Washington Heights was the last part of Manhattan to be urbanized. It was not until the beginning of the 20th century that this former rural area of the borough became densely populated. While not being part of the original Commissioner’s plan for Manhattan in 1811, the eastern parts still follow the grid up north to the Harlem River while the eastern parts have a less rigid layout. The cause of the urbanization was the extension of the subway lines and the introduction of bus services in 1906 that connected the area to downtown Manhattan and to The Bronx.

Washington Heights was a white middle class neighborhood in the 1930’s housing many European Jews, which settled in the art deco buildings of the area. In the 1930’s, about 20000 German Jews came to the neighborhood, attracted by the parks and buildings that resembled the bourgeois parts of European cities. Later blacks moving north from Harlem came into the neighborhood, while today many Latin American immigrants live here. St. Nicholas Avenue, named after the Dutch saint for New York, is an old Indian trail that was converted for heavier traffic by the settlers of New Harlem. 181st street is a major shopping street and for many years, people came here from as far away as The Bronx. During the Depression, a large number of movie theatres on 181st street offered entertainment to city folks. Nowadays only, the 'Coliseum' is left. It used to be the third largest in the country with over 3500 seats when it opened in 1920.

Today, many chain stores are located here but the side streets are considerably calmer and shops of Latin American immigrants dominate. While the crossing of 181st street and St. Nicholas Avenue is almost on the same level as Broadway, the ground to the East slopes down towards the Washington Bridge. It was built between 1886 and 1889, only a few years after the Brooklyn Bridge connected Brooklyn to Manhattan. Large apartment buildings and old loft buildings that took the advantage of the good traffic connections dominate this part of the neighborhood.

Nevertheless, one can still see smaller row houses on narrow lots that date from the earlier times of settlement in this area. Yeshiva University, which was founded in 1887 as the ‘Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary’, still dominates the streets around Amsterdam Ave. and 184th street. The main building of the University on Amsterdam Ave. and 184th street was built in 1928 in a romantic style resembling Middle-East architecture.

To the east of Yeshiva University Laurel Hill Terrace has a great view over High Bridge Park that occupies the steep slope down to the Harlem River. Unfortunately, the view is dominated by the western parts of The Bronx including River Park Towers built in 1975 and the Major Deegan Expressway. Heading west across Manhattan from Laurel Hill Terrace to Chittenden Avenue, one can experience the dramatic topography of this area. The steep upward slope from the Harlem River then the down hill slope to Broadway from there the land rises quickly to the top of the ridge in just a few blocks before falling off again at Riverside park.

The eastern parts of Washington Heights are older and date from the pre WW I period while the north and West were mainly developed in the 1920’s and 30’s. Broadway, formerly known as Kings-Bridge Road, stops following the ridge of the hills and dives into the valley. It is the dividing line to the western part of Washington Heights. It also marks the border between the more desirable parts in the west and the cheaper eastern section. In the small valley, that Broadway runs through one can still find small houses that resist the redevelopment into apartment buildings. Between Broadway and George Washington Avenue, formerly named Ridge Road, the area changes back into a more middle-class neighborhood. Chittenden Avenue offers a dramatic view over the Hudson River to the George Washington Bridge, completed in 1931, the Henry Hudson Parkway and Riverside Park.

This part of Washington Heights once consisted of 30 large estates built by the newly rich of Manhattan between 1850 and WW I. One of the largest belonged to James Gordon Bennett, the founder of the “New York Herald”, who purchased the land in 1871. While his home was razed in 1921, one can still trace the past through place-names, e.g. Bennett Avenue and Bennett Park.

Bennett Park is the highest point of Manhattan, 267.75 feet above the Hudson River and the site of Fort Washington. It was one of the American headquarters during the Revolution, serving as the final outpost of resistance before the British occupied the island. The footprint of the fort is still outlined on the ground by paving stones and a plaque marks the highest point. Colonel Magaw Place now a quiet street was the driveway to the Bennett estate, named in honor of the commander of fort Washington during the war. A reminder of the rural past of this part of the town can be seen in the George Washington Collegiate Church on the corner of Washington Avenue and 181st street. This small, gothic revival church was erected in 1909 when the farming heritage of the area was still a reality.