Murray Hill Historic District

Murray Hill Historic District. New York Landmark Preservation Foundation. , The Murray Hill Historic District takes its name from the eighteenth-century estate of merchant Robert Murray and his wife Mary Murray. Speculative real estate development in the neighborhood grew in the 1850s after the creation of a grassy mall on Fourth Avenue (later named Park Avenue) over the New York and Harlem Railroad track tunnel. The area became a fashionable district of Italianate brownstones in the 1860s, attracting residents such as Civil War hero Rear Admiral David Farragut., At the turn of the twentieth century, more affluent residents moved into the area and hired prominent architects such as McKim, Mead and White, Carrere and Hastings, and Delano and Aldrich to alter existing buildings or create imposing new Beaux Arts rowhouses such as the elaborate Lanier House. Residents during this period included Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt and Architect William A. Delano., The neighborhood’s subsequent phase of development occurred in the 1930s, when residential apartment buildings were constructed. The tree-lined streets of Murray Hill continues to retain their remarkable low scale and residential character., Donated by the Murray Hill Neighborhood Association