Editing Murray Hill, Manhattan (section)

===19th century===

==== Initial development ====
John Murray and his wife Hannah Lindley had four children. After John Murray's death in 1808, Hannah Lindley and their children moved into Inclenberg.<ref name="Wuebber Morin 2007 pp. 6-8">{{harvnb|Wuebber|Morin|2007|ps=.|pp=3.6 to 3.8}}</ref> Two of their children, Mary and Hannah, did not marry and instead lived in apartments that were specifically created for them at the estate.<ref name="Wuebber Morin 2007 p. 8">{{harvnb|Wuebber|Morin|2007|ps=.|p=3.8}}</ref><ref name="Monaghan p. 119">{{harvnb|Monaghan|1998|ps=.|p=119}}</ref> In the winter of 1808 during the embargo that closed New York Harbor, a work relief program kept out-of-work dock workers busy reducing the height of Murray Hill.<ref>{{harvnb|Burrows|Wallace|1999|p=412}}.</ref> Between twenty and forty feet were sliced off its summit and used for fill.<ref>{{harvnb|Sanderson|2009|pp=81, map "Fill and Excavation, 1609–2009"}}.</ref> Around that time, the area was subdivided into a regular street grid with the enactment of the [[Commissioners' Plan of 1811]]. Under the plan, what is now Third Avenue was opened between 1815 and 1821.<ref name="NYCL (2002) p. 8; NYCL (2004) p. 7" />

John Murray's children confirmed title to the land in 1816, and Mary and Hannah Murray were given the responsibility of renting out the Murray farm. In 1818, they ran advertisements for the farm, which was only {{Convert|3.5|mi}} from the developed portions of Manhattan. A fire destroyed Inclenberg in 1835 and the lots were split up.<ref name="Wuebber Morin 2007 p. 8" /> The route of the Eastern Post Road from 23rd to 31st Street was closed in April 1844, and the section of the road from 31st to 42nd Street was closed in June 1848.<ref name="NYCL (2002) p. 8; NYCL (2004) p. 7" />[[File:Sniffen Court 1-9 (west).jpg|thumb|[[Sniffen Court Historic District|Sniffen Court]], built as stables in the 1860s]]

In 1833 the railroad cut was begun, to carry the [[New York and Harlem Rail Road]] through Murray Hill; the route under the most prominent obstacle in its right-of-way was opened on May 1, 1834.<ref name="Brennan">[http://www.columbia.edu/~brennan/abandoned/38st.html Joseph Brennan (Columbia University) "Abandoned Stations: 38 St."]</ref> The locomotives, which had met the horse-cars that ran through the city's streets at the station at 27th Street, could pass  the reduced hill. By an act of 1850 the city permitted to roof over the cut for the passage of steam locomotives. This [[Park Avenue Tunnel (roadway)|Park Avenue Tunnel]], enlarged and relined, has been devoted to automobile traffic since 1937.<ref name="Brennan" />

==== Row houses and later development ====
In mid-century, the rich temporarily, and the upper middle class more permanently, filled the [[brownstone]] row houses that filled Murray Hill's streets. The [[Brick Presbyterian Church (Manhattan)|Brick Presbyterian Church]] followed its congregation; after selling its site facing [[City Hall Park]], it rebuilt in 1857 closer to its congregation, on the smoothed brow of Murray Hill, at Fifth Avenue and 37th Street.<ref>{{harvnb|Burrows|Wallace|1999|p=717}}.</ref> However, when [[J. P. Morgan]] built his conservative brownstone free-standing mansion in 1882 on [[Madison Avenue (Manhattan)|Madison Avenue]] at 36th Street (later part of [[The Morgan Library & Museum]]), it was considered a fashionable but slightly old-fashioned address,<ref name="In the no longer cutting">"In the no longer cutting-edge Murray Hill" ({{harvnb|Burrows|Wallace|1999|p=1075}}).</ref> as the rich were filling Fifth Avenue with palaces as far as [[Central Park]]. Instead stylish merchandising was changing the neighborhood; [[Madison Square Park]], at this time considered a part of Murray Hill, was bordered by the fashionable [[Ladies' Mile Historic District|ladies' shops]] of the day on Fifth Avenue.

In 1925, the architectural firm Margon & Glaser designed the Griffon, a residential building at 77 Park Avenue and 39th Street. The Griffon which was converted into a condominium in 1969 and is known for its stunning lobby as well as its oversized apartment layouts with original details and fireplaces.&nbsp;The Griffon is included in the NRHP's Murray Hill historic district.<ref name="In the no longer cutting" />