{"nrhp_refnum":"04001020","name":"116th Street-Columbia University Subway Station (IRT)","other_names":[],"category":"structure","location":{"address":"Jct. of Broadway and West 116sth St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"New York","county":"Manhattan","state":"NY","lat":40.80793898100006,"lon":-73.96399505199997,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2004-09-17","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Transportation","Architecture","Art","Engineering","Community Planning and Development","Social History"],"significance_levels":["national","local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"An underground IRT subway station beneath Broadway at West 116th Street in the Morningside Heights section of Manhattan, completed in 1904 as part of IRT Contract 1.","why_significant":"The station is significant for its role in the original Interborough Rapid Transit system and its contribution to the rapid development of Morningside Heights. It also reflects early IRT engineering and the City Beautiful-inspired decoration by Heins & LaFarge, including Columbia University-themed faience plaques and mosaic tablets.","narrative":"Beneath Broadway at West 116th Street in Morningside Heights, this subway station opened in 1904 as one of the stations built for the original Interborough Rapid Transit system. It is a three-track, side-platform station built by the cut-and-cover method, with a steel column frame, concrete walls and a roof fitted with metal grates that admit light and air. Engineer William Barclay Parsons handled the structure, while the firm Heins & LaFarge designed the decoration. The walls carry buff Roman brick wainscoting, glass and ceramic tile in Columbia blue, faience cornices, bronze vents, and plaques showing the Columbia University seal alternating with the number 116. Mosaic tablets spell out Columbia University. The station is valued for its engineering, its architecture and art, and for helping drive the rapid growth of Morningside Heights after Columbia moved its campus there in 1896. Platform extensions and some resurfaced walls fall outside the boundary.","period_of_significance":"1904","architect_builder":"Parsons, William Barclay (engineer); Heins, George L. and LaFarge, Christopher G. (architects)","architectural_style":"Late 19th & 20th Century Revivals/Beaux-Arts","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Recently rehabilitated; still a working subway station with historic wall decoration visible, though some areas have been replaced or are modern.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:51:53.884298-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NY/04001020.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/04001020/3c7439ecb1-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/04001020/3c7439ecb1-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Gryffindor","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:116th_Street_Columbia_University_IRT_006.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Gryffindor</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:116th_Street_Columbia_University_IRT_006.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75313889","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/116th_Street%E2%80%93Columbia_University_station","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1826870"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/new-york/manhattan/116th-street-columbia-university-subway-station-irt-04001020/"}