Free Academy, New York City

The old Free Academy of the City of New York, located on Lexington Avenue, southeast corner of East 23rd Street. Lithograph by G. Hayward, published in the Manual of the Corporation of the City of New York, for the year 1849 by D.T. Valentine. Continue below...

The Free Academy founded in 1847. This historic neo-Gothic building was erected in 1848-1849 from plans by architect James Renwick. It was 80 feet wide, by 125 feet deep, and was intended to accommodate 1,000 students. Inside there were drinking fountains supplied from the Croton Reservoir, a chapel for 1,300 persons and a library. In 1866, the Free Academy was renamed the College of the City of New York.

On May 7, 1907, the faculty and students of the City College took formal leave of their old building on Lexington Avenue and moved to the new campus at St. Nicholas Terrace. The old City College was unoccupied in the following years. It was demolished in 1927 and a 16-story school building was erected on the site in 1928-1929.