191st Street

The 191st Street station is a station on the IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line of the New York City Subway. Located at the intersection of St. Nicholas Avenue and 191st Street in the Washington Heights neighborhood of Manhattan, it is served by the 1 train at all times. It is the deepest station in the New York City Subway system at about 173 feet (53 m) below street level. Access to the station's main entrance is only provided by four elevators from the mezzanine situated above the platforms. Tunnel Street, a 1,000-foot-long (300 m) pedestrian tunnel, also extends west from the station to Broadway, connecting it with the Fort George neighborhood. Built by the Interborough Rapid Transit Company (IRT), the station opened on January 14, 1911, as an infill station along the first subway. Even though the line through the area had opened five years earlier, no station was constructed at this location because the surrounding neighborhood had a lower population than other areas of Manhattan. Before the opening of the pedestrian tunnel two years later, the area's hilly topography made it hard for area residents to access the station. The opening of the station and the tunnel led to the development of the surrounding area, including the construction of apartment buildings. Hundreds of lots held by the Bennett family since 1835 were sold at an auction in 1919. These provided additional housing opportunities for the middle class, taking advantage of the area's improved transportation access.

Planning for a subway line in New York City dates to 1864, but development of what became the city's first subway line did not start until 1894, when the New York State Legislature passed the Rapid Transit Act. The subway plans were drawn up by a team of engineers led by William Barclay Parsons, the Rapid Transit Commission's chief engineer. It called for a subway line from New York City Hall in lower Manhattan to the Upper West Side, where two branches would lead north into the Bronx. A plan was formally adopted in 1897, and all legal conflicts over the route alignment were resolved near the end of 1899. The Rapid Transit Construction Company, organized by John B. McDonald and funded by August Belmont Jr., signed the initial Contract 1 with the Rapid Transit Commission in February 1900, under which it would construct the subway and maintain a 50-year operating lease from the opening of the line. In 1901, the firm of Heins & LaFarge was hired to design the underground stations. Belmont incorporated the Interborough Rapid Transit Company (IRT) in April 1902 to operate the subway. The tunnel leading to what would become the 191st Street station was built as part of the IRT's West Side Line (now the Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line) from a point 100 feet (30 m) north of 182nd Street to Hillside Avenue. Work on this section was conducted by L. B. McCabe & Brother, who started building the tunnel segment on March 27, 1901. The 168th Street, 181st Street, and 191st Street stations were built as part of the Washington Heights Mine Tunnel (also known as the Fort George Tunnel), which stretches for over 2 miles (3.2 km). The tunnel was dug through the hard rock under Washington Heights, with work proceeding from either end as well as from construction shafts at 168th and 181st Streets.

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