Manhattanville College - Tower Yearbook (Purchase, NY)

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[Eight een VIEW OF MANHATTANVILLE TAKEN FROM FORT HAIGHT, i860 x Convent of the Sacred Heart

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[Seventeen]

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[Nineteen] OLD MANHATTANVILLE O N the heights of old Harlem, overlooking the Hudson River, stands the College of the Sacred Heart. Its rocky hillside, characteristic of the landscape of early New York, remains unchanged in the midst of the ever-changing city. Wrapped in the traditions of three hundred years, this spot, once consecrated by the blood of heroes in our Revolutionary War, is now rendered yet more holy in its consecration to God’s service. As we go back in memory through the decades of Manhattanville’s history we recognize the vast gulf which separates the Manhattanville of the present from that of olden days, and yet this journey through the years will only confirm our belief that the college has captured and admir¬ ably retained within its grounds a bit of old New York. The building which the college now occupies was erected in 1888. In August of that year fire had destroyed the old convent and the nuns and their pupils took shelter at Manhattan College, which we see in the picture at 131st Street and Old Broadway. This picture, taken sometime before the fire, shows the building and property which had been purchased from Jacob Lorillard in 1846. The grounds extended from 126th to 135th Street. It was a beautiful, verdant tract of land. Smooth green meadows merged into the ragged slopes of the hillsides. The little carriage path, which is now Convent Avenue, wound gracefully up to the portal of the imposing building, which towered above the surrounding groves and was easily discernible for miles across the country. Besides Mr. Lorillard there had been many other landowners in the vicinity of Manhattanville. The Blue Book of 1815 mentions Thomas Buckley, John Lawrence, Jacob Schieffelin and also the Messrs. Barrow, Byrd, Hamersly, Hogan and Moleneor. Many of the wealthy people of New York had built their homes along the river road, Claremont, now the restaurant near Grant’s Tomb, was the property of Mr. Hogan and later became for a time the residence of Joseph Bonaparte. The country house of Jacob Schieffelin was at 144th Street. Hamilton’s residence, “The Grange,” is still preserved at 141st Street and Convent Avenue. The name Manhattanville was first given to this district on a map of Harlem dated 1814, but Manhattanville’s history has a much earlier origin. During the War of 1812 a line of defense was built just south of this village. It extended from McGowan’s Pass (in Central Park) to the Barrier Gate on the Bloomingdale Road. The rocky base of Fort Haight may still be seen at Broadway and 123rd Street. Going still further back in our history we find that Manhattanville was a very important place during the American Revolution, because the