Washington Heights, the narrow strip of high ground between the Harlem and Hudson Rivers, is named for the Revolutionary War Fort Washington. Fortifications aside, the area was rural, rocky, and sparsely populated until latter half of the 19th century; the extension of rapid transit to Upper Manhattan century helped spur development. Today, Washington Heights is a diverse, densely populated enclave including the massive Columbia University medical campus, historic sites like the Morris-Jumel mansion, and panoramic views of the Bronx, Lower Manhattan, and the New Jersey Palisades.

"St. Nicholas Avenue, east side, from 162nd Streets, seen from Amsterdam Avenue at 162nd Street." The streetcar tracks in the foreground are on Amsterdam Avenue. Between 161st and 160th Streets (at the center of the photograph) is the western end of Sylvan Terrace (formerly Sylvan Place), with its two-story wooden houses, a real estate development of the early 1860's when this part of town was practically suburban. St. Nicholas Avenue in its present form had been laid out up to this point since around 1870. North from here it was still Kingsbridge Road.