Walking Tour in Harlem

The beginning of Harlem as an African-American community was the result of a speculative real estate market in the dawn of the twentieth century. Too many houses were built and a downturn in the economy left them vacant. The speculators who built these homes were desperate to sell them, but were reluctant to sell them to Black Americans. However, the Tenderloin race riot spurred new interest moving to Harlem, and economic and political pressure soon overcame the attitude of discrimination. A man named Philip Peyton helped broker some early deals for African-American buyers. After 1910 the growth in the African-American population began, and many properties were owned by African-Americans by the 1920s.

Many notable African Americans have stories linked to the Harlem YMCA on 135th Street. The older building is across the street from the one shown.

Thurgood Marshall Academy was built atop a building that once held Small's Paradise, a Prohibition Era integrated nightclub where jazz performers played.