310 AUDUBON, THE NATURALIST 



boarding house for workmen employed in the sugar 

 refinery of Messrs. Plume & Lamont that stood on the 

 river-bank, at the foot of the present One Hundred 

 and Sixtieth Street. Victor and John W. Audubon 

 also built three houses on the hill, one of which, between 

 One Hundred and Fifty-sixth and One Hundred and 

 Fifty-seventh Streets, was occupied by Mr. Grinnell; 

 another, at one time the dwelling of Henry A. Smythe, 

 a former Collector of the Port of New York, was on 

 land now covered by the Numismatic Building, while a 

 third, which was occupied by Wellington Clapp, was on 

 a part of the Archer M. Huntington estate, south of 

 One Hundred and Fifty-sixth Street, and stood a little 

 easterly of the present Riverside Drive; all of these 

 houses have disappeared. In September, 1842, the Cor- 

 poration of Trinity Parish acquired from Richard F. 

 Carman, in Carmansville, the tract of land later known 

 as "Trinity Cemetery"; this extended from Blooming- 

 dale Road to the River, and between the present One 

 Hundred and Fifty-third and One Hundred and Fifty- 

 fifth Streets. 21 



The original Audubon house, standing in the angle 

 nearly opposite One Hundred and Fifty-fifth Street, is 

 all but concealed, except from the river side, but may 

 be approached by a lane which leads off from One Hun- 

 dred and Fifty-eighth Street. In 1913, when this old 

 landmark was in imminent danger of demolition, the 

 Commissioner of Public Parks made an eloquent plea 

 for its preservation to the Audubon Societies and to 

 lovers of birds and nature everywhere. It was then 

 suggested that instead of permitting the historic struc- 

 ture to be destroyed, the city should acquire it, float it 



21 For the substance of this paragraph, I am indebted to the Report of 

 the American Scenic and Historic Preservation Society, New York, lf>13. 



