Settlement by Jonas Bronck

The Bronx was named after the Swedish sea captain Jonas Bronck.^[12] In 1639, the Dutch West India Company purchased the land of today's Mott Haven from the Wecquaesgeek (groups of Lenape tribe). Bronck built his farm on this land and named it "Emmanus". The house was located close to what is today the corner of Willis Avenue and 132nd Street. The peace treaty between Dutch authorities and the Wecquaesgeek chiefs Ranaqua and Tackamuckwas was signed in Bronck's house. This event is portrayed in a painting by the American artist John Ward Dunsmore (1856–1945).^[13]

Even though Bronck only lived in the area for four years, the land became known as "Broncksland" and the river that bordered his land kept the name Bronck's River. The first time the spelling "Bronx land" was used, was in 1697 in the First Legislature outlined the County of West Chester.^[14]

Development

The area that is now called Mott Haven was sold to the Morris family in 1670.^[14] A small part of the larger swath of land known as Morrisania, it was purchased by Jordan Lawrence Mott for his iron works in 1849. A vestige of the iron works can be seen just west of the Third Avenue Bridge on East 134th Street. St. Ann's Church (ECUSA) on St. Ann's Avenue is the resting place of Lewis Morris, Gouverneur Morris and other members of that powerful colonial family, and a Registered Historic Place.

As the city below grew, the area quickly developed residentially. At the same time, an upper-middle class residential area, marked by brownstones built in an elaborate and architecturally daring fashion, started to grow along Alexander Avenue by the 1890s (Doctors' Row, aka the Irish Fifth Avenue).^[15] A series of brownstones on East 134th Street, east of Willis Avenue., was known as Judges' Row. Soon after, the Bronx grew more quickly, especially with public transit into the area, including the Third Avenue Elevated Line. By the early 20th century, the population density of the area supported the construction of many tenement-style apartment buildings.

From the end of the 19th century through the 1940s, Mott Haven was a mixed German-American (north of East 145th Street) and Irish-American neighborhood (south of East 145th Street), with an Italian enclave west of Lincoln Ave.^[16] The first Puerto Rican settlements came in the late 1940s along the length of Brook Avenue.^[17] African-Americans came into the area when the Patterson Houses were built.^[18]

One of the largest parades in New York City took place here in the late 1940s and early 1950s.^{[citation needed]} It was organized by the veterans of the Irish Republican Army, who marched every Easter Sunday, down Willis Avenue from the Hub to East 138th Street, then west to St. Jerome's. The Star of Munster Ballroom at the northeast corner of Willis Avenue and East 138th Street was a center of Irish music for decades. It was speculated at one time that there were more bars on Willis Avenue than on any other city street, given its short length. More recorded Irish musicians lived in Mott Haven than in any place outside Ireland.^[19]

"South Bronx" and late-20th century

Mott Haven and Port Morris were the first neighborhoods to give rise to the term "South Bronx". Together, they were earlier known as the North Side or North New York. This area was part of New York City after the incorporation of Greater New York in 1898.^[20] The Chase Manhattan Bank at Third Avenue and East 137th Street was originally the North Side Board of Trade Building (1912). It later became the North Side Savings Bank, which became the Dollar Dry Dock Savings Bank, which became Chase.

In the 1940s when the Bronx was usually divided into the East Bronx and West Bronx, a group of social workers identified a pocket of poverty on East 134th Street, east of Brown Place, and called it the South Bronx. This area of poverty would spread in part due to an illegal practice known as blockbusting and to Robert Moses building several housing projects in the neighborhood. The poverty greatly expanded northward, following the post-war phenomenon colloquially referred to as white flight, reaching a peak in the 1960s when the socioeconomic North Bronx-South Bronx boundary reached Fordham Road. At this time a wave of arson destroyed or damaged many of the residential, commercial, and industrial structures in the area.^[21]

During the course of Mott Haven's growth, the communities of Wilton and North New York were incorporated into it. Later attempts to market Mott Haven as the "Piano District" and the South Bronx as "SoBro" have not found traction.^[22]

Redevelopment

There has been a significant wave of residential redevelopment in the neighborhood especially along East 138th Street corridor with developments such as "The Joinery", the first luxury mid-rise condominium in the area,^[23][24] in addition to recently built affordable housing such as "Borinquen Court" and "Tres Puentes" apartment complex.^[25] Mott Haven is home to a community-supported agriculture program hosted at Brook Park.^[26] Recent development plans include two affordable rental buildings, a Hampton Inn by Monadnock Development and Signature Urban Properties,^[27][28] and the so-called Piano District.

Historical districts and landmarks

Three Historic Districts are located in Mott Haven: Mott Haven, Mott Haven East and the Bertine Block.

• The Mott Haven Historic District is located on Alexander Avenue between East 138th and East 141st Streets.^[33] The district is primarily residential in character with four- and five-story row houses dating to the last half of the 19th century, and contains the row of brownstones known historically as Doctors' Row and Irish Fifth Avenue. It also has the 40th Precinct police station, the 1905 neo-renaissance Mott Haven Branch of the New York Public Library, and Saint Jerome's Roman Catholic Church.^[34][35] It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.^[5]
• The Mott Haven East Historic District is located on East 139th and East 140th Streets between Brook and Willis Avenues. The district contains rows of brownstones, designed by William O'Gorman and William Hornum in 1883, combining Dutch and Flemish architectural aspects on the north side of East 140th Street and neo-Grecian aspects on the south side of East 140th and on East 139th Streets.^[36]
• The Bertine Block Historic District is located on East 136th Street between Brook and Willis Avenues. The district contains yellow-faced brick brownstones, designed by Edward Bertine between 1891 and 1895.^[37][38]

St. Ann's Episcopal Church is located on the west side of St. Ann's Avenue, between East 139th and East 141st Streets. It is the Bronx's oldest church, having been built in 1841 and dedicated to Gouverneur Morris's mother Ann. Notable figures buried there include Lewis Morris, a signer of the Declaration of Independence; Gouverneur Morris; and former Mayor of New York City, R. H. Morris.

Public housing projects

The seventeen NYCHA developments in Mott Haven illustrate the various types of public-housing initiatives in vogue in New York City over the decades.^[39]

1. Dr. Ramon E. Betances I; thirteen buildings, 3, 4, 11 and 19 stories tall
2. Dr. Ramon E. Betances II, 13; one 6-story building
3. Dr. Ramon E. Betances II, 18; two buildings, 4 and 6 stories tall
4. Dr. Ramon E. Betances II, 9A; one 4-story building
5. Dr. Ramon E. Betances III, 13; two rehabilitated tenement buildings, 5 stories tall
6. Dr. Ramon E. Betances III, 18; one rehabilitated and three abandoned tenement buildings, 5 stories tall
7. Dr. Ramon E. Betances III, 9A; two rehabilitated tenement buildings, 6 stories tall
8. Dr. Ramon E. Betances IV; eight buildings, 3, 4 and 5 stories tall with 282 apartments
9. Dr. Ramon E. Betances V; six rehabilitated tenement buildings, 5 and 6 stories tall
10. Dr. Ramon E. Betances VI; three rehabilitated tenement buildings, 5 and 6 stories tall
11. Millbrook Houses; nine 16-story buildings
12. Millbrook Extension; one 16-story building
13. Mitchel Houses; ten buildings, 17, 19, and 20 stories tall
14. Moore Houses; two 20-story buildings
15. Mott Haven Houses; eight buildings, 20 and 22 stories tall
16. Patterson Houses; fifteen buildings, 6 and 13 stories tall
17. Southern Boulevard M.H.O.P. (Multi Family Homeownership Program); one 7-story rehabilitated tenement building

Schools

Public:

• South Bronx Classical Charter School II (East 135th Street and Alexander Avenue)
• P.S. 18 John Peter Zenger School (East 148th Street and Morris Avenue)
• P.S. 277 Dr. Evelina Lopez Antonetty (East 147th Street and St. Ann's Avenue)
• P.S 25 Bilingual School (811 East 149th Street)
• P.S. 30 Wilton School (East 141st Street and Brook Avenue)
• P.S. 40 Mott Haven Village (East 140th Street and Brook Avenue)
• P.S. 43 Jonas Bronck School (East 136th Street and Brown Place)
• P.S. 49 Willis Avenue School (East 139th Street and Willis Avenue)
• P.S. 65 Mother Hale Academy (East 141st Street and Cypress Avenue)
• I.S. 139 A. Burger Intermediate School (East 143rd Street and Brook Avenue)
• I.S. 162 Lola Rodriguez de Tio (East 149th Street and St. Ann's Avenue)
• M.S. 223: The Laboratory School of Finance and Technology (East 145th Street and Willis Avenue)
• P.S. 154 Johnathan D. Hyatt School (East 135th Street and Alexander Avenue)
• I.S. 183 Paul Robeson School (East 140th Street and Morris Avenue)
• P.S. 754 School for Career Development/Foreign Language Academy of Global Studies (East 147th Street and Jackson Avenue)
• P.S. 221 South Bronx Preparatory: A College Board School (East 144th Street and Willis Avenue)
• P.S. 369 Young Leaders Elementary School (East 140th Street)
• South Bronx Charter School for International Cultures and the Arts
• The Bronx Charter School for Children
• The Bronx Academy of Letters
• Bronx School for Law Government and Justice
• Health Opportunities High School
• Community School for Social Justice
• Family Life Academy Charter School II
• Dream Charter School (K-12 Campus: Mott Haven Elementary School, Mott Haven Middle School, Mott Haven High School)
• New York City Montessori Charter School
• Mott Haven Academy Charter School
• Samuel Gompers High School (closed)
• KIPP Academy Elementary School
• KIPP Academy Middle School
• Success Academy Bronx 1
• Eugenio María de Hostos Community College of The City University of New York (CUNY)
• Hostos Lincoln Academy (600 St. Anns Ave)

Parochial:

• Saint Luke School
• Saint Pius V School
• Saint Pius V High School
• St. Anselm's School

Library

The New York Public Library operates the Mott Haven branch at 321 East 140th Street. The branch, a Carnegie library, opened in 1905 and is a New York City designated landmark.^[54]