This portrait of a group of children in the heart of Greenwich Village was taken 120 years ago today.
Photographer Robert Bracklow frequently traversed the city taking pictures of city scenes.
Today nothing from Bracklow’s Cornelia Street photo remains except the street itself. This is what the intersection looks like in 2020 from West 4th Street looking south. Continue reading
A Detroit Publishing Co. photographer got this shot on a rare day without any traffic. Every building seen here is soon to be demolished.
This photograph shows the east side of Fifth Avenue from 27th to 26th Street in 1903. Continue reading
At first glance this might appear to be a small home in rural New Jersey, Kentucky or maybe South Dakota. It is in fact the northeast corner of The Boulevard and 123rd Street. The Grand Boulevard or simply Boulevard is the old name for Broadway above 59th Street and a street sign is visible at the top of the light pole. Continue reading
Our vantage point is just past Eldridge street looking west on Grand Street towards Forsyth Street (the shoe store on the corner). The Third Avenue El is in the background.
While this scene appears to be a just a typical crowded street scene on the lower east side, it is not. Schoolboys crowd the sidewalk and a big police officer keeps the peace.
In the center of the street it is clear that a trolley has had an accident and has come off its rails. Continue reading
Our photograph of 42nd Street is from the Keystone-Mast Collection, UCR/California Museum of Photography. Keystone was one of the leading providers of stereoviews at the turn of the century.
The Keystone photographer shot this unusual second story viewpoint sometime around 1906. The New York Times Tower Building was the new addition to the city’s skyline. Continue reading
Cortlandt Street 1908 via Detroit Publishing Co. collection held at the Library of Congress. (click to greatly enlarge)
Our view made by the Detroit Publishing Company is looking east from the corner of West Street along Cortlandt Street towards Broadway. Unlike some of their photographs, this one is copyrighted 1908 and that can be confirmed by advertising in the background.
The street is named after one of Dutch New York’s leaders Oloff (Olaf) Stevense Van Cortlandt. Continue reading
Our 1875 view is looking north on Fourth Avenue to 42nd Street. The street is packed with activity including horse drawn omnibuses, delivery wagons and pedestrians.
This albertype photograph prominently shows the first Grand Central built by railroad magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt. Designed in the Second Empire style by architect John B. Snook, the depot was built between 1869 and 1871.
A group of eight bootblack boys line up near City Hall for this stereoview photograph.
Taken by the pioneering stereoview firm of E. & H.T. Anthony of 501 Broadway, the view is entitled, “Brigade Of De Shoe Black, City Hall Park.” There is no date attached to the photo, yet, the timing of this photograph is of historical significance. How do we know?
The fence behind the boys is covered with broadsheets advertising several theatrical productions.
From the information on the advertisements we can narrow down the date the photo is from. Continue reading
If you say the single digits four, five and six along with the letters N, R, Q and W to a first time visitor to New York City they probably won’t be able to decode the meaning. But a New Yorker hearing that same combination would instantly recognize you are talking about the subway. Continue reading
The Detroit Publishing Company photographer captured a typical summer day on Fifth Avenue looking north from 33rd Street. The date is sometime between 1905 -1910 based upon the vehicles seen on the streets and style of dress.
Two prominent buildings are on the west side (left) of the street. The Waldorf- Astoria Hotel in the immediate foreground between 33rd and 34th Streets. One block further north is the Knickerbocker Trust Building.
The Waldorf-Astoria as some people know is a combination of two different entities. Seen here on the near corner of 33rd Street is the 13 story Hotel Waldorf built by William Waldorf Astor in 1893. The 17 story Hotel Astoria was opened four years later on November 1, 1897 by his cousin John Jacob Astor IV. Before the Hotel Astoria was completed the two hotels agreed to combine operations to form the world famous hostelry that stood on the site until 1929. The Waldorf Astoria set up their new hotel on Park Avenue and 50th Street and the Empire State Building went up on the hotel’s old site.
In this close-up you can see the dividing line between each hotel as the exterior wall colors are different. The Waldorf-Astoria was unified in many design elements such as exterior lighting and window canopies. Though slight differences between the two hotels are apparent. The Hotel Astoria put some extra flourishes beside their windows in the form of lion head bas reliefs. Continue reading