nydailynews.com, reports that when John and Elizabeth Whitehead decided to sell, it was not exactly prime real estate they were offering. The parcels were located between 83rd and 88th Streets and Seventh and Eighth Avenues — but the Whiteheads put their farmland on the market back in September 1825, even before the Upper West Side was a thing.
The first buyer was one Andrew Williams, a 25-year-old boot polisher. When he purchased three lots for $125, he became the first African-American landowner in what would become known as Seneca Village — one of the country's first settlements of black landowners.The next buyer didn't even wait a full day to jump on the bandwagon and purchase 12 lots for $578, according to "The Park and the People." Over the next week, the African Methodist Episcopal Zion church bought six lots. A villiage was born.
In 1853, the state legislature approved using eminent domain to take charge of the more than 800 acres of land that would become Central Park. Two years later, around 1,600 people — including more than 250 from Seneca Village — were unceremoniously evicted to make way for the landscaped greenery. Though they were given money for their property, they were still booted from their homes, some violently.
To read the article in its entirety, as well as to learn more about this forgotten settlement, click here.