New 'Story Map' Reveals Black History Behind UWS Landmarks

UPPER WEST SIDE, NY — New York City's first community of free African-American property owners and the house where James Baldwin lived for 20 years are two Upper West Side locations included in a new interactive map honoring Black history.

The city's Landmarks Preservation Commission released an interactive "story map" this week in honor of Black History Month that highlights landmarks and historic districts recognized for their role in New York City's African American history.

The map includes two Upper West Side sites.

• Seneca Village in Central Park
• James Baldwin's home at 71st between Amsterdam and Columbus

Seneca Village in Central Park dates back to the early 19th century. It was a thriving multi-ethnic community that included New York City's first significant population of free African American property owners.

If you want to learn more about the community, Urban Park Rangers are teaching a class and walkthrough of Seneca Village on Saturday. You can find out more here.

Baldwin was a celebrated novelist, essayist, poet and civil rights advocate.

"As we celebrate Black History Month and continue to strive for racial equity and social justice, it is important to recognize the history of the Black experience in New York City," Deputy Mayor Vicki Been said in a release. "Landmarking and designating historic districts are two ways that we honor and amplify the stories and contributions of the past, both good and bad, so we can learn from and build on our collective history. Ensuring that more New Yorkers can access and explore that history is a critical part of the process."

The project, called Preserving Significant Places of Black History, includes maps, narratives, images and multimedia about the stories behind landmarks and historic districts throughout the city.

It includes 75 individual landmarks and 33 historic districts that mark moments in New York City's history from before the Civil War, through the Civil Rights Movement and in historically African American neighborhoods defined by census records from the past 50 years.

"It is not an exhaustive list of all places significant to African American history in New York City, but an educational tool and a living document, which can be updated with additional scholarship about designated buildings, and with future designations of landmarks and historic districts," the commission said.

You can check out the full here interactive map here.

Patch reporter Anna Quinn contributed to this report.