Hotel Theresa
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Hotel Theresa
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View from the north (2006)
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| Location | 2082-2096 Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. Blvd. Manhattan, New York City |
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| Coordinates | 40°48′31″N 73°56′58″W / 40.80861°N 73.94944°WCoordinates: 40°48′31″N 73°56′58″W / 40.80861°N 73.94944°W |
| Built | 1912-13 |
| Architect | George & Edward Blum |
| NRHP Reference # | 05000618 |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | June 16, 2005 |
| Designated NYCL | July 13, 1993 |
The Hotel Theresa, located at 2082-96 Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard between West 124th and 125th Streets in the Harlem neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City, was, in the mid-20th century, a vibrant center of African American life in the area and the city.
The 13-story hotel was built in 1912-13 by German-born stockbroker Gustavus Sidenberg (1843–1915), whose wife the hotel is named after, and was designed by the firm of George & Edward Blum, who specialized in designing apartment buildings. The hotel, which was known in its heyday as "the Waldorf of Harlem", exemplifies the Blums' inventive use of terra-cotta for ornamentation, and has been called "one of the most visually striking structures in northern Manhattan."
The building, now an office building known as Theresa Towers, was designated a New York City landmark in 1993 and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2005.
The 13-story hotel – with its striking white terra cotta facade with ornamentation made specifically for the project and not pre-fabricated stock items, as was standard practice – opened in 1913 and was, until the construction of the Adam Clayton Powell Jr. State Office Building across the street in 1973, the tallest building in Harlem. It was primarily an apartment hotel, but also accepted temporary guest as well. In its early years the hotel accepted only white guests, but it was bought in 1937 by Love B. Woods, an African American businessman, who in 1940 ended its racial segregation policy.
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