The Mount Morris Bathhouse (also sometimes called) the Mount Morris Turkish Baths, was located at 28 East 125th Street.
Built in 1889-90 by C. Abbott French & Co., the structure was designed as a blend of two popular styles at the time, neo-Grec and Queen Anne.
The bathhouse was the first commercial tenant of the Lohengrin apartment building. The building itself is a stately late 19th Century structure with well-preserved architectural details on the façade. The Baths, located on the basement level, featured Turkish and Russian-style facilities.
Continuously in use from 1893-2003, Mt. Morris was the only bathhouse in New York City that specifically catered to Black men. The Baths started serving a predominantly gay clientele, probably sometime during the Harlem Renaissance. Those frequenting the baths during that period included Countee Cullen, Harold Jackman, Carl Van Vechten, and Lincoln Kirstein. Up until the 1960s, it was the only gay bathhouse in the city to admit Black customers.
Learn more about the history of the baths and it’s important social service work during the HIV/AIDs crisis from the NYC LGBT Historic Sites Project at https://www.nyclgbtsites.org/site/mt-morris-baths
NAN Community Day
Join the National Action Network at a Community Day at Col. Young Playground – 143rd and Lenox Ave. on Wednesday, September 1st – 11 am to 7 pm
Poetry in The Garden
The Harlem Rose Garden is excited to present the extraordinary poet Mr. Daniel Carlton on Sunday, August 29th at 4PM
Honoring Harlem as A Garden of History, Now, and Future Harvests
Daniel Carlton is an actor, storyteller, playwright, poet, director, and award-winning teaching artist who has appeared on New York, national, and international stages. His work has been presented in schools, jails, homeless shelters, libraries, and other traditional and non-traditional spaces.