West Harlem

Okay, it's been awhile since my last post, but now we're back with some very cool, very old buildings from the area in West Harlem where I live.

In 1658, the village of Nieuw Haarlem was founded by Dutch settlers on the island of Manhattan. The name was anglicized to Harlem when the English took control of the New Netherland colony. It began as a small agricultural town and remained a rural area consisting mostly of upscale country estates well into the 19th century, including the one belonging to James Roosevelt, great-great-grandfather of Franklin Delano, before that branch of the family moved north to Hyde Park. In 1873, as the quality of the soil began to deteriorate and the fancy homes were auctioned off, Harlem was incorporated into the City of New York. In 1880 elevated train service was extended into the neighborhood, and the area experienced an urban renewal.

At the beginning of the 20th century, West Harlem was a Jewish neighborhood and East Harlem was an Italian neighborhood. The Jewish population reached its peak in 1917 with 150,000 European Jews living in the area. Today the Old Broadway Synagogue, located on Old Broadway just above 125th Street, is the only living relic of Jewish Harlem. In place of the Jews, the area saw a mass migration of African Americans, who moved north from other Manhattan neighborhoods like San Juan Hill (where Lincoln Center is today) and Hell's Kitchen during the first two decades of the 20th century. West Harlem remains a predominately black neighborhood to this day, while East ("Spanish") Harlem is mostly Hispanic. In the 1920s and 30s the neighborhood went through the "Harlem Renaissance," during which African American arts and culture bloomed and the great careers of Duke Ellington, Billie Holiday, Langston Hughes and many others were launched.

The photos on the left and right show some beautiful examples of Harlem brownstones, which line the side streets in the West 120's. Unfortunately I don't know much about these buildings specifically. My guess is that they were built sometime between 1880 and 1920, when Harlem was first transitioning from country to city, and when its demographics were changing rapidly. In high school I had a history teacher who was in her 80s, and she told me that her grandparents were wealthy Jews who lived in a brownstone in Harlem because Jews at that time were restricted from living on the Upper East Side, where affluent gentiles lived. I like to think about the incredible variety of people who have lived in these houses over the years. Perhaps more than any other New York City neighborhood, Harlem is a symbol for the many cultures and identities and personalities that make up the culture, identity and personality of New York.

Below are some lovely architectural details from other cool old Harlem buildings:

I've lived in Harlem for a year and haven't even almost seen it all yet. I definitely have some exploring to do, and there will be more cool old buildings from Harlem in the not-too-distant future. Keep reading!