Cornell Heights Historic District Driving Tour

Loop One & Two

This tour was developed by Historic Ithaca.

Cornell Heights was Ithaca's first planned suburb, intended by its developers as an exclusive "residence park" for families of the Cornell University faculty and wealthy businessmen and professionals. The distinct character of the district--defined by a curvilinear street plan, lavish landscaping, generous setbacks, and the imposing size of many of the homes--was part of the developers' original plan and has remained largely intact. The area was designated a National Register historic district in 1989.

Private wealth financed the development of Cornell Heights. All of the details of the neighborhood's infrastructure--the roads and building lots, the water and sewer lines, the street lighting, and the landscaping--were paid for by a handful of businesspeople and professors calling themselves the Cornell Heights Land Company. Many of the homes in the neighborhood were built by the company. Even the bridges linking Cornell Heights to downtown Ithaca and the rest of East Hill were privately financed.

Completed in 1898, these bridges over Fall Creek were critical to the expansion of trolley service to the Heights. Trolley access, in turn, was influential in making the neighborhood attractive to prospective residents. Not coincidentally, given the land company's controlling stock interest in the Ithaca Street Railway and Lighting Company, trolleys were soon to follow.

On July 28, 1898, the trolley made its first round trip to Cornell Heights, entering the neighborhood via the Triphammer Bridge, going west along Thurston Avenue to the Knoll, and returning to town via the Stewart Avenue bridge. The trip took an hour and a half.

Among the distinguishing features of Cornell Heights are a varied topography and the curvilinear street plan that accommodates it. Intent on taking advantage of the area's natural beauty, the land company hired William Webster, a landscape architect from Rochester, New York, to design a set of streets that would complement the terrain, which includes steep and gentle inclines, knolls, and ravines. Webster also laid out the building lots, which vary greatly in size and orientation and many of which have direct lines of sight to Cayuga Lake.

The explosive growth of Cornell University around 1900 had a direct impact on the successful development of Cornell Heights. From the first, the district was promoted as an extension of the university campus. Many building lots were sold to professors, and several streets were named after prominent members of the faculty. Faculty and upper-level administrative staff have constituted the single largest population in the Heights since its inception.

Most of the 150 buildings in the district were built between 1898 and 1935 and reflect a variety of early twentieth-century architectural styles. Many of the homes were designed by locally prominent architects, including William H. Miller, Clinton Vivian, Clarence Martin, and Arthur Gibb. The district reflects the eclecticism of the period wherein elements from various architectural styles were combined in a single structure. The most abundantly represented styles in the district are Colonial Revival, Tudor Revival, and Craftsman.

This tour presents information on 36 homes in the district, a 175-acre parcel of land on the north rim of Fall Creek between Cornell University and Cayuga Heights. It was developed by Historic Ithaca Inc.

ACCESSIBILITY NOTES

Loop One is 1.2 -miles long and can be toured safely and easily on foot. Loop Two is 1.5 miles long. Given the absence of adequate sidewalks--especially along Ridgewood Road--we strongly recommend that you see it by car. Please use discretion when approaching private property. Thank you, and we hope you enjoy the tour!

Listen to the tour on SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/tompkinshistory/sets/cornell-heights-historic-district-driving-tour