Shortly after 1900, Negroes
began to move to Harlem.
Harlem had been overbuilt with large apartments which the owners
were unable to fill. The Lenox Avenue subway had not yet been
built, and there was inadequate transportation into the area. As
a result, most tenants preferred to live elsewhere. Philip A.
Payton, a Negro real estate agent, told several of the owners,
located on the east side of the district, that he could guarantee
to provide them with regular tenants if they were willing to
accept Negroes. Some of the landlords on East 134th Street
accepted his offer, and he filled their buildings with Negro
tenants.
At first, whites did not notice. However, when Negroes spread
west of Lenox Avenue, white resistance stiffened. The local
residents formed a corporation to purchase the buildings
inhabited by Negroes and to evict them. In turn, the Negroes
responded by forming the Afro-American Realty Company, and they
too bought out apartment buildings, evicted the white tenants,
and rented the apartments to Negroes. White residents then put
pressure on lending institutions not to provide mortgages to
prospective Negro buyers.
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