Commercial Buildings

Flatiron Building from Madison Square Park, New York City

by

View of the Flatiron Building around 1903. Image courtesy of the Library of Congress, Detroit Publishing Company Collection.

The same view in 2014:

182_2014

Built in 1902 on a triangular plot of land between Broadway and Fifth Avenue at Madison Square, the Flatiron Building remains one of New York’s most distinctive skyscraper.  At the time of its completion, it was one of the first skyscrapers outside of the downtown area, and the first north of 14th Street, which set the stage for subsequent skyscrapers that now dominate the midtown skyline.

Cafe Martin, New York City

by

Cafe Martin, at the corner of Fifth Avenue and 26th Street, New York City, around 1908. Image courtesy of the Library of Congress, Detroit Publishing Company Collection.

179_1908c-loc.tif

The scene in 2014:

179_2014

The building in the first photo was the site of the famed Delmonico’s restaurant from 1876 until 1899. Located directly across Madison Square from Madison Square Garden, it was one of several locations owned by the Delmonico family, and was considered one of the best fine dining restaurants in the country.  This building was sold in 1901, and became the Hotel Martin.  I don’t know what became of this business, but the building obviously no longer exists; based on the architecture of the current building, this was probably sometime by the 1920s.  However, most of the surrounding buildings in the 1908 photo still exist, including the building immediately to the left, which looks looks out of place in the first photo, but blends in well in the present-day photo, now that it is no longer three stories taller than its neighbors.

Looking north on Fifth Avenue from 28th Street, New York City

by

The view looking north on Fifth Avenue from 28th Street, around 1905. Image courtesy of the Library of Congress, Detroit Publishing Company Collection.

176_1905c-loc.tif

The same view in 2014:

176_2014

Despite it being over 100 years since the first photo was taken, many of the buildings along Fifth Avenue are still there. In particular, Marble Collegiate Church in the left-center of the photos appears almost unchanged; it was built in 1854, back when Fifth Avenue looked far different from either of these two photos, and it is home to the third oldest church congregations in the United States, having been founded in 1637. A few other buildings are also identifiable from both photos, including the tall building to the left of the church, although at some point in between someone added four stories to it, with little regard for making it match the rest of the building.  The most notable difference, of course, is the Empire State Building, which would not be completed until about 25 years after the first photo was taken.

Broad Street Lunch Carts, New York City

by

Lunch carts at the corner of Broad Street and Beaver Street, in the Financial District of New York City, around 1906. Image courtesy of the Library of Congress, Detroit Publishing Company Collection.

172_1906c-loc

The same street corner in 2014:

172_2014

Absolutely nothing from the original photo still exists today.  Well, I suppose the lunch carts might be hanging around somewhere in a museum or antique store, but nothing is still at the site today.  Even the sellers and customers are long-dead.  Francis Draz & Co., which sold wine, is gone, as is its building, and the site is now occupied by one of Manhattan’s ubiquitous Duane Read drugstores.  Out front, workers in the financial district can still grab something to eat from a street vendor, except frozen yogurt has evidently replaced 3 cent hot frankfurters (or, 2 for 5 cents!) and one cent glasses of lemonade (or 2 cents if you want yours made to order).  Above Francis Draz & Co., a “lunch room” evidently caters to those who have the luxury of sitting down for their lunch break.  On a side note, several of the 1906 lunch carts are sponsored by “Young’s Hats,” which, according to one of the least reassuring advertising slogans of all time, are “now better made.”

Broad Street, New York City

by

The view looking north on Broad Street between 1900 and 1910, with the New York Stock Exchange in the left-center. Image courtesy of the Library of Congress, Detroit Publishing Company Collection.

171_1900-1910-loc.tif

The same street in 2014:

171_2014

A few buildings from the early 1900s photo still exist today, perhaps most notably the New York Stock Exchange and the Federal Hall National Memorial.  Just as it was 100 years ago, Broad Street is at the heart of the American financial industry.  In the first photo, though, there are actual financial transactions going on, right in the street.  This was the location of what was called the Curb Market, where brokers would buy and sell shares outside.  This was often the way for investors to buy shares of small companies in highly speculative markets that would not be eligible for the New York Stock Exchange.  The curb market practice of trading outside – regardless of weather – eventually ended in 1921, when the market moved to a permanent, indoor location.  However, the market itself survives today, as NYSE MKT, formerly American Stock Exchange (AMEX).

A close inspection of the first photo reveals a fascinating glimpse into everyday life a century ago.  Of course, almost all of the people visible in the photo are men, and nearly all of them are wearing identical three-piece suits, with bow ties and identical straw hats.  Many of them likely dined at Barron’s cafe and buffet lunch on the right-hand side of the photo, and perhaps purchased “Special Blank Books” from William F. Albers’s business, as advertised on the carriage in the lower right corner.  I don’t know how they got home, but they likely didn’t take the subway; New York City’s first subway line opened in 1904, but the Broad Street station visible on the far right of the 2014 photo didn’t open until 1931, by which point many of the younger curb market brokers in the photo had probably gained a fortune in the Roaring Twenties, only to lose it in the crash of 1929.

Wall Street, New York City

by

The view looking up Wall Street around 1903, with Trinity Church in the distance. Image courtesy of the Library of Congress, Detroit Publishing Company Collection.

170_1903c-loc.tif

The same scene in 2014:

170_2014

Perhaps ironically, the only building visible in both photos is also the oldest building that is readily visible in the 1903 photo.  Trinity Church, located on Broadway across from Wall Street, was completed in 1846, and its steeple made it the tallest structure in the city until the completion of the New York World Building in 1890.  Today it is dwarfed by the 20th century skyscrapers of the Financial District, but it remains a fixture in the area.  Today, this area of both Wall Street and Broad Street is closed to vehicular traffic.

There is another building that is (sort of) seen in the 1903 photo and still exists today, although it isn’t visible in the 2014 photo.  The Federal Hall National Memorial, formerly the US Customs House, isn’t really visible, but the statue of George Washington in front of it is barely visible, on the right-hand side of the intersection of Broad & Wall Streets.  The building was built in 1842, on the site of Federal Hall, which was formerly the first capitol building of the United States, and the location of the first inauguration of George Washington.