The Village of Cayuga Heights

Explore architectural highlights of this university suburb developed in the early 20th century.

The Village of Cayuga Heights

Ithaca, New York 14850, United States

Created By: Ithaca Heritage

Tour Information

The Village of Cayuga Heights, across the Fall Creek gorge from the campus of Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, is the quintessential university suburb. Founded in the early twentieth century, it has enjoyed a close relationship with the university ever since. A constant theme is the influence exerted on the village by Cornell, which in 2015 celebrated the sesquicentennial of its founding as Cayuga Heights celebrated its centennial of incorporation. In other respects the story of the village is typical of twentieth century suburbanization in the United States. First developed as a streetcar suburb, Cayuga Heights grew with the advent of the automobile, expanded in mid-century, and by century’s end met the qualifications of an inner ring suburb as development spread around it. Looking to the future, Cayuga Heights continues to attract Cornell faculty and staff, area professionals, graduate students, and, now, retirees. A recently adopted village comprehensive plan aims to preserve the neighborhood's architectural and environmental heritage.

Trace the full history of the Village of Cayuga Heights at The Cayuga Heights History Project website.

ACCESSIBILITY NOTES ABOUT THE TOUR:

Intended as a driving or cycling tour.

Total distance travelled: 2.33 miles

Listen to the tour on SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/tompkinshistory/sets/the-village-of-cayuga-heights


Tour Map

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What You'll See on the Tour

A decade after the construction of the elegant Greystone mansion across the street, this French Chateau-style apartment building located at 107 Cayuga Heights Road was designed by a Cornell-trained architect. It became known as Tuttle Apar... Read more
Greystone at 106 Cayuga Heights Road is known for its second owners, Irene Castle, dancer and silent film star, and Robert E. Treman, scion of the prominent family in Ithaca's early business community. In 1918, the home was featured in the ... Read more
Cayuga Heights developer Jared T. Newman (1855-1937) carved out this small pocket park on the crest of a sandbank in the "Western Slope" section of the neighborhood, located on Sunset Park Drive​. Newman and his wife Jane Williams Newman ... Read more
This busy intersection where Hanshaw, Highland, and Upland roads meet was originally known as Cayuga Circle. The Ithaca Street Railway ran a trolley line to Cayuga Heights in 1906. Known as the "Great Northern," the streetcar line was a sel... Read more
Named for its beloved first principal, Martha Hitchcock (1869-1966), Hitchcock Hall was the forerunner of the Cayuga Heights Elementary School, located at 110 East Upland Road. It was a beautiful, rambling Tudor-style building in a park-lik... Read more
The Warren Real Estate building located at 832 Hanshaw Road (with Tompkins Financial Corporation as its current tenant) across the street from the Corners Community Center was originally the farmhouse of the Kline family. Philip (1781-187... Read more
For forty years before it became the municipal building of the Village of Cayuga Heights, Marcham Hall at 836 Hanshaw Road was a private residence. It was built in the late 1920s by Dorothy Cornell (1875-1942), the youngest granddaughter of... Read more
Now a dentist office, this building at 1001 Hanshaw Road housed the first school in Cayuga Heights. The original house was built in the early- to mid-1800s, on land from the Cradit farm family. Today, evidence of the house's original use ... Read more
This bucolic community cemetery located at 184 Pleasant Grove Road, formerly known as the Kline cemetery, contains graves dating to the early 1800s. A charming Gothic Revival chapel, built in 1888, sits on the southern edge of the site. Not... Read more
The Cradit-Moore House located at 172 Pleasant Grove Road, now a private residence, gives us a glimpse of Ithaca's early agricultural heritage. The oldest section of the home, its northern wing, dates to 1817, when it was constructed by pr... Read more

 

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