The lost neighborhood under New York's Central Park
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Published 2020-01-20
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If you’ve been to New York, you’ve probably visited Central Park. But there’s a part of its story you won't see.
It’s a story that goes back to the 1820s, when that part of New York was largely open countryside. Soon it became home to about 1,600 people. Among them was a predominantly black community that bought up affordable plots to build homes, churches and a school. It became known as Seneca Village. And when Irish and German immigrants moved in, it became a rare example at the time of an integrated neighborhood.
Everything changed on July 21, 1853. New York took control of the land to create what would become the first major landscaped park in the US -- they called it “The Central Park.”
In the Vox series Missing Chapter, Vox Senior Producer Ranjani Chakraborty revisits underreported and often overlooked moments from the past to give context to the present. Join her as she covers the histories that are often left out of our textbooks. Our first season tackles stories of racial injustice, political conflicts, even the hidden history of US medical experimentation.
Have an idea for a story that Ranjani should investigate for Missing Chapter? Send it to her via this form! bit.ly/2RhjxMy
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Explore the full Missing Chapter playlist, including episodes, a creator Q&A, and more! • Missing Chapter – Vox
The Institute for the Exploration of Seneca Village History website: projects.mcah.columbia.edu/seneca_village/
The exhibit on Seneca Village through the Central Park Conservancy: www.centralparknyc.org/programs/discover-seneca-vi…
Check out the 1856 before and after Central Park plans at the New York Public Library, as well as dozens of other Central Park maps and archives: digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/6850fc74-5e61-88…
Read the full report on the 2011 Seneca Village excavations: s-media.nyc.gov/agencies/lpc/arch_reports/1828.pdf
Read the New York Times’ coverage of Seneca Village: www.nytimes.com/2019/11/28/opinion/seneca-central-…
Read The Park and the People by Elizabeth Blackmar and Roy Rosenzweig for a comprehensive history of Central Park, including Seneca Village: www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/9780801497513/th…
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All Comments (21)
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hi everyone, thanks for checking out the first Missing Chapter episode of 2020! we've got a lot more reporting planned this year, so if you want to stay up to date with the latest in the series you can sign up for the Missing Chapter newsletter: vox.com/missing-chapter . -Ranjani
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''It's not just African-American history, it's American history''
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I don’t think the info panels put in the park should be temporary, they should stay there forever, it’s the history of that land
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" It's not just Black American History, it's American History." Wonderful closing remark by Cynthia Copeland! Thank you for that - Had Irish ancestors there. There's a LOT to be learned just from this one story - among hundreds just like it.
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I’m so thankful we have people like those two women who devote their time to finding out about our past like that.
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I thought there was literally a underground village based off the title lol
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working class community: exists the elites: it’s free real estate
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Just when I thought my mom (Cynthia) couldn’t get any cooler, my boyfriend stumbles across this video. So proud of this incredible woman. Love you CC!!! 🥰🥰
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This makes me even more proud of my people. But breaks my heart. We’re called degenerates and lazy. But when we have our own things, the world continually takes them away. Jealousy. Hatred.
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The real deep history of manhattan island are native Americans. The Native Americans that inhabited manhattan island were Lenape people. They called manhattan island manahatta, which meant hilly island.
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The fact we had to learn this through archeology is extremely disheartening.
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Thank you for educating me today on something that I wouldn't have ever guessed. I'd wondered how Central Park once looked and how it had been developed. I am so saddened that the original occupants were not ADEQUATELY compensated, or even compensated at all. Those brave pioneers should of had houses given to them, ideally surrounding the park, so they too had something to hand down to their descendants.
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If you’re interested in more stories like this, look up Bruce’s Beach in Manhattan beach, CA. It’s infuriating how the dark past of a lot of our local cities is becoming public.
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She said it the way it should be said, “ it’s not just African American history, it’s American history.”
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It’s amazing how many stories like this exist and simply get buried because it would mean acknowledging that history is more complex and messed up than we were taught in school. And by amazing I mean sad and unfortunate.
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The older I get, the more I realize how much history I need to learn. Bittersweet to learn about this, as Central Park is one of my favorite places in the city.
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"It's not just African American History, it's just American History." - Cynthia Copeland
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Wow, imagine how many POC families would be in the upper class by now if their properties weren’t demolished.
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It's a shame that something that brings joy to millions of New Yorkers and Tourists has such a sad and dark history.
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I’m an Irish person and I never heard this before. Those poor people who finally got a chance to have something of their own to have it taken from them. All there hopes and dreams that they worked so hard for just gone 😥
