This magic lantern slide emphasizes Broadway’s position as a canyon of skyscrapers.
Today many of these older skyscrapers lining Broadway Continue reading
From the September 1906 issue of Success Magazine comes this article on staying young.
Is it as simple as city versus country living? Going to the theater erases age? Maybe if you see a boring modern Broadway show that puts you in a cryogenic-like state Continue reading
This stereoview shows lower Manhattan looking north from Chambers Street, circa 1903. The main boulevard on the right is Centre Street. Continue reading
This real photo postcard by Thaddeus Wilkerson shows the new Plaza Hotel. The hotel towers above its neighbors offering its guests terrific views of the city and the park. We are looking southwest from the Hotel Netherland on 60th Street and Fifth Avenue. The southern boundary of Central Park at 59th Street is on the right and on the extreme left is a portion of the Vanderbilt mansion on Fifth Ave and 58th Street.
The original Plaza Hotel on the same site was opened in 1890 and demolished in 1905. The new Henry Hardenbergh designed Plaza Hotel was much larger than its predecessor.
The original estimate to buy the site, raze the old hotel and build the new hotel was Continue reading
Children playing on a roof in New York City April 28, 1910 from the series Living On (A) Skyscraper photo George G. Bain Collection Library of Congress (LOC)
In the early twentieth century the roofs of New York would offer a respite from hot days in New York. While roofs could be dangerous, the streets were full of peril with horses, trolleys and filth.
The news organization headed by George G. Bain sent its photographers up to the roofs to see life from this perspective. Continue reading
Broadway and 62nd Street – The Colonial Vaudeville Theater is on the left, 1913
Broadway means New York City. Sure there are other Broadway’s in the United States, but none have the same clout that New York’s Broadway does. It is the longest street in Manhattan and one of the oldest. What the Dutch called De Heere Straat and later De Heere Wegh, became Great George Street under English rule. The street was paved in 1707, but only from Bowling Green to Trinity Church at Wall Street. After the Revolution, New York’s citizens began renaming streets and Great George Street became Broadway.
Here are some postcard views of Broadway dating from 1895 – 1915 Continue reading
Let’s start by saying in general most of these postcard scenes of New York are not really night scenes. The postcard companies would take a daytime scene and simply transform it into a night view.
Out first view of the Bowery at night circa 1905 is a prime example of day turned into night.
On the extreme left a small portion of the facade of the Bowery Savings Bank can be seen. Above the street is the Third Avenue El.
The Coney Island attraction The White World is a chance to “see” the northern regions of the globe. Since most people at the turn-of the-century rarely ventured more than a few miles from home, this experience promises to be the next best thing. Continue reading
This December 26, 1907 cover of Leslie’s Illustrated Weekly magazine shows what the scene would be like on New Year’s Eve 1908.
How “the merry crowds in New York welcome the new year” has not changed all that much in 114 years.
Fireworks Williamsburg Bridge 12/19/1903 photo: Library of Congress
On December 19, 1903 the second bridge to join Manhattan and Brooklyn opened.
Since May 24, 1883, for over 20 years, the Brooklyn Bridge, provided the only means of crossing between the two boroughs besides boat. Continue reading