Audubon Terrace Historic District | |
 (2008) | |
  | |
| Location | BetweenBroadway &Riverside Drive, between West155th &156th Streets Manhattan,New York City |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 40°50′0″N73°56′49″W / 40.83333°N 73.94694°W /40.83333; -73.94694 |
| Built | 1907 |
| Architect | Charles Pratt Huntington |
| Architectural style | Beaux Arts/American Renaissance[1] |
| NRHP reference No. | 80002667 |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | May 30, 1980[3] |
| Designated NYCL | January 9, 1979[2] |
Audubon Terrace (also known as theAudubon Terrace Historic District) is a group of eight early-20th centuryBeaux Arts/American Renaissance[1] buildings in theWashington Heights neighborhood ofUpper Manhattan inNew York City, United States. The complex is bounded byBroadway to the east,155th Street to the south, and156th Street to the north. Home to several cultural institutions, the architecturally complementary buildings, which take up most of a city block, are arranged in two parallel rows facing each other across a common plaza. The complex is directly across 155th Street fromTrinity Church Cemetery.
Although the157th Street station on theNew York City Subway's1 train is one block away, the complex's location considerably north ofMidtown Manhattan has resulted in a perceived detriment to easy access for visitors.[4] The complex was designated aNew York City landmark in 1979,[2] and was added to theNational Register of Historic Places in 1980.[3]
Named for naturalist and artistJohn James Audubon, on whose former land the complex sits, Audubon Terrace was commissioned in 1907 byArcher Milton Huntington, the heir to theSouthern Pacific Railroad fortune, a philanthropist and a Spanish scholar.[5] The master plan for the site was drawn up by his cousin, architectCharles P. Huntington, in 1908.[1] Archer Huntington chose the location at a time when the two centuries old northward march of fashionable residences and cultural institutions seemed likely to transform the largely rural area. He assumed that other museums and learned societies would soon join him, creating an intellectual citadel atop the island's heights. The widespread adoption of the elevator and steel framing at this time, however, led Manhattan real estate to begin to develop vertically instead and New York's other great cultural institutions failed to follow suit – in fact, most of the organizations which located on Audubon Terrace were headed by or strongly connected to Huntington.[6]
In 1904, Huntington had founded theHispanic Society of America, and had commissioned Charles Huntington to design a building for the new institution on the grounds of what would become Audubon Terrace. Huntington's original building was constructed from 1904–08, with a west wing by Huntington added in 1915 along with an east wing designed by Erik Strindberg. In 1923–30, a library for the Society was added across the plaza, designed by H. Brooks Price.[2] The next institutions to locate on the site all had their buildings designed by Charles Huntington: theAmerican Numismatic Society, built in 1907, theAmerican Geographical Society (1911), the Spanish-speakingChurch of Our Lady of Esperanza (1909–12; West 156th Street addition and remodeling in 1924 by Lawrence G. White,Stanford White's son[2]), and theMuseum of the American Indian (1915–22).
In 1921–23, William M. Kendall ofMcKim, Mead & White designed anAnglo-Italian Renaissance building for theAmerican Academy of Arts and Letters and theNational Institute of Arts and Letters, which was followed by an auditorium and gallery for them designed byCass Gilbert and built in 1928–30.[1][5] The two organizations merged as theAmerican Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters in 1976.[2]
The plaza surrounding these buildings is the location of a number of sculptures executed byAnna Hyatt Huntington, Archer Huntington's wife, between 1927 and 1944.[2] These include a large equestrian statue of the legendary Spanish knightEl Cid (1927), in front of the Hispanic Society Library.[7][8]
A number of the original institutions are no longer resident on the Terrace:[4]
Of the remaining original institutions, the Hispanic Society is renovating its existing space as well as expanding into the space left vacant by the Museum of the American Indian, a project that will take several years to complete. A plan to move the Hispanic Society downtown was contemplated in 2006 but ultimately not carried out.[11] Some of its collection is on tour, and so far, has been sent toMadrid,Mexico City, andAlbuquerque.[12] The Society maintains a library and a museum with an important collection of art and artifacts from theIberian Peninsula, with some items from Spanish America.[13]
The American Academy of Arts and Letters was founded in 1898. Its gallery is open to the public Tuesdays through Saturdays from 1 pm to 4 pm, except from March to June, when it is open Thursdays through Sundays from 1 pm to 4 pm.[14]
Notes
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