What the record shows
Seneca Village existed from 1825 until 1857, and was Manhattan's first significant community of African Americans. By the 1840s, the settlement became a melting pot of ethnicity including Irish and German immigrants, as well as possibly Native Americans. The New York Census reported 264 persons living in Seneca Village. The village included churches, a school and several cemeteries. In 1857, the settlement was razed and demolished in order to create Central Park.
Seneca Villageappears in the U.S. Geological Survey's place-name archive as a historical populated place — a settlement that once carried a name and no longer does. Our editors are verifying its full story against census records, newspaper archives, and county histories; this record will grow as sources are confirmed.
Before you visit
Unverified sites may sit on private land, and coordinates from historical records can be imprecise. Verify land status and access before traveling. Take photographs, leave nails — removing artifacts from federal land is a crime.
See it in context on the national atlas map.
From the field
The most valuable part of this record is the part only visitors can write.
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