Photographers

Lefty Grove at Fenway Park, Boston

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Lefty Grove warming up at Fenway Park in 1937. Photo courtesy of Boston Public Library, Leslie Jones Collection.

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The scene in 2006:

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In an earlier post, I looked at the present-day location of a photo of a Red Sox pitching legend, Cy Young.  Less than 30 years later, the Red Sox would have another stadium and a new ace pitcher, Lefty Grove.  Although he spent the majority of his career with the A’s, Grove remains the only pitcher to be inducted into the Hall of Fame wearing a Red Sox cap.

Today, Fenway Park hasn’t changed a great deal, although it now has lights, electronic scoreboards, and bullpens beyond the outfield fence.  The Green Monster now has seats atop it, and is no longer adorned with any racist ads.

Fenway Park, Boston (4)

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The exterior of Fenway Park in 1914. Image courtesy of the Library of Congress, Bain Collection.

The same view in 2006:

The scene in 2024:

This is probably the only part of Fenway Park that is virtually unchanged since it opened nearly 102 years ago.  Several fires, a massive reconstruction in 1934, and a number of smaller changes along the way have left very little remaining from the original park.  However, the Jersey Street façade hasn’t changed much, aside from the addition of various championship banners that the team has won since they first made Fenway their home.

2024 update: I have added a 2024 photo of the same scene. Not a whole lot has changed, but there are a few additional World Series championship banners in the distance.

Grand Central Terminal, New York

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Grand Central Depot in 1871. Image courtesy of New York Public Library.

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The newly reconstructed Grand Central Station around 1900. Image courtesy of the Library of Congress, Detroit Publishing Company Collection.

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The present-day Grand Central Terminal in 2019:

The three photos show the three different versions of the railroad station on 42nd Street.  Originally built in 1871 and named Grand Central Depot, it was a joint effort between three New York railroads, hence the term “grand central.”  It was extensively rebuilt from 1899 to 1900, as shown in the second photo, but it didn’t last for long.  Starting in 1903, it was demolished in stages and replaced with the current structure, which was completed in 1913.  This building itself was threatened in the 1960s – it was designed to be able to support the weight of a tower above it, and several proposals were considered, one of which would have kept the original structure, while stripping it of most of its historic significance. Ultimately, the city declared the building a landmark, thus preventing it from being altered or demolished.

 

Cy Young at Huntington Avenue Grounds, Boston

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Cy Young, warming up at Boston’s Huntington Avenue Grounds in 1908. Image courtesy of the Library of Congress, Bain Collection.

Sports

The scene in 2014:

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Finding the precise location of this photo is tricky, since nothing in the 1908 photo still exists.  The top photo was taken of Cy Young, the winningest pitcher in baseball history, during his last year with the Red Sox.  At the time, the Sox played a few blocks south of what would become Fenway Park, at the Huntington Avenue Grounds.

The site of the field is today part of the Northeastern University campus, and in this courtyard is a tribute to Cy Young and the old baseball field.  In the foreground is a granite home plate marker, and 60 feet away in the distance is a statue of Cy Young.  The Cy Young statue is on the approximate location of the pitcher’s mound (which can be seen behind and to the left of Cy Young in the 1908 photo), but home plate would have actually been further to the right of where the 2014 photo was taken (which is now a building).

Because of that, it is likely that the 2014 photo was taken from approximately the same location, looking in roughly the same direction, as the 1908 photo, although the lack of any landmarks makes it difficult to be exact.

Empire State Building (6)

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The view of the upper east side of Manhattan from the top of the Empire State Building in 1932. Image courtesy of the Library of Congress, Gottscho-Schleisner Collection.

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The same view in 2011:

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Quite a lot has changed in the Manhattan skyline since 1932 – the two photos show the contrast between the early 20th century skyscrapers, which were mandated to have step-like setbacks, and the sleek, box-like modern skyscrapers of 2011.  However, many of the old skyscrapers survive today, especially in the foreground.  The most prominent in the 1932 picture, the Chrysler Building, is still easily seen from the Empire State Building today, although today it is more its distinctive spire, rather than its height alone, that sets it apart from the rest.

Empire State Building (4)

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A worker atop the Empire State Building in 1931. Photo courtesy of the National Archives.

New York

The view in 2011:

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Probably the most famous photo of the construction of the Empire State Building (and not to be confused with the staged photo of construction workers eating lunch on a beam atop the Rockefeller Center), one of the most dramatic elements of this photo is the contrast between the old worker and the new progress of the Empire State Building.  Also interesting about it is the Chrysler Building, which had previously been the tallest building in the world, now looking small and insignificant in the shadow of the new title holder.