Vanderbilt’s New York City roots
Long before Vanderbilt University–New York City opened in fall 2026, Vanderbilt University founder “Commodore” Cornelius Vanderbilt left his mark across the city. During the 19th century, the business magnate built a massive transportation empire that included ferries, steamboats and the New York Central Railroad, physically reshaping Manhattan’s infrastructure.
Among his holdings was the Hudson River Railroad, which ran freight trains down the West Side of Manhattan along 10th and 11th avenues. This foundational rail network eventually led to the creation of the High Line, the current-day elevated linear park that runs directly through Chelsea, the same neighborhood as the university’s new campus. In addition, several prominent locations, historic structures and modern skyscrapers in New York City carry the Vanderbilt name today.
Much of Vanderbilt’s life and work is documented in the Cornelius Vanderbilt Collection, an assortment of contemporaneous newspaper clippings, scrapbooks and other items maintained by his wife, Frank Armstrong Crawford Vanderbilt, and donated to the university after the Commodore’s death in 1877.