Before European colonization, the Hunts Point area of the Bronx was associated with the Siwanoy Native Americans, which were part of the broader Algonquian cultural and linguistic group. It was then known as Quinnahung, meaning “a long high place”, later taking its current name from 17th-century landowner Thomas Hunt Jr. During the late-17th to early-19th centuries the area was known as West Farms, and was composed of rural estates owned by a few English families who relied on an enslaved labor force to cultivate the land. Vestiges of these early inhabitants can still be found in the Joseph Rodman Drake Park, with recent studies pointing towards the existence of an enslaved African people burial ground. The arrival of the New York and Harlem railroad line, which crossed the Harlem River, brought a rise in population to The Bronx during the mid-19th century. Hunts Point, however, remained picturesque and undeveloped, attracting prominent, wealthy businessmen who purchased farmland and established grand country manors. Though most of the houses from this period have been demolished, the Peter S. Hoe House, known as Sunnyslope, is an unusual survivor of the neighborhood’s rural past. The construction of the Corpus Christi Monastery at the end of the 19th century was also motivated by this bucolic environment. After the area’s annexation to New York City in 1874, a series of infrastructure improvements were implemented to increase transportation communication with Manhattan. The opening of IRT stations at Simpson Street, Prospect Avenue and Intervale Avenue, provided more immediate access to Hunts Point, boosting the neighborhood’s development. City services were also expanded, with new buildings for the NYPD and the FDNY, as well as the Joseph R. Drake Public School. Industrial development was also fueled by the continuous improvements of transit to and from the area during the 20th century. Large companies like the American Bank Note established their operations in the area, also boosting residential development. One of the earliest examples of private homes for middle-class families are located in Manida Street. Urban growth continued throughout the first half of the 20th century, with population increases marked by immigration waves. This had a strong effect on the neighborhood’s character, most notably during the 1950s and 60s, when it became a hub for Latin American culture. Some of the most influential venues in Latin music were established in former theatres located alongside Southern Boulevard, attracting crowds from all boroughs. Community organizing has also been a constant element in Hunts Point, especially after the social and economic crisis of the 1970s and 80s. Organizations like Urban Health and The Point have had a strong impact in the neighborhood’s development, and continue to work towards its protection and improvement.

Looking northeast along, Westchester Avenue at East 167th Street, April 26, 1938. The elevated structure in the distance is the IRT Pelham Bay line as crosses over the Bronx River, above Westchester Avenue.

East 167th Street adjacent to the northwest corner of Simpson Street, 1942. On this block the only building still standing is the four-story brick structure at the far right. Both the large apartment house on the next corner and the small mansard roof structure mid-block have been razed and not replaced.

Southern Boulevard, East 163rd Street and Hunts Point Avenue, 1919. The semi circular building at no. 941 Southern Blvd, with the masonry medallion at the roofline, was referred to as the Community Building (as per the photographic notes of this 1919 shot). At the right is the entrance to the underground station of the IRT Pelham Line, which opened in January of 1919, likely only a few months before this photograph was taken.

Whitlock Avenue, south of Westchester Avenue, July 13, 1917. The dirt path pictured is Whitlock Avenue, which today carries an elevated section of the IRT Pelham Line (6) through the Foxhurst section of the Bronx, before the line makes an easterly turn to cross the Bronx River. The site in the foreground is now the Whitlock Avenue Station. At left, gantries over the tracks of the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad are visible. Two of the brick apartment buildings at right are still standing on the south side of Lowell Street.

Hunt Inn (also called Fox Farm House), ca. 1890. Bryant Avenue, west side, from Westchester Avenue to East 167th Street, showing the Hunt Inn which was erected in 1666. It stood in rear of the Foxhurst Mansion on the grounds bounded by the triangle of Westchester Ave., West Farms Road and East 167th Street. It was a prominent rendezvous of British officers during the American War for Independence. The home was destroyed in a fire on Easter Sunday 1892.

Simpson Mansion, 1903. The Simpson estate was a 120-acre picturesque property anchored by two large stone mansions. Contemporary descriptions note that the interior was "sumptuously" decorated and a large pipe organ was the owner's prized possessions. The land surrounding the mansions were used to breed Shetland ponies and keep queen bees. The land and structures were sold in 1913 for the development of tenements in the then booming neighborhood.