Harlem Walking Tour: A Self-Guided Route Through Music and Black History

"The rowhouses on West 138th and 139th Streets, between Adam Clayton Powell Jr. and Frederick Douglass Boulevards, were built in 1891 for developer David H. King Jr. King hired three architects for the project: James Brown Lord, Bruce Price and Clarence Luce, and McKim, Mead & White, whose Italian Renaissance design runs along the north side of 139th. The houses were first sold to white buyers, and by the early 20th century they became desirable addresses for prominent Black professionals, musicians and clergy, which gave the block its nickname. The district was designated a New York City landmark in 1967 and the area is listed in the National Register of Historic Places."

Walk the north side of 139th for the best view of the McKim, Mead & White facades. Look for the rear service lanes marked with signs telling riders to walk their horses. These are private homes, so photograph from the sidewalk and do not step onto stoops or into the lanes.

"Abyssinian Baptist Church was founded in 1808 by Black worshippers and Ethiopian merchants who left a segregated church downtown, and the name refers to Ethiopia, once called Abyssinia. The congregation moved to Harlem in the 1920s, and the Gothic Revival building at 132 West 138th Street was completed in 1923. Adam Clayton Powell Sr. led the church through its growth, and his son, Adam Clayton Powell Jr., succeeded him in 1937 and later became the first Black congressman from New York."

The exterior is worth a few minutes on its own. Sunday services draw large tourist crowds, and the church has had to manage visitor seating, so check its current visitor policy online before planning a service visit. On weekdays you are mostly looking at stonework from the street.

"The Schomburg Center at 515 Malcolm X Boulevard grew from the personal collection of Arturo Alfonso Schomburg, a Puerto Rican-born scholar who collected books, art and manuscripts documenting the African diaspora. The New York Public Library acquired his collection in 1926, and it became the core of the research center. The library's lobby floor holds a cosmogram medallion titled Rivers by artist Houston Conwill, and the ashes of poet Langston Hughes are interred beneath it."

Admission to the lobby and public exhibition galleries is free, though hours vary, so check the schedule before you go. The Hughes cosmogram is right in the lobby floor and easy to walk past, so stop and read the inscription. Skip the gift shop unless you want books, because the exhibits are the draw.

"The brownstone at 20 East 127th Street was the home of poet and writer Langston Hughes from 1947 until his death in 1967. Hughes is the best-known voice of the Harlem Renaissance, and he wrote here for the last two decades of his life. The block is a New York City landmark, and the house is a private residence."

This stop is for the sidewalk only; the house is not open to visitors. Read the plaque, take a photo from across the street, and move on. Stopping here for ten minutes is plenty, and it is the quietest block on the whole route.

"Hotel Theresa at 2090 Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard was built in 1912 to 1913 and designed by George and Edward Blum, with a facade of glazed white terra cotta. It was a whites-only hotel until the 1940s, then became the best-known hotel in Black Harlem. In September 1960, Fidel Castro and his delegation stayed here during the United Nations General Assembly, an episode that drew international press to 125th Street. The building was later converted to offices and is now known as Theresa Towers."

Stand on the northwest corner of 125th and Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard to take in the full terra cotta facade. There is nothing to enter, so treat this as a street-level history stop. It pairs naturally with the Apollo a short walk to the east.

"The building at 253 West 125th Street opened in 1914 as Hurtig & Seamon's New Burlesque Theater, designed by George Keister. It reopened as the Apollo in 1934 under Sidney Cohen, and Amateur Night began that year. Ella Fitzgerald won an Amateur Night contest there in 1934, and over the decades the stage hosted Billie Holiday, Duke Ellington, James Brown and many others. The Tree of Hope stump, a piece of an elm that once stood along Seventh Avenue, is displayed on the sidewalk out front."

Touch-the-stump superstition is part of the ritual, and performers still do it. Amateur Night runs on Wednesday evenings, and tickets sell out, so book ahead if your timing allows. Guided daytime tours exist, but the best use of this stop is the marquee and the stump.

"Red Rooster at 310 Malcolm X Boulevard opened in 2010 under chef Marcus Samuelsson, who was born in Ethiopia and raised in Sweden. The restaurant draws on the name of a Harlem nightspot and serves Southern-leaning American food alongside dishes drawn from Samuelsson's background. Its menu is built around dishes such as fried yardbird, and the venue has a live music program in the downstairs supper club, Ginny's."

The fried yardbird is the best-known order, and the Sunday gospel brunch draws crowds, so reservations help. Weekday lunch is calmer. Expect entree prices well above a neighborhood diner, and plan for a table in the main room if you do not want to pay club cover downstairs.