Columbia University and Morningside Heights

Outgrowing its remarkably shortlived location in midtown Manhattan, Columbia College moved uptown in the mid1890s, not only transforming itself into an urban university under university president Seth Low, but also creating an urban campus guided by Charles McKim, William Rutherford Mead, and Stanford White’s master plan. The university became a major constituent of what would be described as New York’s Acropolis on Morningside Heights. It was preceded in this endeavor by the Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine and St. Luke’s Hospital, and it was soon joined by Barnard College, Teachers College, and Union Theological Seminary, among others. The arrival of the Interborough Rapid Transit Subway in 1904 spurred residential and retail development.