Washington Heights & Inwood
Nearby Subways A, C

Among the most beautiful areas of New York City, these two neighborhoods are rich in history, culture, and wonderfully diverse people. Washington Heights and Inwood (WaHI) and Marble Hill are the three northernmost neighborhoods in Manhattan. Although they are part of Manhattan, this section is generally ignored by most tourist maps, which usually depict Manhattan's northern edge as 96th Street or 125th Street. Washington Heights is bounded to the south by 155th Street and to the north by Fairview Avenue and runs from the Harlem River on the east to the Hudson River on the west.

Washington Heights is named for Fort Washington, a fortification constructed at the highest point on Manhattan island by Continental Army troops during the American Revolutionary War, to defend the area from the British forces. During the Battle of Fort Washington, on November 16, 1776, the fort was captured by the British at great cost to the American forces; 130 soldiers were killed or wounded, and an additional 2,700 captured and held as prisoners, many of whom died on prison ships anchored in New York Harbor. The progress of the battle is marked by a series of bronze plaques along Broadway. Inwood is the northern tip of the island, everything lying north of Fairview Avenue. The two neighborhoods are often lumped together as one because administratively they make up Manhattan Community District 12.