Take the A Train…. to Sugar Hill and Hamilton Heights
Looking for a New York history fix? Follow Duke Ellington’s advice and take the A train to Sugar Hill in the West Harlem neighborhood of Hamilton Heights.
Named for Alexander Hamilton, who built his country home in the area, the vibrant neighborhood includes a National Historic District running 20 blocks north from West 135th Street.
Fifteen Big Apple Greeter volunteers visited the neighborhood on a trip led by Greeter Chris Knowlton.
Their walk began at Riverbank State Park, which was built on top of a sewage treatment facility at 145th Street and Riverside Drive. Besides views across the Hudson River, the park features a striking bronze memorial to Ralph Ellison, author of Invisible Man. Fans of early US history—or musical theater—can learn more about Alexander Hamilton by walking along West 141st Street to the Hamilton Grange National Memorial, the home where Hamilton spent the last two years of his life.
Ralph Ellison Memorial
With Chris leading the way, the volunteers took 139th Street to Amsterdam Avenue for a stop at City College, the founding institution of CUNY (City University of New York) and the first free higher education institution in the US.
Founded in 1847, City College features a number of landmarked buildings in Neo-Gothic style along with more recent additions to the campus.
A stroll around the neighborhood offers more beautiful architecture. Many of the residential buildings in the Hamilton Heights and Sugar Hill Historic Districts date from the late 19th or early 20th Century. One standout is the Bailey House at 150th Street and St. Nicholas Avenue, which was built in the 1880s for James Anthony Bailey of the Barnum & Bailey Circus. The Romanesque Revival mansion features a corner tower, gables, and stained-glass mosaic windows.
New and old architecture of City College
Sugar Hill got its name during the Harlem Renaissance in the 1920s when a number of wealthy African Americans moved Uptown to enjoy “the sweet life.”
Duke Ellington, W.E.B. DuBois, Thurgood Marshall, Cab Calloway, Roy Wilkins, and Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. had homes in Sugar Hill. The arts continue to draw people to the neighborhood, including performances at Dance Theatre of Harlem on West 152nd Street between Broadway and Amsterdam Avenue. And although its members were from New Jersey, The Sugarhill Gang played a big role in music history when their recording “Rapper’s Delight” became the first rap song in the top 40.
After enjoying the neighborhood architecture, you can head back Downtown to a favorite spot for local residents: Riverside Valley Community Garden, better known as “Jenny’s Garden” after Jenny Benitez.
Starting in the 1970s, Benitez took the lead in revitalizing a derelict lot at 138th Street and 12th Avenue and making it a spot for collective agriculture. Much of the produce grown in the garden is donated to neighborhood community centers and soup kitchens.