New York City Takings Pilgrimage, Central Park Edition

What do takings mavens think about when they hear "New York City" and "takings?" Probably the granddaddy case of them all, Penn Central. Or maybe Courtesy Sandwich Shop, or Loretto. All good ones, landmarks. 

But this post isn't about a visit to the sites of those cases (not to worry, we'll get to Grand Central soon), or even about a matter that ended up in the official reports, but about a New York eminent domain story that has been more lost to time, and which is now being rediscovered and recognized. It's a visit to Seneca Village.

You wouldn't know it today, but just inside the boundary of what is now Central Park, right near the West 85th Street entrance, once was "the largest community of free African-American property owners in antebellum New York."  Beginning in 1825, this locale was home to up to 250 residents in 70 houses, and, according to Central Park's website:

The village was built in a desirable location, with proximity to the Hudson River’s ample fishing opportunities and to a natural source of clean water at a nearby spring. The village’s residences ranged from one-room homes to three-story dwellings made of wood and brick, and there are records of three churches and one school in the village as well. The 1855 census indicated that Seneca Village was home to approximately 250 residents and contained 70 houses. Life in Seneca Village was rural and its distance from the bustling streets of Lower Manhattan offered its residents a peaceful life.

Property ownership in Seneca Village provided an important gateway into democracy for African-American men. In 1821, New York State decreed that African-American men were required to possess $250 in property holdings and prove three years of residency in the state in order to be eligible to vote. Many residents became eligible to vote through land ownership in Seneca Village, including a cooper (barrel maker) named James Hinson. Census data shows that his property, including two lots of land and a two-story residence with an attached shed, was valued at $550. (Hinson had originally purchased his property for $325.)

But life in Seneca Park was not to remain idyllic.

Because "[b]eginning 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. They would eventually include James William Beekman, a State Senator; William Cullen Bryant, editor of the New York Evening Post; Andrew Jackson Downing, a landscape gardener and writer; Robert Minturn, a wealthy merchant; and Fernando Wood, the Mayor."

When civic-minded civic leaders get together, you know what that means: someone's property is likely up for grabs. Central Park was in, and Seneca Village had to go. Since the land was privately owned, you also know what that meant: eminent domain.

Like many eminent domain tales, it wasn't a pretty one. In a familiar twist, the area was declared blighted, and the residents a nuisance: "As the campaign to create Central Park moved forward park advocates and the media began to describe Seneca Village and other communities in this area as 'shantytowns' and the residents there as 'squatters'." 

As Columbia University's web site about the Village notes, "[w]ithin two years, Seneca Village would be razed and its identity erased by the creation of Central Park."

Today, there's not much of anything on the surface left of Seneca Village. As noted, Columbia has undertaken an archaeological dig at the site, and the city has erected a small plaque at the site. Not many people, we observed, took the time to read the sign on the day of our visit. But that may have been because it was a warm summer's day and no one except takings nerds were all that interested in historical details. The nearby water fountain received more attention.

In addition to acknowledging the early history of Seneca Village, the sign also relates how "eminent domain" (why the unnecessary quotation marks, we can't say) was used to dispossess the owners of their property to make way for the Park:

In 1853, the state legislature authorized the use of "eminent domain," the taking of private property for public purpose. This unprecedented public acquisition of private land to create a major public park in the City of New York began in 1856, and at the time encompassed the land from 59th to 106th Streets between Fifth and Eighth Avenues. In 1863, additional parkland was annexed to include the area between 106th and 110th Streets. Those owners living within the boundaries of the proposed park were compensated for their property, though many protests were filed in New York State Supreme Court, as is often the case with eminent domain, when owners contest the amount of settlement. In view of recent research, it appears that residents and institutions of Seneca Village did not re-establish their community in another location.

In total, approximately 1600 people who owned, lived and/or worked on the 843-acre tract of land had to move when the Park was created.

Check out these resources to find out more, or if you are in the city, the Parks & Rec Dept offer occasional tours:

• Central Park Conservancy's site on Seneca Village
• Wikipedia entry
• New York Daily News's article on Seneca Village
• Columbia's Seneca Village site, with archaeological information
• NPR: The Lost Village in New York City
• New York Times: Unearthing Traces of African-American Village Displaced by Central Park
• Timeline: An entire Manhattan village owned by black people was destroyed to build Central Park