The Underground Railroad was a network of secret safe houses that helped runaway slaves escape captivity during the early to mid-19th century. The route, passing directly through New York City, utilized a number of churches, homes, and businesses. While many of the buildings that housed these “stations” no longer exist, a few important sites of New York City's Underground Railroad are still visible today.

339 West 29th Street, 1932. No. 339 (seen here covered in ivy) is a 19th-century rowhouse with a powerful abolitionist history and a sad and complicated recent history. Built in 1846-1867, the four-story house was constructed as part of a row for Cyrus Mason. James Gibbons, a banker, and financial writer purchased the home in 1852 and moved in with his wife Abigail Hopper Gibbons and family. The family was ardent abolitionists. The house served not only a station of the Underground Railroad, but the home hosted a school for African American children and a meeting place for black and white abolition leaders. The house was well known for these activities and so was targeted during the Draft Riots in 1863. After black homes and orphanages were burned, the rioters turned to the abolitionists. This house was set aflame on the second night (July 14), and the occupants were only saved from death (by fire or beating) via an escape route that included climbing to the roof, running over the neighboring homes, and climbing out through someone else's house. The home was designated a New York City landmark as part of the Lamartine Place Historic District in 2009. Around that same time, the current owner added a fifth floor (illegally). Over the next decade, the community members and preservationists fought to have the home returned to its original state. Through lawsuits and legal and landmark hearings, the community persisted, and in 2017 when the project came to the Landmarks Commission, the added floor was denied. The height of the building and the cornice would need to be restored. After more than a decade under scaffolding, the front of the building will soon be visible once again.

In 1750, British naval officer Thomas Clarke bought a Dutch farm to create his retirement estate, named “Chelsea” after the Royal Hospital Chelsea in London. His property extended from approximately Eighth Avenue to the Hudson—its shore ran roughly along today’s Tenth Avenue—between 20th and 28th Streets. The estate was subdivided in 1813 between two grandsons; Clement Clarke Moore received the southern half below 24th Street while his cousin, Thomas B. Clarke, inherited the northern section. The two halves developed distinctly different characters due to the split. Today, Chelsea contains a variety of historic architecture, including some of the city’s most intact nineteenth-century residential blocks, significant commercial buildings, and industrial complexes near the Hudson River.