REMEMBER: HOME OF THE FATHER OF HARLEM

Harlem Bespoke:  Who is known as the Father of Harlem and where did he live?  Below is one our original post mentioning the Home of Phillip A. Payton Jr. which still stands today in Central Harlem.

Number 13 West 131st Street just west of Fifth Avenue has windows that look like a Jack O'Lantern face but is also notable for being the former home of the Father of Harlem.   Phillip A. Payton Jr. founded the Afro-American Realty Company during a time when the financial market crashed in 1904 and would bring the black community uptown to brand new homes that were built in a speculative boom when the subways were constructed.  Desperate developers could not refuse the opportunity and African-Americans who formerly lived in the gritty Tenderloin section of midtown saw an opportunity to live in a brownstone neighborhood which was not accessible previously.  More on the incredible story of the black broker can be found in our past post: LINK

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