Our photograph was taken around 1905 by the Byron Company (1888-1942), a partnership of Joseph Byron and his son Percy C. Byron. The Byron’s and their employees took thousands of photographs in and around New York City from the 1880s until the 1940s.
This view looking down Fifth Avenue from between 25th and 26th Street at the edge of Madison Square Park shows the Flatiron Building in the hazy background. Continue reading
This 1935 photograph is from city street photographer Percy Loomis Sperr.
We are looking east from First Avenue and 67th Street and shows the land that would soon be the site for Memorial Hospital for the Treatment of Cancer and Allied Diseases.
This plot of land stretching from York Avenue to First Avenue between 67th and 68th Street was donated to Memorial Hospital by John D. Rockefeller. This neighborhood today houses numerous medical institutions.
Over the ensuing decades, every visible building along 68th Street; the tenements, a blacksmith shop, auto repair shop and ambulance company would be demolished for expansion of hospital buildings.
The large building complex with the tower Continue reading
For over 150 years Coney Island has attracted visitors to sample its beach, cuisine and amusement parks.
This magic lantern slide photograph shows an attraction that was more of a curiosity. Though It was only in existence for 11 years, hundreds of thousands of people came to see the Elephantine Colossus.
It was not a ride, but Continue reading
It’s 12:20 in the afternoon according to the clock at Grand Central Depot as horse drawn vehicles congregate nearby.
We are looking north from 41st Street and Park Avenue. This contemporary colored magic lantern slide is from around 1895. Continue reading
Our Detroit Publishing Co. photograph is from 1906 and shows Eighth Avenue looking north. It is at this juncture the Ninth Avenue elevated completes its turn from Ninth avenue to Eighth Avenue at 110th Street and proceeds uptown.
As usual there was a postcard issued that almost certainly came from this photograph. The advertising and perspective are exactly the same, but the postcard contains many alterations.
For dramatic effect Continue reading
We are returning to another unique New York view taken for The Albertype Company in 1891.
Featured is the Central Park Lake. Beyond the lake along Central Park West we see the Dakota Apartment building (left) between 72nd and 73rd Streets. Two blocks away, partially seen is the nearly completed Hotel San Remo between 74th and 75th Streets.
Though it initially appears there are two boys in the photo, there are actually four boys. Here’s a closer look.
The photograph’s location is described as “Lake View From Schiller Statue.”
The Schiller Monument is currently near Central Park’s Mall opposite the Naumburg Bandshell. This would be a location anachronism as this view of the lake would be nowhere near the mall.
Schiller Monument 1942 photo: Marjory Collins
But, originally the Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller monument was placed in The Ramble opposite 76th Street in 1859.
Schiller monument in Ramble c. 1870
Schiller monument (on right) with Lake view
Ask a thousand people visiting Central Park and I would think not one would know who Schiller was. In addition, it is doubtful anyone would know that this was the first sculpture installed in Central Park.
Schiller (1759–1805) was a German historian, naturalist and writer of the plays Wilhelm Tell, Mary Stuart, and Wallenstein. Central Park’s website says “both Schiller’s literary and human rights work were admired at home and abroad”
On the original granite pedestal the following was engraved in German:
SCHILLER
ZUR
HUNDERTJAHRIGEN
GEBURTSTAGSFEIER
DEN 9TH NOVEMBER, 1859
DIE DEUTSCHEN IN NEW YORK
translated:
SCHILLER
ON THE
CENTENARY
BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION
ON NOVEMBER 9TH, 1859
THE GERMANS IN NEW YORK
When the monument was moved to its current location in 1954 the original base was replaced with a new inscription.
JOHANN CHRISTOPH FRIEDRICH VON SCHILLER
1759 – 1805
POET
DRAMATIST
HISTORIAN
This Albertype Company photograph was taken from the German language Staats-Zeitung newspaper building at the confluence of Centre Stret and Park Row.
We’re looking south along Park Row at the New York terminus of the Brooklyn Bridge. This busy district was Continue reading
From the Detroit Publishing Company comes this lightly trafficked view of Fifth Avenue. By 1915 horses were being phased out of daily street life and a large portion of the vehicular traffic is motorized. Continue reading
A frozen moment on a sunny winter day in Times Square.
We are looking north from 46th Street to the west side of Broadway. Before looking at the surroundings, check out the tail fins on the passing 1960 Plymouth Savoy automobile heading east.
You may notice the human scale of what Times Square once was. Continue reading
This rare postcard view of The Vitagraph Theatre on the east side of Broadway and 44th Street shows the theatre’s marquee with people milling about a horse drawn promotional wagon.
The building opening in 1895 as the Lyric Theatre was part of the Olympia entertainment complex built by Oscar Hammerstein. Continue reading