Harlem Alhambra

The story

The Harlem Alhambra was designed with a reproduction of the Brunheil Rathskeller in Leipzig built into its basement — an unlikely flourish for a Harlem vaudeville house. Construction began in 1902 under the Harlem Auditorium Amusement Company, but litigation stalled the project before it opened. Percy G. Williams, who would go on to manage more vaudeville theaters in New York than anyone else, acquired the property mid-dispute and finally raised the curtain on May 15, 1905. Architect John B. McElfatrick, who built a hundred theaters in his career, gave the six-story building its shape. It still stands on Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard at 126th Street.