Sam Rohn

Named for naturalist and artist John James Audubon, on whose former land the complex sits, and who is buried across the street, Audubon Terrace was commissioned by railroad heir and philanthropist Archer M. Huntington in 1907. Among the well-known architects who designed the buildings were Cass Gilbert, Stanford White, and Charles Pratt Huntington. Huntington designed the original buildings, housing the Hispanic Society, American Geographical Society, Museum of the American Indian, and American Numismatic Society. The two buildings housing the Academy of Arts and Letters were completed in 1923 and 1930, respectively. A large equestrian statue of the legendary Spanish knight El Cid, located in the plaza in front of the Hispanic Society, was sculpted by Archer Huntington’s wife, Anna Hyatt Huntington in 1927.