☞ REMEMBER: THE HARLEM OPERA HOUSE ON 125TH
Harlem Bespoke: Another post from a decade ago on the blog features the forgotten Harlem Opera House that was one of the major attractions on uptown’s commercial boulevard. Sadly enough, opera did not last long in Harlem and the building was eventually torn down decades later.
The above photo of the Harlem Opera House that was at 211 West 125th Street (between ACP/7th and FDB/8th) probably shows the building around 1889 when it was just finished. The pavement on 125th Street was still cobblestone at the time and notice the small country house to the right of the majestic structure. By the turn of the last century, a low corner building would replace the estate and that said construction would survive the Opera House itself. The more current photo shows the building that replaced the neoclassical structure in the 1960’s (at left) and the commercial development which was built over the bucolic manor. See our past post on the Harlem Opera House for more photos and background information: LINK
Archival photo titled Hammerstein’s Harlem Opera House at 8th Avenue and 125th Street, John C. Rice and May Irwin in “The Widow Jones” on billboards from the Joseph Byron Company collection at the Museum of the City of New York