{"nrhp_refnum":"01000244","name":"Casa Amadeo, antigua Casa Hernandez","other_names":["The Manhanset, Casa Hernandez, Casa Amadeo"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"786 Prospect Ave.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Bronx","county":"The Bronx","state":"NY","lat":40.81921775500007,"lon":-73.90167313799998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2001-03-23","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Hispanic","Performing Arts"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A ground-floor music store (Casa Amadeo, formerly Casa Hernández) in the six-story Manhanset apartment building at 786 Prospect Avenue in the Longwood section of the Bronx, New York. The Manhanset was built in 1905 and designed by architect James F. Meehan.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the store is the oldest Latin music store in New York City and a site that embodies the development of Latin music and the Puerto Rican migration experience. It is tied to founder Victoria Hernández, an early Puerto Rican female entrepreneur and sister of composer Rafael Hernández. The Manhanset is also cited as an outstanding Neo-Renaissance apartment building with ground-floor commercial space from the Bronx building boom.","narrative":"Casa Amadeo occupies a single storefront at 786 Prospect Avenue in the Longwood section of the Bronx, on the ground floor of the Manhanset, a six-story apartment building completed in 1905 to designs by James F. Meehan. The building's Neo-Renaissance design includes a rusticated stone base, red brick upper floors, a Corinthian-columned entrance porch and a deep sheet metal cornice. The shop was founded in the early 1940s by Victoria Hernández, one of the earliest female Puerto Rican entrepreneurs in New York and the sister of composer Rafael Hernández. In 1969 it passed to musician and composer Mike Amadeo. Regarded as the oldest Latin music store in the city, it served as a gathering place for musicians, a source of songs and recordings, and an informal archive. Its storefront keeps black structural glass from about 1940 and hand-painted lettering. The property was recognized for its architecture, its founder, and its role in Latin music and Puerto Rican community life.","period_of_significance":"1905; 1941-1969","architect_builder":"Meehan, James F.","architectural_style":"Late 19th & 20th Century Revivals: Neo-Renaissance","criteria":["A","B","C"],"status_note":"Still in use as a music store on the ground floor with apartments above; the storefront retains c. 1940 black pigmented structural glass, while other storefronts have varying integrity.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:51:50.829638-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NY/01000244.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/01000244/35faba7b3d-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/01000244/35faba7b3d-1600.webp","licence":"CC0","author":"Jim.henderson","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Casa_Amadeo_Prospect_Av_jeh.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Jim.henderson</a>, <a href=\"http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/deed.en\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Casa_Amadeo_Prospect_Av_jeh.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75316455","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casa_Amadeo,_antigua_Casa_Hernandez","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5047780"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/new-york/the-bronx/casa-amadeo-antigua-casa-hernandez-01000244/"}