Inwood is located at the top of Manhattan Island, at the point where the Hudson and Harlem Rivers meet at the Spuyten Duyvil. It begins as a valley to the south, roughly at Dyckman Street and Riverside Drive along the base of the Fort Tryon Park hill. The area is historically, architecturally and environmentally unique—almost half of the land is public park space that preserves the natural terrain and geological features of the island, as opposed to the designed landscapes of many parks in New York City. Inwood is distinctive in that its pattern of development and architecture was created in relation to the original landscape of Manhattan Island. In 1906, the extension of the IRT transit lines to Dyckman Street, where the first mass-transit station in the area opened, resulted in the rapid development of six- and seven-story apartment houses on land purchased from existing farms and private estates.Working-class immigrants of varied cultural origins, seeking better living conditions than those of cramped tenements downtown, moved to Inwood to reside in new, spacious and more affordable apartments in buildings designed in the Neo-Classical, Italianate and Tudor Revival styles. As the pace of development continued, steps were taken to create city parkland that would preserve the natural beauty of the landscape and provide open space for new residents. In 1911, Julia Isham Taylor donated land from her family’s estate to create Isham Park. Spurred by her gift in 1916, the city finalized the purchase of adjacent land to the west for Inwood Hill Park. New apartment houses were designed, named and advertised in reference to the new parks. Around the time of the construction of the IND transit lines along Broadway in Inwood during the 1920s, a group of distinctive Art Deco style apartments were built in the blocks around that historic transportation corridor. Today, Inwood remains characterized by early-20th-century apartment residences built in relation to the preserved landscape of its public parks to the west and south. An industrial area, serving the transportation, sanitation and utility infrastructure of New York City, occupies a large portion of its eastern edge. Four historic bridges span the rivers along the surrounding waterfront. And, although resident populations have often changed in Inwood, from migrating Native Americans to the immigrant populations of the 20th and 21st centuries, the built environment has changed little since the period of rapid development after the turn of the 20th century, yielding surprisingly rich architectural discoveries.

Seaman-Drake Arch on Broadway between 216th and 218th Streets, 1927. In 1855 John Ferris and Valentine Seaman, the sons of Dr. Valentine Seaman, bought the land for and had built a large marble mansion at the top of a hill in Inwood. The large home and surrounding land, which stretched all the way to Spuyten Duyvil Creek, was meant as a country house for the family, who lived full time elsewhere in the city. The marble archway was the street-level entrance to the road which led to the mansion. Both the mansion and the house were constructed from stone mined from a quarry at the foot of the hill along Broadway. The 40-foot wide, 35-foot-high, 20-foot-deep arch has still half-dozen window openings, which suggests that a gatekeeper might have occupied the structure while it was active as an entryway. The mansion transferred from the Seaman to the Drake family in the late 19th century. By 1905 it was sold again to a contractor who lived in the house and used the arch for his business. It was during his ownership in the 1910s that low brick buildings began to surround the arch. The estate was sold off and the home demolished for residential development in the 1930s. Only the arch remained and it has seen a succession of automobile related businesses from dealerships to auto body shops.

Arches are everywhere in New York. From bridges, to memorials, and many a Beaux-Arts facade, the arch is a motif that can blends seamlessly into the city’s architectural fabric or stand out — triumphally — in a place of honor. Take a look:

Seaman-Drake Mansion, 1933. The Seaman-Drake Mansion can be seen in the distance up the hill, while the upper corner of the entranceway arch can be seen at left. The mansion would be torn down five years after this photo was taken.