Astor Row is the name given to 130th Street between 5th Avenue and Lennox in Harlem, New York City. More specifically, it refers to the semi-attached row houses on the south side of the street. These were among the first speculative townhouses built in Harlem, and they are very unusual. This article is about the Harlem neighborhood in New York City. ... City nickname: The Big Apple Location in the state of New York Counties (Boroughs) Bronx (The Bronx) New York (Manhattan) Queens (Queens) Kings (Brooklyn) Richmond (Staten Island) Mayor Michael Bloomberg Area  - Land  - Water 1,214. ... Leinster House Henrietta Street In the United Kingdom, Ireland and in some other countries, a townhouse was a residence of a peer or member of the aristocracy in the capital or major city. ...

Astor Row in the snow, February 2005

The entire row was designed by architect Charles Buek and built between 1881 and 1883. They are set back from the street and all have front yards, an oddity in New York, and they all have wooden porches. The effect is very southern, and the houses look as though they might have been airlifted in from Savannah, Georgia. Download high resolution version (1000x750, 557 KB)A photo of the Astor Row semi-attached row houses from February 2005. ... Download high resolution version (1000x750, 557 KB)A photo of the Astor Row semi-attached row houses from February 2005. ... Savannah Savannah is a city located in (and the county seat of) Chatham County, Georgia. ...

The houses were not maintained as Harlem decayed from 1930 - 1990, and the porches were gradually lost. In 1981, New York City declared the entire row to be landmarks and raised funds to restore their facades. In the 1990s, the porches and other decorative elements were restored to almost all the buildings on the block.

Today, Astor Row is one of the stellar architectural landmarks in Harlem. It is located near to Sylvia's soul food, the Mt. Moriah Baptist Church, the former home of Langston Hughes, and other sites of interest to visitors. Langston Hughes, photographed by Carl Van Vechten, 1936 Langston Hughes (February 1, 1902 – May 22, 1967) was an African American poet, novelist, playwright, and newspaper columnist. ...