169. Central Park Commission Map
above 155th Street, 1868

"Map of that Part of New York North of 155th Street." Museum of the City of New York, Gift of the University Of Western Ontario, 37.152.9

Except for lonely Tenth Avenue, the Commissioners' Plan of 1811 left the area above 155th Street blank. "[I]t is improbable that (for centuries to come) the grounds north of Haerlem Flat will be covered with houses," the creators explained their decision.

They were wrong. The island was filling in quickly, and by midcentury it was necessary to plan the area north of 155th Street. In 1851 the Common Council directed the city's street commissioner to present a plan, but nothing was done. Then, in 1860 the state legislature created a seven-member Fort Washington Commission, giving it substantial powers to plan the area. They spent over $40,000 to create an elaborate

topographical survey and map, but again, no definitive plan was presented. Finally, in 1865, the legislature transferred the Fort Washington Commission's authority (and their papers) to Andrew H. Green's Central Park Commission, and things began to move.

This map of 1868 records Green's preliminary scheme. It is a compromise between the vision of 1811 and the rocky realities of uptown topography. A predictable rectilinear grid fills the flatlands, but angled and curvy streets run between and around the hills. The Fort Washington Commission existed until 1870, and in the two subsequent years, Green's planned improvements grew more elaborate.

Green also created two new scenic water-side parks, today's Fort Washington Park and part of High Bridge Park, and redrew the bulkhead line so that the island's edge