It was fabulous, busy and decidedly white.īlack women could buy dresses on 125th Street but weren’t allowed to try them on, and restaurants on the street would not serve blacks. The street also had its share of theaters, restaurants and jewelry stores. Beck and Regal Shoes, as well as some of New York’s first department stores, such as the fabled Blumstein’s. There were high-fashion stores, such as A.S. In the ’20s and ’30s, this vibrant street attracted shoppers from all over the city. The area below 125th Street was predominantly white until the late 1930s.įrom early on, Harlem’s main business artery was 125th Street. The area between 125th and 140th became what we now consider black Harlem. Developers began to break the apartments up into smaller units and allow African Americans to rent them, beginning north of 125th Street. Some of America’s greatest architects, such as Sanford White, designed elegant homes in Harlem, and businesses quickly opened in the new trendy neighborhood.But Harlem’s higher-priced brownstones and apartment buildings attracted fewer people than expected. Harlem began in the 19th century as an upscale community for people who wanted gracious living but not Fifth Avenue prices. Noted author Walter Dean Myers shares his memories of the Black Capital of the World.
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