Who can guess the location of the this Harlem cabaret from a nighttime photo taken circa 1955? This is one of the longer lasting establishments from the Harlem Renaissance years and the physical property is still standing today. Another major note of importances is that the business was African-American owned and allowed everyone to enter unlike the more famous Cotton Club back in the early decade of the Jazz Age.
Archival image courtesy NYPL
ANSWER: Smalls Paradise at the corner of 135th Street and 7th Avenue stayed open in Harlem up until 1986. After several years of neglect thereafter, a school was eventually built on the top floors and the lower level is now a chain restaurant. Check out the current facade image in our past post:
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ReplyDeleteIHOP (135 & Powell) ... I said Lenox a minute ago & realized right after hitting publish that I'm an idiot :)
ReplyDelete135th and ACP -7th Avenue
ReplyDeleteSmalls Paradise
I have a photo of my grandparents celebrating VE Day here in 1945. Everytime I pass it I think of them and the good times they had there.
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