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
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 an approaching boat we see a busy waterfront and the budding skyline of lower Manhattan. Our photo comes from the Detroit Publishing Company archive.
The ship the photographer is aboard is pulling in, and the ferry Stapleton is about to head to Staten Island. Other boats with passengers are docked at their moorings.
The most notable building Continue reading
This illustration from the December 21, 1895 Harper’s Weekly shows some of the tests put to applicants of the NYPD.
Instead of Tammany Hall patronage to get on the police force, Continue reading
This scene shows the cowcatcher intersection at 23rd Street where Fifth Avenue and Broadway intersect.
Our photograph is from about 1897, before the famous Flatiron Building was constructed in 1902. Continue reading
Looking west Liberty Street is to the left and Maiden Lane is to the right in this photo from 1895.
This photograph above is sharper Continue reading
A Street Level View Of The New York Herald Building 1897
This magic lantern slide from around 1897 shows The New York Herald Building at 35th Street sandwiched between Broadway on the left and Sixth Avenue with the El on the right.
The Herald newspaper became the first paper to abandon newspaper row, where most newspapers had their headquarters along Park Row. The Herald’s new home designed by McKim, Mead and White, opened for business on Monday, August 21, 1893. According to the clock Continue reading
Windsor Hotel Fire, March 17, 1899. Showing collapse of roof water tower during blaze. photographer: unknown
As thousands of New Yorkers were celebrating the St. Patrick’s Day Parade on Friday, March 17, 1899, the Windsor Hotel on the east side of Fifth Avenue between 46th and 47th Streets caught fire. The inferno Continue reading