The Joseph-Napoléon Bonaparte Years At The Claremont Inn In Harlem 1815–1836
Joseph-Napoléon Bonaparte, born Giuseppe Buonaparte, Italian, 7th January 1768 – 28th July 1844, was a French diplomat and nobleman who lived in Harlem.
Joseph-Napoléon Bonaparte, born Giuseppe Buonaparte, Italian, 7th January 1768 – 28th July 1844, was a French diplomat and nobleman who lived in Harlem.
Joseph Alston, November 10, 1779−September 10, 1816, was the 44th Governor of South Carolina from 1812 to 1814, and owner of the Claremont Inn in Harlem, NY.
A great image catching an intimate moment at the Havemeyer Coach just arriving at the Claremont Inn at Riverside Drive (between 121st and 123rd Streets, a block north of Grant’s Tomb) in West Harlem, New York on May 25, 1895.
Francis James Jackson, December 1770 – 5 August 1814, was a British diplomat, ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, Prussia, and the United States where he lived in the Claremont Inn in Harlem, NY.
Louis Philippe I, 6 October 1773 – 26 August 1850, was King of the French from 1830 to 1848 and the last French king and arrived in Harlem as an exile.
The Claremont Inn, around 1804 an incredibly beautiful structure stood along the Hudson River, just north of where Grant’s Tomb now stands from right after the Revolution until 1951.
John James Audubon (Jean-Jacques Audubon), April 26, 1785 – January 27, 1851, was a French-American ornithologist, naturalist, and painter.
Harlem already has a deep royal history, from Napoleon Bonaparte’s cousin Joseph Bonaparte to Prince William; and then, to Lord Viscount Courtenay, who lived at the Claremont Inn to Harlem’s wedding of the century of Nat King Cole and Maria Cole at Abyssinian Baptist Church. And of course, beloved Princess Di visiting the AIDS unit…
Tupac Amaru Shakur June 16, 1971 – September 13, 1996, also known by his stage names 2Pac and briefly as Makaveli, was an American rapper and actor.
There has always been royalty in Harlem, from Joseph Bonaparte ex-King of Spain and Napoleon’s brother, Lord Viscount, Prince William, King William IV, Lafayette, to Lady Billy Holiday and The Duke of Ellington.
A great image the moment a Havemeyer Coach carriages riding north from the multi-story Claremont Restaurant and Inn at Riverside Drive (at 123rd Street, a block north of Grant’s Tomb) in Harlem, NY on May 25, 1895.
The outdoor photographs of the historic Claremont Inn on Riverside Drive at 121st Street in West Harlem, New York, 1804 until the early 1950’s, are well documented with images of the exterior decks and dinning areas.
With Harlem’s deep connection to France, from Joseph Bonaparte, Napoleon’s brother, Lord Viscount Courtenay, Marquis de Lafayette, and Charles Maurice de Talleyrand living at the Claremont Inn in West Harlem in the early 1800’s.
You don’t have to throw your phone in the ocean and hop on a plane in order to get some Provençal peace and quiet. Who knew?
The Harlem and France relationship is deep, from the Harlem Hellfighters fighting for France in WWII, Pastry Chef Moha Orchid at Jolie Patisserie, to Chef Alain Eoche, of Chéri at the French Bistro on Lenox Avenue and in 1815, Joseph Bonaparte, Napoleon Bonaparte’s brother, moving in to the Claremont Inn in West Harlem.