Audubon Terrace – Harlem Travel Guide – Sutro Media
The site of the first Morse code transmission
Boundaries: The property bounded by the western curb line of Broadway, the northern curb line of West 155th Street, the western property line of 633 West 155th Street – 632-638 West 156th Street, and the southern curb line of West 156th Street.
This area was designated a historical landmark district on January 9, 1979, because of its place in New York City history as one of the first cultural centers and its unique neo-Italian Renaissance architectural beauty. Located at the beginning of the Washington Heights section of Manhattan, Audubon Terrace consists of five buildings and one church. Originally farmland, the site was purchased in 1841 by American artist and ornithologist John James Audubon using funds from his book Birds of America. Audubon was able to keep the animals and birds that he’d acquired from his many expeditions into the Far West and he built his home and stable near 156th Street at the edge of the Hudson River. This also was the site where Samuel F. B. Morse transmitted the first long distance telegraph message. After Audubon’s death his wife began to sell off portions of the estate. By 1904, Archer M. Huntington, a multimillionaire, philanthropist and scholar, had purchased land in the area. Having developed an interest in Spanish culture, Huntington traveled extensively in the Iberian Peninsula and acquired an extensive collection artifacts and books pertaining to Spanish culture and history outside of Spain. This collection later became the nucleus of the Hispanic Society of America, which also featured the work of Huntington’s wife, Anna Hyatt Huntington, a sculptor and professor of paleontology and zoology and Harvard and MIT.
Audubon Terrace was designed by Archer’s cousin Charles Pratt Huntington, who graduated from Harvard in 1893 and attended the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris. His intent was to create a unified, urbane, neo-Italian Renaissance group of buildings around a central terrace courtyard. These buildings would soon house several renowned cultural institutions. The Hispanic Society of America opened to the public there in 1908 and continues to keep its doors open to showcase works by Diego Velazquez, Francisco de Goya, El Greco and Joaquin Sorolla y Bastida, among others. It is devoted to the study of Spanish and Portuguese history and culture, both on the Iberian Peninsula and in North and South America. Much to the delight of coin collectors everywhere, The American Numismatic Society opened in 1907, the only museum in the world devoted entirely to numismatics. In 1911 came The American Geographical Society, dedicated to the advancement of geography as a science and now primarily a research organization. The Church of Our Lady of Esperanza opened in 1912, the second Spanish Roman Catholic Church in New York City, with an extension added in 1924 designed by architect Lawrence G. White, son of Stanford White. The Museum of the American Indian opened in 1922 and is dedicated to the archeology, ethnology and art from prehistoric to contemporary times. It houses the world’s largest collection of material objects made by the indigenous cultures of the western hemisphere, including Eskimos, Indians of North, South and Central America and the West Indies. The building that is home to The American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters was designed by William Mitchell Kendall of the firm McKim, Mead & White and opened in 1923. It is a national organization devoted to fostering excellence in literature, music and art. Its collection includes painting, sculptures, drawing, prints and decorative art objects as well as portraits and photographs of its members, and is open to the public at select times during the year for special exhibitions.
Transportation: Bus—N4, M5, M100, M101, BX6. Subway—1 to 157th St.
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The handiest guide ever!! 
Posted by RMT, New Jersey on 8th Jan 2012
WTH-
Just love having all the information about Harlem one could ever need/use at my fingertips.
Photos are great, history about the various landmarks so very interesting and restaurant and entertainment info-phone #’s, websites, menus,etc very handy. Great information on an iconic neighborhood in NYC!
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