Fine Print Blog

Evolution of New York City - Part 1 (1490-1900)

Posted on November 19, 2012

Several months ago we discovered an incredible collection of images at New York's Department of Records. There are over 870,000 photos and etchings documenting New York's rich and rapidly changing history - far too many images for anyone to sift through in a day. So we bided our time, taking random breaks over the following months to curate a collection of what we felt were the most striking of the bunch, and stumbling across a few more from other sources. We hope that you draw as much amazement and inspiration from these images as we have.

1624 First Settlements on Manhattan

1660 New Amsterdam

1664 First Image of New York (previously New Amsterdam)

1730 New York Harbor with view of Fort George

1770 The Soho Manufactory

1770 View from Upper Manhattan

1780 Pearl Street

1798 Collect Pond now Mott and Grand Street

1845 Downtown Manhattan

1850 South Street Seaport

1851 Wallabout Bay Brooklyn

1855 Downtown Manhattan

1856 3rd Avenue and Stuyvesant Street

1860 Five Points

1860 Broadway and 18th Street

1865 Niblos Theater in Soho

1867 Charles Harvey above the first elevated

1870 Belvedere Castle at Central Park

1870 Duane Street Ghetto

1872 Union Square Theatre

1875 Astor Place

1876 Downtown Manhattan

1876 Madison Square Garden Boxing and Bicycle Racing

1876 Statue of Liberty Construction

1876 Brooklyn Bridge Construction

1877 Brooklyn Bridge Construction

1878 Brooklyn Bridge Construction

1878 Statue of Liberty Torch Construction

1878 Long Acre Square (old Times Square)

1879 Coentes Slip

1879 Downtown Map

1879 Statue of Liberty in the Workshop

1880 Bethesda Terrace at Central Park

1880 Brooklyn Bridge construction

1880 Union Square

1881 Statue of Liberty building for display in Paris

1883 Wall Street

1883 Brooklyn Bridge Anchorage

1883 Brooklyn Bridge Construction

1883 Brooklyn Bridge Complete

1883 Brooklyn Bridge Opening Day

1884 Statue of Liberty's Torch at Madison Square

1885 Macys

1885 Subway Construction

1885 Statue of Liberty Pedestal Construction

1886 Statue of Liberty face waiting for installation

1886 Statue of Liberty Feet and Torch at Pedestal

1886 Statue of Liberty Unveiling

1886 Liberty Island

1888 Vienna Model Bakery at Broadway and 10th

1888 Bowery Street

1888 Blizzard "The Great White Hurricane"

1888 Blizzard Streets

1890 42nd Street

1890 Central Park Ice Skating

1890 Central Park West

1890 The Dakota at Central Park West

1890 Gansevoort Market Meatpacking District

1890 New York Stock Exchange

1890 5th Avenue and 14th Street

1890 Memorial Day in the Bronx

1890 Park Avenue South

1891 Laying cable line for trolleys in Union Square

1891 Manhattan Skyline

1892 Broadway and Union Square

1893 Grand Central

1894 Grand Army Plaza Brooklyn

1895 The Puck Building

1896 Brooklyn Bridge

1896 First Electric Taxis

1896 Newsies

1897 5th Avenue and 59th Street

1897 Newspaper Row

1897 Brooklyn Bridge Subway Tracks

1898 Bowling Green Park

1899 Police Parade, Bowler Hats, Hardly Any Women

1899 Brooklyn Bridge and Lower Manhattan

1899 High Bridge (The Aqueduct Bridge)

1899 South Street Ferry Building

1899 Waldorf Astoria Original Site at 5th Ave and 35th Street

1899 Tiffany's, Union Square

1898 Bowling Green Park

1899 Little Italy

1900 4th Avenue Billboards

1900 8th Avenue between 21st and 22nd Streets in Chelsea

1900 Bowery and grand

1900 Gillender Building

1900 Grace Church at Broadway and 10th Street

1900 St Patrick's Cathedral

1900 Goats and Buggies for Children at Central Park

1900 Sheep at Central Park Meadow

1900 Horse and Buggy at Central Park