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AccessibilityWhat was here before?
This land was once part of Harlem Creek and its surrounding marshland. Captain Johannes Benson settled in Nieuw Haarlem in 1696 and for two centuries his heirs owned large portions of Harlem and East Harlem, including this property. His descendant, Sampson Adolphus Benson owned a farm that encompassed this site until the early 19th century.
As the city expanded northward, the creek, which had been critical to farmers for centuries, was filled in. Traces of it vanished at by the turn of the 20th century with the construction of transit lines and subsequent population growth.
By the 1940s, the East Harlem community was a mix of working-class residences and commercial enterprises. Four-story brick buildings lined East 108th Street and the businesses along Third Avenue included Banner Furniture store, a real estate office, print shop, delicatessen, paint shop, and an undertaker.
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