Audubon Park
the neighborhood Manhattan forgot...
Welcome to Audubon Park!
And, thank you for visiting!  This website, which takes the form of a virtual walking tour, has grown out of my fascination with the neighborhood that has surrounded me for the last twenty years, though for the first ten years I lived at 780 Riverside Drive (at 155th Street), I had no idea that my bedroom window, ten stories up, looked down on the spot where John James Audubon spent the last decade of his life, his beloved Minnies Land (later called Audubon Park).

In 1997, I moved to the Grinnell (800 Riverside Drive at 158th Street),  and began the journey that led to this website with one simple question: Who (or what) was Grinnell?  The answer to that initial question (which you’ll learn on your walk) generated more and more questions.  Looking for answers, I’ve collected the information that I share with you here – not that the search has ended.  Regularly, I stumble upon another piece of the puzzle and I update the site often.

The Audubon Park virtual walk – or, actual walk if you live nearby and visit in person – focuses on Audubon Park’s history from about 1841 to 1915. I’ve included earlier and later details that help complete the picture and, occasionally, I’ve included a bit of information just because it tickles my fancy (the sensational Grinnell murder of 1933, for example.)

If you enjoy what you find here, I encourage you to return.  Send me your email address and I’ll send you updates as I post them.  (I will not share or sell your address.)  Also, I welcome your comments, corrections (factual, grammatical, and spelling), and, especially, information you may want to share.

Thank you for visiting!  Please come back often.

Matthew Spady
Your guide on the Audubon Park walking tour

P.S. If you'd rather skip the tour and explore the site at random, click Site Map / Index on the menu bar at the bottom left of any page.
Orientation

The main narrative of the walk, which appears in the center column of each page, spans 20 pages and leads you through Audubon Park, the area west of Broadway, from 155th Street to 158th Street, in northern Manhattan.
AP
This is a printable version of
the Audubon Park Walk.
(It may take a moment, so please be patient.)
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Now, if you click "Continue your walk through Audubon Park"  at the left, you will begin your walk.
When you have completed exploring a page of the walk,Continue your walk through Audubon Park on the green-shaded left border will lead you to the next stage of the walk.

Highlighted words or phrases in the text are links that will lead you to supplementary information (maps, photographs, descriptions of buildings, and additional quotes from primary sources).  When you have completed exploring a supplementary page, Resume your walk through Aubuon Park on the green-shaded left border, will lead you back to the main walk.
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Free download here.
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2007 Matthew Spady.  All rights reserved.
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Looking into Audubon Park from the Boulevard Lafayette, early 1900s
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