An archival photo taken in 1943 is filed only under the title "A Street Scene in Harlem" but those familiar with uptown's main commercial strip can easily identify the location. With the Blumstein department store sign on the far left and the double vertical theater signs at center, one can identify that the location is on 125th Street looking west from 7th Avenue. Those signs in the distance would have been the original ones at the Apollo and the Victoria theaters which both still stand today but are in contrasting conditions. The one major landmark missing from the lower current photo would be the Harlem Opera House which met its demise sometimes in the 1960s to be replaced by the current modern structure years later.
Top photo via the Library of Congress
Look at those clean streets and folks lookin' good ! We certainly gained some much as people since then, but we lost some important things as well.
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