Central Park West- West 76th Street Historic District

Originally farmland stretching north from present-day 42nd Street, in 1811 this district consisted of portions of farms owned by John Delaplaine and David Wagstaff. The property was subdivided in 1852, initiating development that would escalate with the introduction of a stage line along Bloomingdale Road (now Broadway) and the creation of Central Park. While the financial panic of 1873 temporarily slowed the area's development, the “Great West Side Movement” gathered momentum after the completion of the American Museum of Natural History in 1877. Construction on West 76th Street began in 1887 with the erection of two rows of houses by realtor Leonard Beeckman. Mostly completed by 1898, and true to the architectural tastes of the time, these houses were designed in various manifestations of historical styles, all exemplifying the classical tenet of uniformity and symmetry through massing, motifs, lines and cornices.

The district also includes apartment houses, townhouses, a museum and a church, which display a wide variety of late nineteenth century architectural styles, including neo-Grec, Renaissance Revival, Romanesque Revival, Gothic Revival, and most predominantly, Beaux-Arts. Of note is the Church of the Fourth Universalist Society, built between 1897-98 in the late English Perpendicular style and inspired by the Magdalen College tower in Oxford, England. Famous parishioners of the church include P.T. Barnum and Andrew Carnegie. The New York Historical Society's building, built of gray granite in the austere classicism of the Eclectic Roman style, is also contained within this district, which remains a popular residential neighborhood. ©2014