9. Bertine Block Historic District

Today, Mott Haven is comprised of three designated Historic Districts: Mott Haven, Mott Haven East and the Bertine Block, all of which boast beautiful, brownstone-style rowhouses. Designated on April 5, 1994, the Bertine Block Historic District consists of thirty-one residential buildings lining both sides of East 136th Street between Willis Avenue and Brown Place. Within the boundaries of the district are four groups of rowhouses and two groups of tenements that serve as stunning examples of neo-Grec, Queen Anne, Romanesque Revival, and Renaissance Revival architectural styles.

The buildings, designed between 1891 and 1895, not only reflect the stylistic trends in residential architecture in the late 19th-century, but also the history of real estate development in the southwestern portion of The Bronx. The district takes its name after the most active developer Edward D. Bertine, who erected three of its four rows, including the “Bertine Block,” which is comprised of a row of Queen Anne houses that were designed by prominent architect, George Keister. According to a 1994 NYCLPC Historic District Designation Report, little is known about Bertine, although New York City directories state that he had been a Manhattan milk dealer in the 1870’s and ’80s.