New York City (Fodor's, 2012) - Fodor's [82]
HUNT THE GHOSTS OF THE HARLEM RENAISSANCE
Take the subway up to the 140s and lower 150s (between Edgecombe and Convent avenues) and find yourself on a rocky bluff above lower Harlem. Here, in the enclaves of Sugar Hill and Hamilton Heights, the Harlem elite in the early 1900s could literally “look down “ on their neighbors. Some blocks will require more imagination than others to re-create their former glory (especially Edgecombe Avenue, where many leaders of the Harlem Renaissance once resided), but the brownstones of Convent Avenue and adjacent streets remain in mint condition.
Finish your walk at Strivers’ Row, a pair of posh blocks that have attracted well-to-do African-Americans since 1919, or head a bit farther north to the Morris-Jumel Mansion, where George Washington slept and three other future presidents once dined.
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TOP ATTRACTIONS
Abyssinian Baptist Church.
This 1923 Gothic-style church holds one of Harlem’s richest legacies, dating to 1808 when a group of parishioners defected from the segregated First Baptist Church of New York City and established the first African-American Baptist church in New York State. Among its legendary pastors was Adam Clayton Powell Jr., a powerful orator and civil rights leader and the first black U.S. congressman.
Today sermons by pastor Calvin Butts III are fiery, and the seven choirs are excellent. Because of its services’ popularity, the church maintains separate lines for parishioners and tourists at its 11 am service. Dress your best, remember to not take pictures or videos, and get there early—at least two hours ahead of time. | 132 Odell Clark Pl., W. 138th St., between Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Blvd., 7th Ave., and Malcolm X Blvd., Lenox Ave./6th Ave., Harlem | 10030 | 212/862–7474 | www.abyssinian.org | Sun. services for visitors at 11; no such services on major holidays | Subway: 2, 3 to 135th St.
Canaan Baptist Church of Christ.
The heavenly gospel music during Sunday-morning services makes up for this church’s unassuming, concrete-box-like exterior (visitors may enter once parishioners are seated). Pastor emeritus Wyatt Tee Walker worked with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (who delivered his famous “A Knock at Midnight” sermon here). To attend, arrive at least an hour before services, and dress up. | 132 W. 116th St., between Malcolm X Blvd., Lenox Ave./6th Ave., and Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Blvd., 7th Ave., Harlem | 10026 | 212/866–0301 | www.cbccnyc.org | Services Sun. at 8 and 11 am | Subway: 2, 3 to 116th St.
Hamilton Heights.
To taste this neighborhood’s Harlem Renaissance days, walk down tree-lined Convent Avenue, detouring onto adjacent Hamilton Terrace, and see a time capsule of elegant stone row houses in mint condition. (Until 2008 Hamilton Grange, founding father Alexander Hamilton’s Federal-style mansion, stood at 287 Convent Avenue. The clapboard structure, owned by the National Park Service, has been moved around the corner to Saint Nicholas Park.
At this writing it’s closed for refurbishment and scheduled to reopen for tours in summer 2011: visit | www.nps.gov/hagr for updates). Continue down Convent Avenue and see the looming Gothic spires (1905) of City College. The stately Oxford-inspired buildings here are New York to the core: they are clad with the schist rock unearthed when the city was building what is now the 1 subway line. When you’re ready to move on, head east through Saint Nicholas Park, which will bring you to Strivers’ Row. | Convent Ave. between 138th and 150th Sts., Harlem | 10031 | Subway: A, B, C, D to 145th St.
Morris-Jumel Mansion.
During the Revolutionary War, General George Washington used this wooden, pillared 8,500-square-foot house (built in1765) as his headquarters, Later, as president, he visited again for dinner, bringing along with him John and John Quincy Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and Alexander Hamilton.
Inside are rooms furnished with period decorations—upstairs, keep an eye out for the hand-painted wallpaper