An old magazine page from around 1950 shows a fully intact 125th Street before some of the major changes would happen in the next decade. The Apollo Theater can be seen in the background along with the Victoria Theatre which would have still been open for business. Other major landmarks such as The Harlem Opera House can be seen along with the arched entrance of the bank that was located on the same side of the boulevard.
From this period on up until the end of the 90s, Central Harlem would start losing almost half of its total population and thus would not be able to sustain the economies needed to maintain these cultural centers. Now slowly, but surely, theaters are starting to open again on 125th Street and people are returning to Central Harlem but the overall population today is still not as substantial as it was during the 1950s.
Love this photo, the Victoria Theater looks in better shape than the Apollo.
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