The Lady Who Owned Half of Harlem: The Fascinating Story of Mary G. Pickney and Spring Hill

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  • Опубліковано 23 січ 2025

КОМЕНТАРІ • 179

  • @Portia-oc6mr
    @Portia-oc6mr 7 місяців тому +39

    Mary was a smart woman.
    The level of the family's greed was out of this world.
    She had a lovely house, and I wish it were still standing,
    Thank you, Ken.

    • @RevLeigh55
      @RevLeigh55 7 місяців тому +1

      This story is typical. Those who don’t actually work for the fortune virtually always lose it in the end. Inheriting wealth is not as great as it sounds.

    • @Portia-oc6mr
      @Portia-oc6mr 7 місяців тому +1

      @@RevLeigh55
      True.
      Also, they're the ones who expect an inheritance.
      My motto regarding money is: "Neither too little nor too much."

    • @guiltyuntilproveninnocent.
      @guiltyuntilproveninnocent. 7 місяців тому

      @@RevLeigh55Inherited wealth is great. Knowing how to manage your wealth is even greater.

  • @rosepelzel4244
    @rosepelzel4244 7 місяців тому +57

    Do these families ever have a happy ending?? I think that's the saddest part of all!! Thanks, Ken!

    • @alexanderholloway7110
      @alexanderholloway7110 7 місяців тому +3

      Yes, you just don't hear those stories, because people like to hear about conflict and strife. Why do you think on "reality" shows they are always yelling at each other.

    • @bethbartlett5692
      @bethbartlett5692 7 місяців тому

      Happiness is literally found within, includes the Higher Mind and is literally a "state of mind", a perspective.
      All that we every desire, each and every desires, is for "the Feeling of having it".
      Thoughts evoke Feelings and they are both Energy that Vibrates on a Frequency.
      The "Universal Law of Attraction" defines this and that "it is How we Create" what "we Attract as Our Reality".
      Rather than a mundane Science definition, when we "Understand" it and "Comprehend" it, then "We Awaken" to the Greater Reality of Our true Opportunities to enjoy a far more Happy, Desirable, Experiencing of Our Life Journey!
      Everything that we Ever Experience is Directly related to our "Vibrational Frequency".
      It is:
      "Energy, Vibration, and Frequency"
      which =
      "Thoughts + Feelings X Beliefs"
      = Our Frequency
      = Our Reality
      The necessary components to managing are:
      We must establish a habit of being:
      🔺"Conscious in Thought" +
      🔺 "Applying Higher Mind"
      🔺Reprogram Our "Thoughts and Beliefs Program" aka "Subconscious Thought Program"
      (Learned Ideas that are inaccurate and cause us to fear or feel unworthy.)
      (See: Dr Bruce Lipton's website for recommended methods for Reprogramming the "Subconscious Thought Program".)
      🔺 Quite Mind aka Meditate daily, (15 min) is all that's necessary.
      🔺Be aware of where our Thoughts are:
      Keep them on the Desires and off the Undesired, off the Mainstream Media's stream of Produced toxic flow.
      One must set aside the "Lower Mind, aka Ego Mind, aka Adolescent Mind" where all the (negative thought energies reside: "fear, prejudice, judging, accusing, envy, jealousy, blame, guilt, etc.")
      These are Lower vibe dense energies.
      "Like Attracts Like"
      The "Universal Law of Attraction" is Absolute.
      You can literally establish a Frequency that Attracts your Dreams!
      This is a Quantum Physics Science defined and validated FACT.
      Go get Your Dreams! 😘
      Beth Bartlett
      Sociologist/Behavioralist
      and Historian

    • @robsemail
      @robsemail 7 місяців тому

      My grandmother was like a small town version of Ms. Pinkney, and the family she left behind is doing okay, although we don’t see each other nearly as often as we used to. We still keep in touch, more or less, and I think most of us are happy. In the Deep South I guess my family seemed rather bizarre, because my grandmother was by far the biggest breadwinner in the family. She owned three very successful businesses, and about half the family worked for her. She couldn’t cook, she didn’t clean, she had servants to do everything for her. She very much enjoyed NOT being a typical southern belle. She was outspoken and would talk back to men anytime she felt like it. And of course this was all in the 20th century in a small southern city.

  • @anteeker
    @anteeker 7 місяців тому +41

    All the chairs in the office and the entire parlor set are all John Henry Belter pieces. The parlor set is carved in the Rosalie pattern. All the rooms looked very comfy.

  • @janedee6488
    @janedee6488 7 місяців тому +27

    Mary understood the assignment. Great story, thanks

  • @AnnaBrown-h4e
    @AnnaBrown-h4e 7 місяців тому +20

    My Father always said, "you never know a persons true caractor untill it comes to inheriting something or someone dies"!

  • @lizlittle1641
    @lizlittle1641 7 місяців тому +11

    So sad to lose such a beautiful piece of history.

  • @williamtyre523
    @williamtyre523 7 місяців тому +22

    She was indeed quite the astute businesswoman, especially to realize so early on how valuable that land would become.

  • @alex0589
    @alex0589 7 місяців тому +88

    The Mcdonalds just adds insult to injury ahah

    • @fedupamerican296
      @fedupamerican296 7 місяців тому +5

      Honestly, seeing that almost brought a tear to my eyes.
      I do have hope that someday places like McDonalds, Burger King, Walmart, all go the way of the dodo.

    • @marybrown-kencayd277
      @marybrown-kencayd277 7 місяців тому +1

      I don't think McDonald's is to blame for the house and last piece of land being sold and developed. It is sad and unfortunate there were no stipulations in her will to avoid that outcome.

  • @danielkoher1944
    @danielkoher1944 7 місяців тому +12

    4:29 Ken, thank you so much 😊 for continuing to narrate truthful stories.
    Bringing knowledge to those of us who might never have found this out.

  • @mikenixon2401
    @mikenixon2401 7 місяців тому +8

    You gotta' love stories like this. I always liked mansions of this design. She had a business mind, she had good taste. Thanks, Ken.

  • @eleanorbuck715
    @eleanorbuck715 7 місяців тому +11

    The moral to the story seems to be that all wealth is temporary, Ken! Great video...

  • @alexxstarr27
    @alexxstarr27 7 місяців тому +15

    I love that story, people don't know thank u for telling it, she was a smart and lucky women, and there are people who live below their means cause they feel they have enough.

  • @jefflawrentz1624
    @jefflawrentz1624 7 місяців тому +8

    This was a fascinating glimpse into New York history. I’ve never read or heard anything about this before. Thanks Ken, for another exciting episode!

  • @lisatolliver2866
    @lisatolliver2866 7 місяців тому +4

    Ken, thank you so much for bringing us these historical homes and the stories behind them. The homes are stunning.

  • @Steven-wm9vu
    @Steven-wm9vu 7 місяців тому +10

    I like this video format.

  • @CenturyHomeProject
    @CenturyHomeProject 7 місяців тому +2

    I love the way that she renovated the house with respect to its origins. I also love the way she mixed and matched antique furniture with new furniture of the time. She was way ahead of her time.

  • @jimc4731
    @jimc4731 7 місяців тому +10

    My kind of woman!
    You go Mary 🤩
    JIM ❤

  • @donnamariebrown2478
    @donnamariebrown2478 7 місяців тому +3

    Thanks Ken! Love your channel and the knowledge that I gain by watching it.

  • @bernadinerobnett4394
    @bernadinerobnett4394 7 місяців тому +3

    Very informative and educational. It's imperative that families work together to accomplish wealth. Greed will take anyone down.

  • @BellaCroyda
    @BellaCroyda 7 місяців тому +4

    This is FABULOUS!!! THANKS KEN!!!

  • @jimwiskus8862
    @jimwiskus8862 7 місяців тому +2

    Super job as always Ken! Thank you for sharing a story that I dare say most of us did not realize. ❤

  • @brettbirdguy
    @brettbirdguy 7 місяців тому +9

    I love the way this house looks at the front the 2 story porch jutting out from the symmetrical house topped with the mansard roof which includes the porch.. very unique, understated, yet elegant 👌🏼 👍🏻a certain.. je ne sais quoi!!! 👏🏼👏🏼

  • @jacqueline6926
    @jacqueline6926 7 місяців тому +2

    I love this channel and all these very interesting stories

  • @annettebrunette1402
    @annettebrunette1402 7 місяців тому +3

    Thanks, Ken.

  • @johndamato5912
    @johndamato5912 7 місяців тому +2

    I love the Before & After photos 👍👍

  • @califdad4
    @califdad4 7 місяців тому +8

    Very smart lady

  • @ji8044
    @ji8044 7 місяців тому +1

    That was one of your best videos!

  • @malcolmking-harris5106
    @malcolmking-harris5106 7 місяців тому +4

    It’s amazing as the McDonald’s abuts the most sought after blocks in Harlem - STRIVER’S ROW… Great history lesson…

  • @danielkoher1944
    @danielkoher1944 7 місяців тому +5

    1:39 Beautiful Home for a Wonderful Human.

  • @earllutz2663
    @earllutz2663 7 місяців тому +1

    Thank you for the history. I very much enjoyed the video.

  • @laurimas8845
    @laurimas8845 7 місяців тому +3

    Very interesting. Sorry but did you say where this house was located exactly? Really good video, so interesting, and so nice you actually narrate it and no AI voice.

    • @jamestheradioman
      @jamestheradioman 7 місяців тому +1

      It was located exactly on 139th and Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Blvd.

  • @bethbartlett5692
    @bethbartlett5692 7 місяців тому +2

    This woman's Biography is worthy of a full Documentary! The History and Art are greater parts that gives value to to the Architecture.
    The Human essence is what attracts, otherwise the Houses are just "matter structures".
    History offers delicious stories.
    Beth Bartlett
    Sociologist/Behavioralist
    and Historian

  • @WaKincaid
    @WaKincaid 7 місяців тому +5

    Perhaps you have already done a segment on The Helmsley Palace Hotel, and the building that is a old original lobby , and public spaces. I’m sure I haven’t seen the episode if you did one. Thank you

    • @ThisHouse
      @ThisHouse  7 місяців тому +3

      I have not done a video on it yet. I’ll add it to my list of places to look into, thanks for the suggestion!

  • @Stephaniegraceful
    @Stephaniegraceful 7 місяців тому +1

    Thanks Ken for sharing, great information and very interesting

  • @GreyMatter-f5d
    @GreyMatter-f5d 7 місяців тому +1

    Wow!!! Very interesting! I love watching these videos in the morning while getting ready for work. Can you make on on Clara Driscoll from Texas who built a hotel or bought a hotel bc they refused her a stay while traveling alone as a woman.

  • @monkeygraborange
    @monkeygraborange 7 місяців тому +12

    I think it’s odd that I never heard her name or knew of this story, considering the complex history of NYC.

    • @Director012221989
      @Director012221989 7 місяців тому +2

      It's a lot of local history that isn't taught. America is more concerned with teaching foreign history than where we are

    • @okreawood3785
      @okreawood3785 7 місяців тому +1

      We will never hear that Manhattan was once home to black people. They try to downplay it, saying the Seneca tribe only inhabited Central Park.

    • @johanmassy5290
      @johanmassy5290 6 місяців тому

      ​@@okreawood3785And Brooklyn Bridge area as well on BK side.

  • @angelafields3740
    @angelafields3740 7 місяців тому

    I love how much she talk about the history of these homes, I just you show more pictures of the inside of the homes!

  • @cminor99
    @cminor99 7 місяців тому

    Thank you for this informative video. Your presentation was superb!

  • @vetaclarke7308
    @vetaclarke7308 7 місяців тому +1

    Great info!! Thanks for sharing ✔️✔️👏🏽

  • @SpanishEclectic
    @SpanishEclectic 7 місяців тому +5

    Oh goody, a McDonalds. Eye roll. This really shows how a smart woman could stand on her own, even back in the day. If she had married, all of that would have been under control of a husband who might not have been as saavy. She was more sensible than half of the wealthy men we've seen here who built grand homes and then lost them. That is a mind-boggling amount of money. Sad her family wasted so much of it making lawyers rich. I actually think that front exterior became a bit of a Frankenstein house, mixing a Mansard roof with the tall portico, but I like the interior rooms, especially the library. I love the historic 'birds-eye' view map of Harlem; I have seen those featuring major cities at various points in the past. They are fascinating!!!

  • @t4trojans990
    @t4trojans990 7 місяців тому +1

    I absolutely love your research you rock such a great job
    Thank you

  • @garygloska7396
    @garygloska7396 7 місяців тому +1

    So fascinating add truly tragic that people can't respect heritage and beautiful architecture architecture that could have been repurposed

  • @andrewbrendan1579
    @andrewbrendan1579 7 місяців тому +2

    The story of Mary G. Pickney would have been great material for a short story or novel by Louis Auchincloss.

  • @djtdlaw
    @djtdlaw 6 місяців тому

    Fantastic story. Great delivery. Concise. Educational. Entertaining. I didn't know this story but its amazing NYC history. Before Irish desaspora NY was a sleepy fishing village with all the gentile living downtown.

  • @donchandler755
    @donchandler755 7 місяців тому +1

    Thank you for the research into these beautiful mansions and those who accumulated the wealth to create them.

  • @robinhumphrey2692
    @robinhumphrey2692 6 місяців тому

    I love this story!!

  • @davidbrims5825
    @davidbrims5825 7 місяців тому +8

    The Collyer Brothers lived in Harlem, a very sad story…

  • @blueyzsf
    @blueyzsf 7 місяців тому

    I found you back when you had about 25k subscribers, I've loved watching your subscriber numbers rise! Well done, keep up the good work. 🥰🥰

  • @yeahthatguy810
    @yeahthatguy810 7 місяців тому

    That was fascinating and very interesting history to know.

  • @randykreifels6171
    @randykreifels6171 7 місяців тому +5

    Another great story, but too bad how greedy the relatives became.

  • @griffgriffith3039
    @griffgriffith3039 7 місяців тому +2

    Love your videos...do you do voice work for the entertainment industry?? You're great!!
    Too bad she didnt put the home into a trust to have it serve as an historical home or to a university.
    How degrading that a trashy place like McDonalds sets where a beautiful part of history was.
    Spot on..keep up your wonderful and informative videos.

  • @vonch33
    @vonch33 7 місяців тому

    I once lived on her plot ! (141 West 139th street ). I loved learning about her legacy as I too am building a strong real estate portfolio.

  • @bevygaines
    @bevygaines 7 місяців тому +2

    Wow she owned half of Harlem, what a smart and astute business woman!!!!

  • @70foolio
    @70foolio 7 місяців тому +104

    Too bad she didn’t put in her will that the home is preserved as a historic landmark. The surrounding land could have been a great park. 😢

    • @danielkoher1944
      @danielkoher1944 7 місяців тому

      Seriously we both acknowledge how great Ken’s stories are.
      With no response?
      At least you received likes 👍🏼

    • @dnescio
      @dnescio 7 місяців тому +8

      You don't get to declare your own historic landmarks.

    • @fedupamerican296
      @fedupamerican296 7 місяців тому +7

      ​@@dnescioyou can leave property to the locality along with something like a trust to keep it up.
      Maybe there would not have been so much in fighting if the local government got it. They do not relinquish money very easily.

    • @alphaomega5909
      @alphaomega5909 7 місяців тому +4

      ​@@dnescio Exactly Also not every request for Historical designation in any part of America easily granted. Verg few in fact.

    • @sharksport01
      @sharksport01 7 місяців тому +2

      It didn't deserve to be a historic landmark. Why would it? Because she was smart and rich?

  • @tippymarie
    @tippymarie 7 місяців тому +1

    Fascinating story! I grew up in Harlem😊. What street did her mansion sit on? I wondered at first whether that was the Jumel mansion.

    • @rexman9002
      @rexman9002 7 місяців тому +2

      That McDonald's is on 139th and Adam Clayton Powell Blvd.

    • @tippymarie
      @tippymarie 7 місяців тому +1

      @rexman9002 thanks. That's the old 7th Avenue.

  • @danielpollak6075
    @danielpollak6075 5 місяців тому

    👏👏👍. 2:20 - radium fireplace(?)

  • @danielkoher1944
    @danielkoher1944 7 місяців тому

    0:55 How wonderful for Mary things took a turn for the Best.

  • @jillwiegand4257
    @jillwiegand4257 7 місяців тому +10

    The salt in the wound was that McDonald's 😢

  • @RobertTycenHauser
    @RobertTycenHauser 7 місяців тому

    So interesting thank you!! I would love to know what became of the inheritance disputes.

  • @k.m.h7480
    @k.m.h7480 4 місяці тому

    Fascinating

  • @butterfly06830
    @butterfly06830 7 місяців тому +2

    very interesting .. I wish there was a portrait of her ... And of course a tacky McDonalds stands on the old Mansion....

  • @cindee1794
    @cindee1794 7 місяців тому

    I would love to travel back in time to see what the house and the area surrounding looked like while Mary lived there.

  • @EChristian329
    @EChristian329 7 місяців тому

    This was interesting as a native Harlemite. It sad how things ended.

  • @marthajean50
    @marthajean50 7 місяців тому +4

    Wow, Mary wasn't playing.

  • @marieschmidt9416
    @marieschmidt9416 7 місяців тому

    Interesting!

  • @mailzabarbosa409
    @mailzabarbosa409 7 місяців тому

    Fico muito triste em saber que essas casas são demolidas e que a história vira um monte de entulhos. 😔

  • @TEEJAYBOS
    @TEEJAYBOS 6 місяців тому

    Wow, thats 139th and 7th ave (Adam Clayton Powell Jr Blvd) I moved to Harlem in the 80s when that McDonalds was a Bojangles restaurant then Wendy’s then McDonald’s

  • @laurielaurie8280
    @laurielaurie8280 7 місяців тому +1

    Nice home.

  • @Dmvhoods
    @Dmvhoods 6 місяців тому +1

    Whole family coulda been lit

  • @ttopero
    @ttopero 7 місяців тому +1

    Business sense is not an inherited trait, especially by nieces & nephews! Guidance should definitely be provided when passing on estates requiring some financial sophistication.

  • @portaltwo
    @portaltwo 7 місяців тому +1

    It's a shame there are no pictures of the lady herself. Knowing Ken, I'm sure he tried to find at least one.

  • @okjoe5561
    @okjoe5561 7 місяців тому +1

    Ken is on-camera now. He's got the Brad Pitt vibe.

  • @deborahk7667
    @deborahk7667 7 місяців тому +12

    All wealth ended in a McDonald ‘s drive thru . Some story Damn !

  • @debbralehrman5957
    @debbralehrman5957 7 місяців тому

    That's to bad a park there would ha e been nice. I'm glad things worked out for her as time went by.👍🏼 It was a nice house.🙂

  • @yeseniah7373
    @yeseniah7373 7 місяців тому +5

    Her half brother Thomas was the only one to have children. Among those children, only Julia had children. Among Julia's children, only Hilda had children: two daughters, both died young and childless.

  • @tommylanes7998
    @tommylanes7998 7 місяців тому +1

    Why not show us the lady and the family

  • @willblack5419
    @willblack5419 7 місяців тому +4

    This is progress is all it’s glory. Sad.

  • @marinadela1361
    @marinadela1361 6 місяців тому

    Queen

  • @awomanmotherw2kids393
    @awomanmotherw2kids393 7 місяців тому +5

    Why did nobody see the beauty of the house, too many old houses have been torn down for apartments and parking lots. So many historical beautiful homes are gone and my guess is for the profit of the new owner.

    • @danielkoher1944
      @danielkoher1944 7 місяців тому +1

      It’s insane our downtown was destroyed by a bypass.
      Now, they are ‘trying’ to revitalize shopping (WHERE) yes there are plenty of breweries to get you plastered.
      Again, there’s no parking lots.
      Or so expensive!
      It’s horrible if you have an appointment. As you cannot continually excuse yourself every 15 minutes to feed, tap, or swipe the meter.
      It’s a literal nightmare.

    • @basstrammel1322
      @basstrammel1322 7 місяців тому +1

      I'll be the devil's advocate and tell you it sucks to live in a old, drafty house, with costly upkeep. Lacking in modern comforts and facilities. All while your friends has build their dream homes.

    • @ceasarandrepont1243
      @ceasarandrepont1243 7 місяців тому

      Progressivism

  • @arleneguinn3009
    @arleneguinn3009 7 місяців тому +1

    How sad they took the house down.

  • @Hobotraveler82
    @Hobotraveler82 7 місяців тому +1

    Its sad the home and land wasn't preserved. I guess some families suck. Adding a McDonald's is an insult. 😊

  • @pjhimself252
    @pjhimself252 7 місяців тому

    Why is the Pinckney name spelled differently in the title, and supporting documentation ?

  • @andreaa8435
    @andreaa8435 7 місяців тому

    Where were the graves moved to?

  • @tindra582
    @tindra582 6 місяців тому

    The sad part is, time has not changed when people pass away money and estate is always the very things family fight over.

  • @janavenue650
    @janavenue650 7 місяців тому +4

    sad that greed tore them apart

  • @devonp2756
    @devonp2756 7 місяців тому

    Great video, but the plosives (the air filled popping sound) were driving me crazy. Please get a pop filter or use better mic 🎤 positioning.

  • @viewer-jf3sm
    @viewer-jf3sm 6 місяців тому

    ❤❤❤

  • @devonna6171
    @devonna6171 7 місяців тому +1

    Springhill was a charming home. What a shame it wasnt spared the wrecking ball.

  • @cloudnationmedia8326
    @cloudnationmedia8326 7 місяців тому

    Wow🤔

  • @roystrickland3363
    @roystrickland3363 7 місяців тому +2

    It would be interesting to know the house's street address.
    By the 1920s, Harlem was the capital of African Americans. Were the new apartments built for them or were they holdouts for Whites until the 1930s, which happened in parts of the neighborhood?

    • @rexman9002
      @rexman9002 7 місяців тому +1

      That McDonald's is on the northeastern corner of 139th street and Adam Clayton Powell Blvd. On the western side of the Blvd, there is a full stretch of beautiful brownstones on 138th and 139th running west towards Frederick Douglas Blvd called Striver's Row where wealthy African Americans eventually bought homes.

  • @ceasarandrepont1243
    @ceasarandrepont1243 7 місяців тому

    I live here in Brooklyn, New York City and it is a shame that families are the cause of history being forgetting or rewritten. Money is always the problem. Like all preserved history, the property would have been an eye sore because don't care for history.

  • @liamseanking23
    @liamseanking23 7 місяців тому

    Such a sad ending

  • @shafts2447
    @shafts2447 5 місяців тому

    Fitting that it’s a Micky Ds now. Merica!!

  • @diannshoemaker6419
    @diannshoemaker6419 7 місяців тому +1

    Pretty extroidinary to wait 30 yrs for a payoff, especially when it meant giving up much of your cash, before. That sort of foresight is particularly rare considering lifespans THEN were often cut short by medical problems easily fixed today.
    The woman had smarts and guts...at a time women were discouraged, even legally, from having either. Sadly, you can't pick your family, can you ???
    Pity she didn't have children. THAT gene pool was something her family was in far more desperate need of, than money. Of course even THAT doesn't always turn out well...Hope she had fun with her "projects". Creating something out of nothing can be exactly that.

  • @ConstantGardener-q9q
    @ConstantGardener-q9q 7 місяців тому +2

    Vultures and hyenas circle around the dead and dying

  • @marcyking461
    @marcyking461 7 місяців тому +1

    It's too bad Spring Hill couldn't have been rescued by someone with a love for History, with a vision and want to share. Jewels like Ms. Pickney's home (or the history behind it) can't be replicated unlike the McDonald's that sits on its grave. So sad.

  • @nomanejane5766
    @nomanejane5766 6 місяців тому

  • @EduardodeRegules
    @EduardodeRegules 7 місяців тому +1

    Born smart, not everybody is as wise.

  • @cousinevey
    @cousinevey 7 місяців тому

    Ashamed to say, I never knew any of this. Such good information. BUT, why don't you tell us where in Harlem these places are, . east? west? this street? that avenue? Just saying Harlem, doesn't really say a lot

  • @WaKincaid
    @WaKincaid 7 місяців тому +2

    Another tragic loss