Audubon Terrace facts for kids
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Audubon Terrace Historic District
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(2008)
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 Location in New York City
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| Location | Between Broadway & Riverside Drive, between West 155th & 156th Streets Manhattan, New York City |
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| Built | 1907 |
| Architect | Charles Pratt Huntington |
| Architectural style | Beaux Arts/American Renaissance |
| NRHP reference No. | 80002667 |
Quick facts for kids Significant dates |
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| Added to NRHP | May 30, 1980 |
B - Hispanic Society Library
C - Church of Our Lady of Esperanza
D - American Academy of Arts and Letters Auditorium
E - American Academy of Arts and Letters (AAA&L)
F - New entrance link
G - formerly American Numismatic Society, now AAA&L Annex
H - Hispanic Society of America
I - formerly Museum of the American Indian, now Hispanic Society
Audubon Terrace, also known as the Audubon Terrace Historic District, is a special group of eight buildings in New York City. These buildings were made in the early 1900s. They show off a fancy style called Beaux Arts or American Renaissance.
You can find Audubon Terrace in the Washington Heights area of upper Manhattan. It's located between West 155th and 156th Streets, right off Broadway. All the buildings are designed to look good together. They face each other across a central plaza, which is like a big open square. Right across 155th Street is the Trinity Church Cemetery.
Even though there's a subway station nearby, it's a bit far from Midtown Manhattan. This means it's not always super easy for visitors to get to. Audubon Terrace was named a New York City landmark in 1979. It was also added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1980, which means it's a very important historical site.
Contents
History of Audubon Terrace
How Audubon Terrace Started
Audubon Terrace is named after John James Audubon. He was a famous artist and naturalist who once owned the land where the buildings now stand. The idea for Audubon Terrace came from Archer Milton Huntington in 1907. He was very wealthy and loved Spanish culture.
Archer Huntington wanted to create a special place for museums and learned societies. He hoped other groups would join him, making it a center for knowledge. His cousin, architect Charles P. Huntington, drew up the main plan in 1908. At that time, many thought New York's fancy buildings would keep moving north. But instead, buildings started growing taller with elevators and steel frames. So, most other big cultural groups didn't move to Audubon Terrace. Many of the groups that did move there were connected to Archer Huntington himself.
Early Buildings and Institutions
In 1904, Archer Huntington started the Hispanic Society of America. He asked Charles Huntington to design a building for it. This first building was built from 1904 to 1908. Later, more parts were added, including a library for the Society.
Other important groups soon joined. Charles Huntington designed their buildings too:
- The American Numismatic Society (built in 1907)
- The American Geographical Society (built in 1911)
- The Church of Our Lady of Esperanza (built from 1909–1912), a church for Spanish-speaking people
- The Museum of the American Indian (built from 1915–1922)
Later, in the 1920s, new buildings were added for the American Academy of Arts and Letters. These were designed by famous architects like William M. Kendall and Cass Gilbert.
Sculptures in the Plaza
The open plaza area at Audubon Terrace has many cool sculptures. These were made by Anna Hyatt Huntington, who was Archer Huntington's wife. She created them between 1927 and 1944. One of the most famous is a large statue of the Spanish knight El Cid. It shows him on a horse and stands in front of the Hispanic Society Library.
Institutions at Audubon Terrace Today
Over the years, some of the original groups have moved out of Audubon Terrace. Here's what happened to them and who is there now:
Changes Over Time
- The American Geographical Society used to have the world's largest map collection. In 1978, they moved their collection to the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee. Now, a college called Boricua College is in their old building. Boricua College is a bilingual school.
- The Heye Foundation's Museum of the American Indian joined the National Museum of the American Indian. This new museum opened in 2004 in Washington, D.C.. A smaller gallery still exists in New York City. The space the Museum of the American Indian used to occupy is now used by the Hispanic Society.
- The American Numismatic Society moved to a new place in downtown Manhattan in 2008. Their old building is now used by the American Academy of Arts and Letters as an extra space. A new entrance connects this annex to the original Academy building.
Current Institutions
- The Hispanic Society of America is still at Audubon Terrace. They are working on making their space even better and are expanding into the area left empty by the Museum of the American Indian. This project will take several years. The Society has a very important collection of art and items from the Iberian peninsula (Spain and Portugal) and some from Spanish America. They also have a library.
- The American Academy of Arts and Letters was founded in 1898. Their art gallery is open to the public on certain days and times. You can visit Tuesdays through Saturdays from 1 PM to 4 PM. From March to June, it's open Thursdays through Sundays from 1 PM to 4 PM.
