Episode 8 - Seneca Village

Millions of people visit Central Park every year. They walk the paths, picnic on the lawns, and see it as one of the most iconic green spaces in the world. But before the park existed, a thriving community stood on that land.

Long before Central Park became a symbol of New York City, the area was home to Seneca Village, a community founded in the 1820s by free Black New Yorkers. It grew into one of the most significant Black property-owning communities in the city, with homes, churches, schools, and families building stability and opportunity during a time when those opportunities were rare.

In the 1850s, the city of New York used eminent domain to seize the land to build Central Park. Hundreds of residents were forced to leave, their homes demolished, and their community erased from the landscape.

For more than a century, the story of Seneca Village was largely forgotten.

In this episode of History Unmuted, we uncover the rise of Seneca Village, the people who built it, and the events that led to its disappearance. Through historical records and modern discoveries, we explore the community that once stood beneath one of the most famous parks in the world.

“Turning up the volume on suppressed facts.”

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:10

Imagine standing in Central Park on a quiet morning. Joggers pass by, dogs chase tennis balls across open fields, tourists take photos and are towering trees. It feels peaceful, natural, almost timeless. But beneath the grass and beneath the walking paths, beneath the soil of one of the most famous parks in the world, lies the buried remains of homes. Not ruins from ancient history, homes from New York City itself. Families once lived here, children's played here, church bells rang here, gardens grew here, and those families, they weren't squatters or settlers, but many of them were black property owners, free men and women building wealth and political right in a country that denied them both. Their neighborhood had a name Seneca Village. And in the 1850s, the city of New York erased it. Today, millions walk across the land that community once stood, but most have no idea it was ever even there. And this story of the village buried beneath Central Park. And this is History Unmuted. And today we're stepping into a place that millions of people visit every year. A place that appears peaceful and permanent, but that piece was built on top of a forgotten community. A community that once represented one of the most successful black neighborhoods in early New York City. A community that was thriving decades before the Civil War. A community that owned land, that voted, that built churches and schools. And then one day, the city decided it needed a park. Seneca Village was a community built largely by free black New Yorkers, a community of homeowners, churches, families, and schools, and a community that was just completely wiped off the map. And it's not because it failed, and not because it collapsed either. It's literally because the city wanted a park. And to understand Seneca Village, we kind of have to go back to New York City in the early 1800s. So this city was that large, it was just growing really fast. It was also very just like divided, right? And slavery at this time had officially been abolished in New York State in 1827. But freedom did not mean equality. Okay. There's a difference there. Black New Yorkers, they also faced discrimination everywhere. They were pushed into low-paying jobs, restricted neighborhoods, and limited opportunities. And violence and racism was very common, as we know in US history. That's one thing that they actually didn't mute. Um, and of course, even the basic rights were also restricted. So that's something we definitely already know. But for example, like at the time, black men could not vote unless they were they owned at least$250 worth of property, which was like a huge amount of money in the 19th century. Like white men did not have to have this requirement. That's I digress. So property ownership meant something very important. Owning land meant stability, independence, and political rights. And this is where Seneca Village enters that story. So in 1825, a group of black property owners began purchasing land in this area north main of the main city. And at the time, Manhattan did not look the way it does today. Much of the island above Lower Manhattan was actually rural, rocky land, farmland, and scattered homes. The area where Seneca Village would grow sat roughly between 82nd Street and 89th Street, between what we now call Central Park West and Fifth Avenue. Today, the land sits directly inside Central Park, but in the 1820s, it was undeveloped and just far from the crowded city center. The land was affordable. And that is the land where black families could go and build something of their own. The first recorded property sales were made to Andrew Williams, and he was a black shoe shiner. Well, Williams purchased three lots of land for about$125. And soon after, other black families began buying property nearby. Within a few decades, Seneca Village became one of the largest communities of black property owners in New York City. And this alone was extraordinary. At a time when black Americans were routinely denied economic opportunity, and the residents of Seneca Village were building wealth, homes, and community. And by the 1840s and 1850s, Seneca Village had grown into a stable, thriving neighborhood. Historians estimate that around 225 to 300 people lived there. Roughly two-thirds of the residents were African-American. The rest also included some German immigrants and a mix of cultures that created kind of like this tight-knit community. But what made Seneca Village so remarkable was not just like who lived there, it was how they lived. Many residents owned their homes. They built houses, gardens, and even small farms. There were churches which served as both spiritual centers and community gathering places. There was also a school for black children, something that was not widely available in the city at the time. And one of the most important institutions was the African Union Methodist Escopel Zion Church. And this church played a critical role in the community. It hosted gatherings, religious services, as well as educational programs. It was also connected to Seneca Village to the broader network of black abolished activisions happening across the North. Because make no mistake, the people of Seneca Village just they were not just building homes, they were building a future. Now, in the mid-1800s, owning property was one of the only reliable paths towards independence for Black Americans in the North. And Seneca Village offered exactly that. Families there could vote. They could raise children in a safer environment than many crowded neighborhoods downtown. They had space, land, and community support. In fact, historians have found that black residents of Seneca Village had significantly higher property ownership rates than black residents in most other parts of New York City. The village became a rare example of what Black success could look like during a time when opportunity was severely limited. And that success mattered. It challenged the stereotypes and narratives that many white New Yorkers believed. It demonstrated that black communities could build a stable, prosperous neighborhood when given the chance. But that success would soon collide with another vision for the city. By the 1840s, 1850s, New York City leaders were facing a problem. The city was just growing way too rapidly. Crowded streets, pollution, and industrialization was just transforming all of Manhattan, and wealthy residents and city planners began pushing for a large public park. Something similar to the grand parks of Europe. They argued that the city needed a green space for recreation, fresh air, and just civic pride. Well, in 1853, the New York State legislator approved plans to create what would become Central Park. But the land chosen for the property was not empty. More than 1,600 people lived in that area. And there were several communities there, including Seneca Village, the Irish immigrant settlements, German communities, as well as small farms. But Seneca Village was the most established neighborhood in the proposed park area. And it stood directly in the path of the city's vision. So to build Central Park, the city need they like used a legal power called Eminent Domain. Okay, so Eminent Domain allows the government to seize private property for public use as long as compensation is provided. So in theory, it's like meant to balance public needs with the private property rights. In practice, it has been often used to remove communities that were politically powerless. Let's be honest there. Residents were told that their homes and land would soon be taken away by the city, that they would be paid compensation, but they would have to leave. For many families, this meant losing not just their houses, but the stability they had worked decades to build. And renters received nothing. Entire families were forced to relocate, churches were dismantled, homes were demolished, gardens were destroyed, and a few years later, Seneca Village disappeared. By 1857, most of the residents had been removed and buildings were torn down, the lane was cleared, construction of Central Park moved forward. The community that had once stood there was gone. And for more than a century, it was largely forgotten. Like maps erased it. I mean, I never heard it before, really, in history books. I don't know if you guys, especially in grade school, like no. Visitors walk through such a park without even knowing this information. It's so just oh but this kind of historical erasure is like it's not unusual. When cities expand and communities are often displaced, like it happens, but the stories of those communities are rarely preserved. And like Seneca Village became one of those just hidden chapters. A thriving black community erased in the name of progress? I don't. So it wasn't until the late 20th century that historians began seriously investigating Seneca Village again. And researchers examining old property records and maps realized something very important. Central Park had not been built on empty land. It had been built on top of the community. Archaeologists began excavations in parts of the park, and that's where they found confirmed like these historical records, like foundations of homes and like household objects and like just artifacts from like everyday life. And these discoveries helped historians like piece together the people who lived there, like the different families, workers, children, like you know, with the churches, like the physical evidence made it just undeniable. It was real and it mattered, but it it was erased. And one of the most powerful aspects of the rediscovery of Seneca Village has been the recovery of individual stories. People who were once reduced to a census number began to reappear as real individuals. Like take Andrew Williams, a sheep shiner who purchased the Summer the First Lots. His land purchase helped establish the foundation of the community. Or Albro Lyons. He wasn't a Balinist and community leader connected to the African Union Methodist Escopel Zion Church, right? Um, and I'm sorry if I mispronounce any of that, but Lyons and others were part of like this broader movement to end slavery and to fight for civil rights. Like these residents were not passive victims of history. They were active participants, shaping the lives and the communities. And their village represented something beautiful and something rare. A place where Black New Yorkers could own land-built families and exercise political rights and just be safe. The story of Seneca Village is not just about one neighborhood. It reflects a broader pattern in American history. Throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, infrastructure projects and urban redevelopments displaced countless communities. And often those communities were poor or just politically marginalized. And very often they were communities of color. And it was all for like stuff like highways and parks and like urban renewal projects. And you know, each one to reshape the city and just but it didn't matter. But they were erasing neighborhoods. Seneca Village is one of the earliest documented examples of this pattern in New York City. And because it sat beneath one of the most famous parks of the world, it carries some symbolic weight. In years, there have been growing recognition of Seneca Village, and historians, educators, and community groups have worked to bring the story back to public awareness. Markers and educational programs now acknowledge the village's existence, and archaeological work still continues. And the visitors to Central Park can learn that beneath the trees and lawns lies a history of a lost community. But recognition raises important questions. What does it mean to remember a place that was erased? And what responsibilities do cities have to the communities they displace? And how many other stories remain buried beneath modern landscapes? The story of Seneca Village matters because it challenges a common assumption. The idea that history moves in a straight line towards progress. Central Park is beautiful and it is beloved, and it is one of the most successful urban parks ever built. But its creation came at a cost. And the cost was discretion, destruction of that community, a community that achieved something remarkable during the time of racial inequality. Recognizing that complexity does not diminish Central Park, but it does deepen our understanding of how cities evolve. Progress often comes with trade-offs, and those trade-offs are not always distributed equally. When people walk through Central Park today and they see the open fields, running paths, and people like peaceful landscapes. What they usually don't see are the layers of history beneath them and the homes that once stood there, the gardens and families tended, and like the churches there and the school children. The voices of a community that built something meaningful in a difficult time. Seneca Village remains with us that history is not just about moments that survive. It's also about places that were erased. And sometimes the most important stories are the ones hidden beneath the ground we walk on every day. This has been History Unmuted. And history isn't just what we choose to remember. It's also what we choose to forget.