Borough and State: Manhattan, New York
Listed: 1984
Type of district: certified local historic district
Main Intersection: West End and West 76th Street
West End – Collegiate LPC Historic District Report
West End – Collegiate LPC Historic District Map
The West End – Collegiate Historic District developed in the years following the opening of the Ninth Avenue El in 1879. Speculation was slow to start on the Upper West Side, with the first houses constructed in the district in 1885. Once started, however, development proceeded apace. A quarter of the buildings in the district had been constructed by 1890. The area had been totally developed by the end of the 1890s with large, fashionable row houses. Nevertheless, as rising property values increased demand for dense house, many of the newer row houses along Riverside Drive and West End Avenue were demolished to permit apartment house construction. The row houses that survive generally reflect the style of Beaux-Arts classicism and revivalism popular in the 1890s. The later apartment houses used stylistic embellishments from similar styles, but necessarily employ them on much larger buildings that incorporate large swaths of blank wall.