The top archival photo is a view of Amsterdam Avenue, peering south at 124th Street, circa 1898. What's most interesting about the photo (click image to enlarge), besides the fact that tall buildings were just starting to be introduced to the rural area, is the rocky outcrop a block further south at 123rd Street. This rocky hill used to have a nondescript fort on top, built during the War of 1812. The ruin looked similar to the small fort on the northern-most hill of Central Park and would stand on the site until the 1960's. At that point in time, P.S. 136 was engineered on top of the site of the former fort, and that school still stands there today (lower photo). The pre-war apartment building to the left of the 1898 photo was replaced by housing projects sometimes in the mid-20th Century, and Columbia University pretty much took over the land south of this intersection in Morningside Heights. Current photo by Ulysses
The top archival photo is a view of Amsterdam Avenue, peering south at 124th Street, circa 1898. What's most interesting about the photo (click image to enlarge), besides the fact that tall buildings were just starting to be introduced to the rural area, is the rocky outcrop a block further south at 123rd Street. This rocky hill used to have a nondescript fort on top, built during the War of 1812. The ruin looked similar to the small fort on the northern-most hill of Central Park and would stand on the site until the 1960's. At that point in time, P.S. 136 was engineered on top of the site of the former fort, and that school still stands there today (lower photo). The pre-war apartment building to the left of the 1898 photo was replaced by housing projects sometimes in the mid-20th Century, and Columbia University pretty much took over the land south of this intersection in Morningside Heights. Current photo by Ulysses
123rd and 124th Street had Tenements located on them and were torn down to make way for the building of the Projects around 1955.
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