Manhattanville History: From Dairy Factories to University Expansion Zone

Before public hearings and clamorous rallies made Columbia University Senior Executive Vice President Robert Kasdin and Coalition to Preserve Community leader Tom DeMott household names in Manhattanville, the coveted space between 125th Street and 133rd Street was famous for something other than the University expansion project: milk.

Every hour, 15,000 bottles of pasteurized milk were processed and packaged in the white glazed, terra-cotta building on 125th Street known for its cleanliness and its family-friendly facilities tours. Four hundred feet north, over 100 horses were kept in a six-story stable with 12-inch-thick walls, traveling in wagons in order to transport 45,000 quarts of milk per day.

The pasteurization plant, Prentis Hall, is now the home to sculpture classes and the CU Arts Initiative. The horse stable is now Hudson Moving & Storage, which transports fine arts items—and is one of the three properties within the footprint of Columbia’s Manhattanville campus that the University has not acquired. The small, single-floor milk depot next door to the stable has been completely demolished.

Industrial archaeologist Mary Habstritt spent nearly four years documenting the historical origins of properties in the neighborhood. Though Habstritt and others attempted and failed to acquire landmark designation for the stable last fall, her research has uncovered new details about one of Manhattan’s lost industries.

Beginning in the late nineteenth century, factories started to emerge near what is now 125th Street because of its access to the ferry and railroad along the Hudson River. In 1903, according to Habstritt’s research, two major dairies also expanded into the area: Sheffield Farms-Slawson-Decker and McDermott-Bunger. Borden’s dairy, which still supplies evaporated milk, glue, and other items, eventually occupied the large red brick Studebaker factory at 615 W. 131st St., formerly a garage. Combined, these “Big Three” held 61 percent of the milk distribution business in New York City.

Milk was transported to the pasteurization plants by train, and as business boomed and Sheffield Farms outgrew its space, the company moved into what is currently Prentis Hall, at 632 W. 125th St.

But gradually, as horse-drawn wagons became obsolete, the plants and stables closed down in Manhattanville—making room for Columbia. The University acquired the plant on 125th Street in 1949 as part of the $12 million expansion planned for its engineering school. The plant was easily adaptable for engineering laboratory use, which required the capacities for steam, water, refrigeration, and drainage.

For Habstritt, this rich history is ample justification for landmark designation of these buildings. Though not a Manhattanville resident herself, she was first approached last summer by the Sheffield Farms stable, now Hudson Storage owner, Anne Whitman, to research the history of the stable in order to acquire landmark status in the city, which would protect the building against unauthorized construction permits.

“It seems like a no-brainer to me,” said Habstritt, who prepared a 20-page report on the area that was eventually ignored. “I think I’ve been convincing on the history, and I don’t know what’s going on behind the scenes.”

Columbia has agreed not to demolish three buildings as it develops its Manhattanville campus: the Studebaker building and former milk processing plant, which is now an auto parts warehouse, Prentis Hall, and the Warren Nash building, a former car servicing plant.

“The preservation of Nash, Studebaker, and Prentis, with commitment to preserve the three buildings that we think can be preserved in consistence with the University’s needs and have architectural importance and are not merely old, we think that sitting alongside the need to preserve both the architectural elements of the past, is a need to serve the community—both the University and the broader community—going forward,” Kasdin said.

But according to Habstritt, expansion officials decline to make strides in acquiring historic landmark status for any of the buildings, leaving future demolition on the table.
“They are saying we must have this square footage, and although they have certainly talked at the neighborhood, I don’t think they have really listened to the community,” she said. “They say, ‘We’ll pick a few that we’ll leave standing,’ but they won’t make a real commitment to them.”

Executive Vice President for Columbia University Facilities Joe Ienuso has stressed that the University’s design for the Manhattanville campus seeks to evoke the neighborhood’s sense of history—like the atmosphere of the old dairy factory—by using a lot of transparent glass.

“Originally this was a milk pasteurization plant building, and what they wanted to do with this place was to show people who could just walk by, they would just look in and see the pasteurization happening here. So that’s what we’re really talking about,” he said. “And whether you do that today with ground level retail, like food or, you know, stores that are open to the public—whether they’re book stores or service providers—that’s what you try to do, that’s the way in which you realize that vision of openness on the ground floor level.”

According to Habstritt, Whitman wants to move the Sheffield stable to the location of the McDonalds on West 125th Street, an area that Columbia already owns. Though it is difficult to move the entire building, it remains a possibility. The Empire State Development Corporation is looking into the possibility of swapping space and preserving the building.

“It’s impossible to look at this area today and to not believe that it would change over time,” Ienuso said.

But according to Habstritt, change is not always for the better—or for the right reasons. “History can be measured in many ways,” she said. “But it certainly seems political.”

Betsy Morais contributed to this article.

i>sadia.latifi@columbiaspectator.com