Hamilton Heights & Strivers Row

I was bored so I decided to grab the camera and
take walk around the old 'hood.

I rarely go above 125 Street so I thought I would check out Hamilton Heights and City College. I rarely see photos of real New York City neighborhoods, just tourist crap downtown.  The architecture in uptown neighborhoods is unmatched. 

I took the train from 125 to 145 and worked my way down.

Hamilton Heights is a sub neighborhood of Harlem and is mapped from 135 to 145 Streets and Broadhurst Avenue to the Hudson River.

Gorgeous Brownstones on the corner of

145 Street and Convent Avenue

Convent Avenue Baptist Church

Convent Avenue and 145 Street

 

Church of Nazareth

Gorgeous building.  It's a burned out shell but

hopefully can be restored.

This would be an awesome condo building.

Nice large Townhouses on Hamilton Terrace

Hamilton Grange

Home of Alexander Hamilton.

The area is named after Alexander Hamilton

Hamilton Grange moved from Convent Ave. to it's new home

in St. Nicholas Park

More on the move here:  Hamilton Grange Move

Back to Convent Avenue

Can you imagine what it was like to live in here in the 1920 thru the 1960's.  Well dressed and well mannered people of color stepping out on their stoops each morning.  If these buildings could talk, I wonder what stories they would tell

 

St. Luke's Episcopal Church

The view from 141 Street and Convent Ave. looking East.

City College is the first university of higher learning to offer a free public education in the States.

The majority of the college is Gothic and landmarked.

The Alexander Hamilton Gate at
140 Street and Hamilton Avenue

Shepard Hall

Baskerville Hall

 

Wingate Hall

Townsend Hall

Goethals Hall

The George Washington Arch

On the other side of the gate

on 138 Street and Manhattan Avenue.

Nothing to see here folks, it's just Dirty Jersey

The Gatehouse Theater. The Gatehouse Theater 

is apart of Aaron Davis Hall

The space is a former  water pumping station

 

I move on as I can't take the southern part of the campus.  Much of it was built in 70's.

What were people thinking then??  Those Eastern Block Soviet Style building give me a headache.

The new architecture school.  Looks like something that belong in Hollywood not Harlem!  Humph

Across from the school of architecture
is Randolph High School

The School was named after Asa Philip Randolph

Moving on.  I decided to head home via St. Nicholas Park.

St. Nicholas Park is a thin tiered park.  Upper Manhattan is very hilly and has several rock formations.

The upper portion of the park bordered by St. Nicholas Terrace and the lower portion by St. Nicholas Ave.

The park offers great views of Central Harlem

Saint Marks Church

The view up into the park from St. Nicholas Avenue is pretty cool too, minus the traffic light  LOL

 

The neighborhood was planned with such taste

even the subway is architecturally pleasing.

Oh wait. Since I'm on St. Nicholas and Edgecomb I might as well check out Strivers Row.

Stately Brownstones near Edgecombe Avenue

On to Strivers Row.  Strivers row is located on 138 and 139 streets in Harlem.   The homes although similar are very different.  The townhouses on the south side of 138 street are different from the townhouses on the north side of 138 street & the south side of 139 street and the north side of 139 street.  The exterior of the apartment buildings on Adam Clayton and Frederick Douglass look alike.

These building were built in the late 1880s as the King Model Homes.  They average 14 rooms and when built had indoor plumbing.  The homes were designed for wealthy whites, however, the financial crisis and real estate bust made the project a bust.  The financier retained possession of the homes, but would not sell to minorities and the houses and apartment were left vacant.  

Years later when the demographic of the community changed and the economy recovered

 blacks were finally allow to buy the homes.

The King Model Homes soon after took on the moniker of Strivers Row since most who purchased the $8,000 homes were upper middle class professionals, lawyers, doctors, entertainers and the like who strived to get ahead.

Townhouses on 137 Street and the south side of 138 Street

The streets are eerily quiet, yet in the middle of Harlem.

A bucolic oasis on the highest level.  You don't feel like you're in the city.

The strivers row development is one that had no rear yard.

There are private gates, formerly used for horse carriages and delivery's

All the gates seem to have their original markings.

  

From Adam Clayton you can see that the private alley

is now primarily used for resident parking.

On to 139 Street.  Notice there are no stoops.

A corner unit for sale.   There are two or three units for sale

and the asking price for each is about a million.

If only I had that kind of cash.

Notice the entrances of the buildings on the north side of 139

vary from their sisters on the south side.

I love the Juliette balconies

 

This concludes my lil walk.

Hope you enjoyed.