On this taxpayer funded stretch of road, the fabulously wealthy of a bygone era raced horses away from the “riff-raff” of the newly bustling metropolis. One turn of the century playboy, C.K.G. Billings, even designed [...]

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Park Terrace Gardens

Cupolas of Seaman Mansion, now the site of Park Terrace Gardens in Inwood, New York

Life on the top of the hill has distinct advantages for the residents of Park Terrace Gardens. Built in 1940, the five-building complex is called the “Gardens” for a reason; the entire center of the block is a lovingly landscaped private garden, with much of the planting done by a team of resident volunteers. This [...]

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Seaman-Drake Arch

Seaman Drake Arch photograph from 1910. Located in Inwood, New York.

Tucked away between two buildings on the West side of Broadway near 215th Street is one of the few surviving relics of a once fabulously wealthy neighborhood whose residents included captains of industry.  Today a crumbling ruin, the arch, as evidenced in the below photo, was once a stunning sight to behold; even from afar. [...]

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