In the 1880s, the new elevated railroad converted Harlem from a rural district into tracts of beautiful homes for wealthy New Yorkers. By the 1920s, downtown development and the new subway changed the neighborhood into one of the nation's most famous African-American communities.

Highlights of the tour include:
       •  The birth of jazz and sites of the artistic and literary Harlem
            Renaissance
       •  Strivers Row, Sugar Hill, and Hamilton Heights
       •  Abyssinian Baptist Church
       •  1 of world's greatest collections dedicated to the study of
            black culture

The walk begins in front of City College, at 138th St. and Amsterdam Avenue. The closest subway is the #1 train to 137th St., then walk up the 138th St. hill for 1 block. The tour costs $15 per person ($3 discount for seniors 65+) and no reservations are needed.

Joyce Gold teaches New York history at New York University and the New School for Social Research. She has published guidebooks to the history of the Financial District and Greenwich Village and contributed entries to The Encyclopedia of New York City.