Difference between revisions of "Midtown campus"

From WikiCU
Jump to: navigation, search
Line 1: Line 1:
 
[[Image:Midtowncampuscolor.jpg|thumb|Aerial view of the Midtown campus. St. Patrick's Cathedral is visible at upper left.]]
 
[[Image:Midtowncampuscolor.jpg|thumb|Aerial view of the Midtown campus. St. Patrick's Cathedral is visible at upper left.]]
  
Columbia was located at a '''Midtown campus''' from the 1857 to the 1890s, between Madison Ave and Park Ave (when it was just uncovered tracks for the New York Central Railroad) from 49th to 50th streets. It has also been referred to as the '''Madison Avenue campus''' and the '''49th Street campus.''' The campus was originally the New York Institution for the Instruction of the Deaf and Dumb.  
+
Columbia was located at a '''Midtown campus''' from [[1857]] to [[1897]] between Madison Ave and Park Ave (when it was just uncovered tracks for the New York Central Railroad) from 49th to 50th streets. It has also been referred to as the '''Madison Avenue campus''' and the '''49th Street campus.''' The campus was originally the New York Institution for the Instruction of the Deaf and Dumb.  
  
 
A common misconception is that this campus once encompassed [[Rockefeller Center]], but it did not, although Columbia did own the land under Rockefeller Center into the 1980s. However, the townhouse that first housed [[Barnard College]] ''may'' have been located in a corner of Rockefeller Center.
 
A common misconception is that this campus once encompassed [[Rockefeller Center]], but it did not, although Columbia did own the land under Rockefeller Center into the 1980s. However, the townhouse that first housed [[Barnard College]] ''may'' have been located in a corner of Rockefeller Center.

Revision as of 21:19, 1 March 2008

Aerial view of the Midtown campus. St. Patrick's Cathedral is visible at upper left.

Columbia was located at a Midtown campus from 1857 to 1897 between Madison Ave and Park Ave (when it was just uncovered tracks for the New York Central Railroad) from 49th to 50th streets. It has also been referred to as the Madison Avenue campus and the 49th Street campus. The campus was originally the New York Institution for the Instruction of the Deaf and Dumb.

A common misconception is that this campus once encompassed Rockefeller Center, but it did not, although Columbia did own the land under Rockefeller Center into the 1980s. However, the townhouse that first housed Barnard College may have been located in a corner of Rockefeller Center.

Acquisition

In 1853 the trustees of Columbia College had decided to move out of College Hall on the Park Place campus, whose surrounding neighborhood had transformed into a bustling commercial warehouse district by the 1840s. Deadlock over whether to move the school onto the undeveloped Upper Estate was broken when the trustees managed to score a real estate coup. They found out that the property formerly occupied by the New York Institution for the Instruction of the Deaf and Dumb was up for sale in June of 1856 for just $100,000. After haggling the price down to $63,000, the trustees bought the land and the 11,000 sq foot building on it on October 6. 4 months later the trustees sold off the land under College Hall for nearly $600,000 and laughed all the way to the bank.

Development

The architectural style of the campus was neo-gothic, and it included both the first iteration of Hamilton Hall and the first law school building. The School of Mines was also established for the first time on the midtown campus.

Frederick A. P. Barnard managed to brow-beat the trustees into spending money on the campus and adding buildings in addition to the inherited ones.

Departure

Once the land became too valuable and space too cramped, Seth Low moved the school to the Morningside Heights campus, where it became, for the first time, Columbia University.

Gallery