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Seneca Village

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Seneca Village was a small village on the island of Manhattan, New York founded by = free blacks. Seneca = Village=20 existed from 1825 through 1857, when it was torn down due to Central = Park=20 construction. The village was the first significant community of African = American=20 property owners on Manhattan, and also came to be inhabited by several = other minorities, = including Irish = and German = immigrants,=20 and perhaps Native=20 Americans as well. The village was located on about 5 acres=20 (20,000 m²) between where 82nd and 89th Streets and 7th = and 8th=20 Avenues would now intersect, an area now covered by Central Park.

1 Name = Origin=20
2 Mixing = Pot=20
3 Institutional=20 Buildings=20
4 1855 = Census=20
5 Central Park=20 Destruction=20
6 Existing=20 Evidence=20
7 Sign = Erected=20
8 References=20
9 External = links=20
- 9.1 Other=20 references =

[edit]=20 Name Origin

The origin of Seneca Village's name is not exactly known; however, a = number=20 of theories have been advanced.

One theory suggests the word =E2=80=9CSeneca=E2=80=9D came from a = Roman philosopher named=20 Lucius Annarus Seneca, whose book was often read by African American=20 activists.=20
Another theory is that the village was named after a group of = Native=20 Americans, =E2=80=9CSeneca=E2=80=9D Indians.^[<=
/SPAN>1]=20
Sara Cedar Miller, the Central Park Conservancy's historian = suggests, "It=20 must have been an ethnic slur," a way to simultaneously denigrate = Indians and=20 blacks.^[<=
/SPAN>2]=20
Some suggest it is a derivative of Senegal, a country = in West=20 Africa, where many of the people who lived in the village were = from.[<= /SPAN>3]=20
Yet other theries suggest the name could also have been used as a = code for=20 the underground railroad.^[<=
/SPAN>4]=20

[edit]=20 Mixing Pot

Blacks first came to the area in 1825, when John Whitehead, a = deliveryman,=20 began selling off parcels of his farm. Andrew Williams first bought = three lots=20 for $125. By 1832, about 25 more lots were sold to African = Americans.[<= /SPAN>5]=20 Epiphany Davis, a laborer and trustee of the African Methodist Episcopal = Zion=20 Church, bought 12 lots for $578 the same day. The church itself then = bought 6=20 lots. Between 1825 and 1832, real estate records show, the Whiteheads = sold at=20 least 24 land parcels to black families.^[<=
/SPAN>6]=20 Seneca Village became a gathering place after one main historical event: = slavery=20 coming to an end in New York State on July 4, 1827.

In the early 1800s, Seneca village attracted many other ethnic groups = for=20 different reasons. Seneca Village grew in the 1830s when people from a = community=20 called York Hill were forced to move after a government-enforced = eviction; the=20 York Hill land was used to build a basin for the Croto= n=20 Distributing Reservoir.

Later during the potato famine in Ireland many Irish residents cam to = live in=20 Seneca Village. The village grew by 30 percent during this time.[<= /SPAN>7]

[edit]=20 Institutional=20 Buildings

The village had three churches, a school, and several cemeteries. The = First=20 African Methodist Episcopal Church of Yorkville laid its cornerstone in = Seneca=20 Village in 1853. A box put into the cornerstone contained a Bible, a = hymn book,=20 the church's rules, a letter with the names of its five trustees and = copies of=20 the newspapers, The Tribune and The Sun. Its sister church, known as = Mother AME=20 Zion, is in Harlem on 137th Street.

There was a school located in a church where 17-year-old Catherine = Thompson=20 taught the village's children.^[<=
/SPAN>8]

[edit]=20 1855 Census

In 1855, a New York State Census found that = Seneca Village=20 had 264 residents.^[<=
/SPAN>9][<= /SPAN>10].=20 At this time in New York City's = history,=20 most of the city's population lived below 14th Street, and the region = above 59th=20 Street was only sporadically developed and was semi-rural or rural in = character.=20 No one knows where the residents of Seneca Village resettled. = Unfortunately, to=20 date, no living descendants of Seneca Villagers have been found.[= 11]

[edit]=20 Central Park=20 Destruction

As the campaign to create Central Park = moved forward=20 park advocates and the media began to describe Seneca Village and other=20 communities in this area as "shantytowns" and the residents there as=20 "squatters". The village was razed for park construction. Residents were = offered=20 $2,335 for their property.^[=
12]=20 Members of the community fought to retain their land ^[=
13].=20 For two years, residents resisted the police as they petitioned the = courts to=20 save their homes, churches, and schools. However, in the summer of 1856, = Mayor=20 Fernando Wood = prevailed=20 and residents of Seneca Village were given final notice. In 1857, the = city=20 government acquired all private property within Seneca Village through = eminent domain. = On=20 October 1, 1857, city officials in New York reported that the last = holdouts=20 living on land that was to become Central Park had been removed.[= 14]

The residents did not leave peacefully. The villagers were evicted in = 1855,=20 some violently.^[=
15]=20 A newspaper account at the time suggested that Seneca Village would = =E2=80=9Cnot be=20 forgotten=E2=80=A6[as] many a brilliant and stirring fight was had = during the campaign.=20 But the supremacy of the law was upheld by the policeman=E2=80=99s = bludgeons.=E2=80=9D [= 16]

[edit]=20 Existing = Evidence

Enter Central Park at 85th Street. On your right you will see a = playground=20 with benches. At the ginkgo tree, cross the road and go up the hill. = Walk past=20 Spector Playground on your left. A little beyond this look down at what = appears=20 to be a stone outcropping which is the corner of a foundation. This is = believed=20 to be what is left of the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church.[= 17]

In 2004 and again in August 2005, the buried remains of the village = were the=20 subject of archaeological investigation.^[=
18]

[edit]=20 Sign Erected

On Saturday, February 10, 2001 Parks Commissioner Henry J. Stern, = State=20 Senator David Paterson, Borough President C. Virginia Fields, and New = York=20 Historical Society Executive Director Betsy Gotbaum unveiled the = Historical Sign=20 commemorating the site where Seneca Village once stood.^[=
19]

[edit]=20 References

^= http://www.harlemlive.org/community/parks/senecavillage/se= neca.html=20
^= http://www.nytimes.com/1995/04/07/nyregion/before-park-bla= ck-village-students-look-into-a-community-s-history.html?pagewanted=3D2=20
^= http://www.nypost.com/p/classroom_extra/the_village_in_the= _park_OxmHmz00olLCD2czIfviQP=20
^= http://www.nypost.com/p/classroom_extra/the_village_in_the= _park_OxmHmz00olLCD2czIfviQP#ixzz0VunpQPQa=20
^= http://maap.columbia.edu/place/32.html=20
^= http://www.nytimes.com/1995/04/07/nyregion/before-park-bla= ck-village-students-look-into-a-community-s-history.html?pagewanted=3D2=20
^= http://www.harlemlive.org/community/parks/senecavillage/se= neca.html=20
^= http://www.nypost.com/p/classroom_extra/the_village_in_the= _park_OxmHmz00olLCD2czIfviQP#ixzz0VuoYlPSA=20
^= "Seneca=20 Village". The New York Historical Society. = http://projects.ilt.columbia.edu/seneca/frame.html. Retrieved = 2006-05-15. =20
^= Shipp, E.R. (2005, August 21). "The Price of = Progress:=20 Eminent domain can lead to pain as well as advancement". New York = Daily=20 News. =20
^ http://www.nytimes.com/1997/01/31/arts/a-village-dies-a-pa= rk-is-born.html?pagewanted=3D2=20
^ http://www.nytimes.com/1997/01/31/arts/a-village-dies-a-pa= rk-is-born.html?pagewanted=3D2=20
^ "William's Affidavit". The New York Historical = Society. http://projects.ilt.columbia.edu/seneca/affidavit3.html. Retrieved = 2006-05-15. =20
^ http://www.irishecho.com/newspaper/story.cfm?id=3D17187=20
^ http://www.nytimes.com/1997/01/31/arts/a-village-dies-a-pa= rk-is-born.html?pagewanted=3D2=20
^ http://maap.columbia.edu/place/32.html=20
^ http://www.nytimes.com/1997/01/31/arts/a-village-dies-a-pa= rk-is-born.html?pagewanted=3D3=20
^ http://www.learn.columbia.edu/seneca_village/htm/archaeolo= gy.htm=20
^ http://www.nycgovparks.org/sub_newsroom/media_advisories/m= edia_advisories.php?id=3D8572=20

[edit]=20 External links

Copy=20 of the 1855 Census=20
Central Park Condemnation Map, 1856

[edit]=20 Other = references

Killcoyne, Hope (author) and Majno, Mary Lee (illustrator). "The = Lost=20 Village of Central Park." New York: Silver Moon Press, 1999.=20
Rosenzweig, Roy and Blackmar, Elizabeth. The Park and the = People: A=20 History of Central Park. Ithaca and London: Cornell University = Press,=20 1992.

v =E2=80=A2 d =E2=80=A2 e
Features of Central=20 Park

Features Belvedere=20 Castle =E2=80=A2 Bethesda=20 Terrace =E2=80=A2 Blockhous= e=20 =E2=80=A2 Bridges=20 =E2=80=A2 Central Park=20 Mall =E2=80=A2 Cleopatra's=20 Needle =E2=80=A2 Conservatory=20 Garden =E2=80=A2 Co= nservatory=20 Water =E2=80=A2 Delacorte=20 Theater =E2=80=A2 Diana Ross=20 Playground =E2=80=A2 Great=20 Lawn =E2=80=A2 Harlem=20 Meer =E2=80=A2 Jacqueline=20 Kennedy Onassis Reservoir =E2=80=A2 King=20 Jagiello Monument =E2=80=A2 T= he=20 Lake =E2=80=A2 Lasker = Rink=20 =E2=80=A2 = Marionette=20 Theatre =E2=80=A2 Medical=20 Unit =E2=80=A2 T= he=20 Ramble =E2=80=A2 = Sculptures=20 =E2=80=A2 Seneca = Village =E2=80=A2 Strawb= erry=20 Fields =E2=80=A2 SummerStag= e=20 =E2=80=A2 Tavern on=20 the Green =E2=80=A2 Wollman = Rink=20 =E2=80=A2 Zoo = =E2=80=A2=20 Zoo York = Wall

Events Be-In=20 =E2=80=A2 The=20 Concert =E2=80=A2 The = Gates =E2=80=A2=20 New=20 York Shakespeare Festival

Streets Borders:=20 Fifth=20 Avenue =E2=80=A2 Central Park=20 North =E2=80=A2 Central Park=20 South =E2=80=A2 Central Park=20 West
Transverses: 79th=20 Street =E2=80=A2 85th=20 Street/86th=20 Street =E2=80=A2 96th=20 Street

People and animals
Balto = =E2=80=A2 Central = Park=20 Jogger =E2=80=A2 Hal=20 the Coyote =E2=80=A2 Frederick=20 Law Olmsted =E2=80=A2 Pale = Male =E2=80=A2=20 Regina=20 Peruggi =E2=80=A2 Elizabeth=20 Barlow Rogers =E2=80=A2 Arthur= =20 Ross =E2=80=A2 Calvert=20 Vaux =E2=80=A2 Urban=20 Park = Rangers
=
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.= org/wiki/Seneca_Village"

Categories: = Central=20 Park | H= istory of=20 New York City

v =E2=80=A2 d =E2=80=A2 e Features of Central=20 Park

Features	Belvedere=20 Castle =E2=80=A2 Bethesda=20 Terrace =E2=80=A2 Blockhous= e=20 =E2=80=A2 Bridges=20 =E2=80=A2 Central Park=20 Mall =E2=80=A2 Cleopatra's=20 Needle =E2=80=A2 Conservatory=20 Garden =E2=80=A2 Co= nservatory=20 Water =E2=80=A2 Delacorte=20 Theater =E2=80=A2 Diana Ross=20 Playground =E2=80=A2 Great=20 Lawn =E2=80=A2 Harlem=20 Meer =E2=80=A2 Jacqueline=20 Kennedy Onassis Reservoir =E2=80=A2 King=20 Jagiello Monument =E2=80=A2 T= he=20 Lake =E2=80=A2 Lasker = Rink=20 =E2=80=A2 = Marionette=20 Theatre =E2=80=A2 Medical=20 Unit =E2=80=A2 T= he=20 Ramble =E2=80=A2 = Sculptures=20 =E2=80=A2 Seneca = Village =E2=80=A2 Strawb= erry=20 Fields =E2=80=A2 SummerStag= e=20 =E2=80=A2 Tavern on=20 the Green =E2=80=A2 Wollman = Rink=20 =E2=80=A2 Zoo = =E2=80=A2=20 Zoo York = Wall

Events	Be-In=20 =E2=80=A2 The=20 Concert =E2=80=A2 The = Gates =E2=80=A2=20 New=20 York Shakespeare Festival

Streets	Borders:=20 Fifth=20 Avenue =E2=80=A2 Central Park=20 North =E2=80=A2 Central Park=20 South =E2=80=A2 Central Park=20 West Transverses: 79th=20 Street =E2=80=A2 85th=20 Street/86th=20 Street =E2=80=A2 96th=20 Street

People and animals	Balto = =E2=80=A2 Central = Park=20 Jogger =E2=80=A2 Hal=20 the Coyote =E2=80=A2 Frederick=20 Law Olmsted =E2=80=A2 Pale = Male =E2=80=A2=20 Regina=20 Peruggi =E2=80=A2 Elizabeth=20 Barlow Rogers =E2=80=A2 Arthur= =20 Ross =E2=80=A2 Calvert=20 Vaux =E2=80=A2 Urban=20 Park = Rangers

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