Prior to the arrival of Europeans, Northern Manhattan was settled by the Weckquaesgeeks, a band of the Wappinger and a Lenape American Indian people.
The winding path of Broadway north of 168th Street and St. Nicholas Avenue to its south is living evidence of the old Weckquaesgeek trail which travelled along the Hudson Valley from Lower Manhattan all the way through Albany.
On the plateau west of Broadway between 175th and 181st streets, the residents had been cultivating crops in a field known to Dutch colonists as the "Great Maize Field."
The area was also travelled by American Indians from the Early Woodland Period, who left remains of shellfish and pottery at the site of the present-day Little Red Lighthouse.

Arriving in 1623, the Dutch initially worked as trade partners with the American Indians but became more and more hostile as time went on, with the natives frequently reciprocating.
Even after the bloody assault by the Dutch in Kieft's War (1643-1645), however, some Weckquaesgeeks managed to maintain residence in Washington Heights up until the Dutch paid them a settlement for their last land claims in 1715.

To the Dutch, the elevated area of northwestern Washington Heights was known as "Long Hill," while the Fort Tryon Park area specifically carried the name "Forest Hill."
None of the land was under private ownership until 1712, when it was parcelled out in lots to various landowners from the village of Harlem to the south.
For the greater part of the next two centuries, Washington Heights would remain a home to wealthy landowners seeking a quiet location for their suburban estates.

During the Revolutionary War, the battle won by the British around present-day Morningside Heights in the fall of 1776 was dubbed the Battle of Harlem Heights, referring to the contemporary name for Northern Manhattan.
After their defeat in Harlem, the Continental Army was severely weakened; indeed, George Washington wanted at first to retreat from Manhattan altogether, but was convinced to make a last stand at Fort Washington.
Fort Washington was a group of fortifications on the high points of Washington Heights, with its central one at present-day Bennett Park (known then as Mount Washington) built a few months prior opposite Fort Lee in New Jersey to protect the Hudson River from enemy ships.

Washington's soldiers were decisively defeated at the Battle of Fort Washington, with thousands killed or wounded and thousands more taken captive.
Now in their control, the British renamed the position Fort Knyphausen for the Hessian general Wilhelm von Knyphausen, who played a major part in the victory; its lesser fortification at present-day Fort Tryon Park was renamed for Sir William Tryon, the last governor of New York before it was taken back by the Continental Army.
The park today holds a plaque dedicated in 1909 to Margaret Corbin, an American who took over at her husband's cannon after his death during the Battle of Fort Washington, who was also honored by the naming of Margaret Corbin Drive in 1977.

Fort Washington's northeastern redoubt of Fort George, located near today's George Washington Educational Campus, was involved with the Slave Insurrection of 1741.
Governor George Clarke's residence at the fort experienced the most major of the fires set that spring by a suspected conspiracy of enslaved Blacks and poor Whites.
The subsequent trials sentenced four Whites and thirty Blacks to death and arrested hundreds more, yet whether a conspiracy in fact existed is still unknown.
After abandonment by the British in 1783 following the Treaty of Paris, the fort became the site of Fort George Amusement Park, a trolley park/amusement park that stood from 1895 to 1914.
The area is now lies in the northern end of Highbridge Park, which itself was assembled around the same time period.

At the northwest corner of 181st Street and Broadway (then Kingsbridge Road) was the Blue Bell Tavern, built in the early-mid 18th century as an inn and site of social gatherings.
When New York's Provincial Congress assented to the Declaration of Independence
Prior to the arrival of Europeans, Northern Manhattan was settled by the Weckquaesgeeks, a band of the Wappinger and a Lenape American Indian people. The winding path of Broadway north of 168th Street and St. Nicholas Avenue to its south is living evidence of the old Weckquaesgeek trail which travelled along the Hudson Valley from Lower Manhattan all the way through Albany. On the plateau west of Broadway between 175th and 181st streets, the residents had been cultivating crops in a field known to Dutch colonists as the "Great Maize Field." The area was also travelled by American Indians from the Early Woodland Period, who left remains of shellfish and pottery at the site of the present-day Little Red Lighthouse.
Arriving in 1623, the Dutch initially worked as trade partners with the American Indians but became more and more hostile as time went on, with the natives frequently reciprocating. Even after the bloody assault by the Dutch in Kieft's War (1643-1645), however, some Weckquaesgeeks managed to maintain residence in Washington Heights up until the Dutch paid them a settlement for their last land claims in 1715.
To the Dutch, the elevated area of northwestern Washington Heights was known as "Long Hill," while the Fort Tryon Park area specifically carried the name "Forest Hill." None of the land was under private ownership until 1712, when it was parcelled out in lots to various landowners from the village of Harlem to the south. For the greater part of the next two centuries, Washington Heights would remain a home to wealthy landowners seeking a quiet location for their suburban estates.
During the Revolutionary War, the battle won by the British around present-day Morningside Heights in the fall of 1776 was dubbed the Battle of Harlem Heights, referring to the contemporary name for Northern Manhattan. After their defeat in Harlem, the Continental Army was severely weakened; indeed, George Washington wanted at first to retreat from Manhattan altogether, but was convinced to make a last stand at Fort Washington. Fort Washington was a group of fortifications on the high points of Washington Heights, with its central one at present-day Bennett Park (known then as Mount Washington) built a few months prior opposite Fort Lee in New Jersey to protect the Hudson River from enemy ships.
Washington's soldiers were decisively defeated at the Battle of Fort Washington, with thousands killed or wounded and thousands more taken captive. Now in their control, the British renamed the position Fort Knyphausen for the Hessian general Wilhelm von Knyphausen, who played a major part in the victory; its lesser fortification at present-day Fort Tryon Park was renamed for Sir William Tryon, the last governor of New York before it was taken back by the Continental Army. The park today holds a plaque dedicated in 1909 to Margaret Corbin, an American who took over at her husband's cannon after his death during the Battle of Fort Washington, who was also honored by the naming of Margaret Corbin Drive in 1977.
Fort Washington's northeastern redoubt of Fort George, located near today's George Washington Educational Campus, was involved with the Slave Insurrection of 1741. Governor George Clarke's residence at the fort experienced the most major of the fires set that spring by a suspected conspiracy of enslaved Blacks and poor Whites. The subsequent trials sentenced four Whites and thirty Blacks to death and arrested hundreds more, yet whether a conspiracy in fact existed is still unknown. After abandonment by the British in 1783 following the Treaty of Paris, the fort became the site of Fort George Amusement Park, a trolley park/amusement park that stood from 1895 to 1914. The area is now lies in the northern end of Highbridge Park, which itself was assembled around the same time period.
At the northwest corner of 181st Street and Broadway (then Kingsbridge Road) was the Blue Bell Tavern, built in the early-mid 18th century as an inn and site of social gatherings. When New York's Provincial Congress assented to the Declaration of Independence 
Washington Heights, Manhattan