Harlem’s Historic Mount Morris Park House Tour
Mount Morris Park Community Improvement Association Presents Its 23rd Tour Highlighting One of the City’s Most Storied and Treasured Neighborhoods
June 10, 2012, 11 AM – 4 PM
History buffs, architecture enthusiasts and lovers of Harlem and its historical landscape will be treated to the 23rd annual Mount Morris Park House Tour, on June 10, 2012, from 11 AM to 4 PM. Presented by the Mount Morris Park Community Improvement Association (MMPCIA) of Central Harlem, the self-guided walking tour offers visitors an inside glimpse of one of New York’s most historic and storied neighborhoods and its original and renovated brownstone homes, urban live/work apartments and landmark churches.
Named an official historic district more than 40 years ago, Mount Morris Park has been home to a range of who’s who, including basketball legend Kareem Abdul Jabar, Broadway legend Richard Rodgers and the grandfather of his collaborator, Oscar Hammerstein, famous for his countless contributions to building New York’s theater and opera houses — a movement he first started on Harlem’s 125thstreet. Its current residents include Maya Angelou and acclaimed documentarian Albert Maysles and his wife Gillian Walker. As Harlem continues to see exceptional growth and development in home ownership, diversity and commerce, the MMPCIA’s House Tour is one way to show off the best of modern Harlem while paying homage to its vibrant past. In addition to its rich collection of some of the city’s most beautiful brownstones, Mount Morris Park is also home to the last surviving Fire Watch Tower, designated a New York City landmark in 1967.
“Mount Morris Park is one of Harlem’s most coveted neighborhoods and the MMPCIA has worked tirelessly to support this community’s development and to protect its most treasured real estate, particularly its buildings and outdoor spaces,” said Syderia Asberry-Chresfield, president, MMPCIA. The organization is working to extend its historic district, which currently runs north and south between 119th and 124th streets, and east and west from Lenox Avenue to Marcus Garvey Park. The extension, which is designed to protect more of the row homes similar to those in the current district, would extend the area further west to Adam Clayton Powell Blvd., east to 5th Avenue and south to 118th .
Tickets for the general tour are $30, $25 in advance. Guided tours led by Harlem historians are also on the schedule. The tours begin in front of the Pelham Fritz Community Center, West 122 Street and Mount Morris Park West.
For more information on the events of the day, details on how to order tickets and directions to the Mount Morris Historical District, visit www.mmpcia.org.