Part of a Series on Vincentian Heritage Places

Craigdon, New York City

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Summer retreats at “Craigdon,” country home

In addition to his residence in the city, Elizabeth’s husband William Seton acquired, in 1784, a property which at that time was a country place several miles from the heart of New York, in Bloomingdale, on the west side of Manhattan about where 78th St. is now. He called this place Craigdon (Cragdon or Craggdon).

The Bloomingdale district of colonial New York was a rough triangle of land, about 3.5 square miles in area, stretching along the Hudson River from about 42nd Street to 129th Street. Its southern boundary was a broad creek, bordered by marshes, known as the Great Kill. It was bounded on the east by the Town of Harlem, a municipal entity that had been established by Peter Stuyvesant and continued by his English successors despite being entirely within the City of New York. (Source: Upperwestsidehistory.org)

This district now forms one of the wealthiest parts of New York, and long rows of costly residences cover the area. Looking from the east side of Riverside Drive, a magnificent avenue that runs along the Hudson for several miles, there is an unobstructed view of the river and the Palisades, as the hills beyond it are called. The ground lying between Riverside Drive and the water has been reserved as a public park and left, in its natural features, much as it was a century ago. It may be that the wooded slopes in the vicinity of west seventy-eighth street, once formed part of Craigdon, and as one walks their quiet paths, it is easy to imagine Elizabeth Seton strolling there, gazing on “the stately river, moving like eternity,” or seated in the shadow of some great tree, repeating the Psalms, whose recital, she says, always gave her special strength, or reading the Bible, and taking joy of the blessed assurances in its inspired pages. Source: Elizabeth Seton: Foundress of the American Sisters of Charity; Her Life and Work by Agnes Sadlier

By the Summer of 1800, Craigdon was sold. Later there was another Cragdon established in the Bronx by Seton’s son and his wife, and which is preserved now as a Public Park, called Seton Falls.

Riverside Park as it looks today (in the area of former Seton estate, Craigdon)

Riverside Park as it looks today (approximate location of former Seton estate, Craigdon)

All Vincentian Places in this Series

Red = Vincent de Paul, Blue = Frederic Ozanam, Teal = Elizabeth Seton

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