Viewing NYC Articles Categorized Under Vintage Photography

[REPOST] Vintage Photograph Shows Lower Manhattan as Seen From Atop the Brooklyn Bridge Tower Circa 1905

2026-03-05T12:00:00-05:00

The Brooklyn Bridge was built in 1883 to connect the City of New York with the City of Brooklyn by spanning the East River. It was the first steel-wire suspension bridge constructed, and the longest suspension bridge in the world for several years.

In this interesting vintage photograph from around 1905, view Lower Manhattan looking down from atop one of the famous Brooklyn Bridge Towers.

This unusual view was taken from the top of the New York tower of the Brooklyn Bridge around 1905. Lower Manhattan is in transition from low rise buildings to the ever increasing number of skyscrapers dotting the landscape.

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This Vintage Photograph From 1905 Shows Herald Square and the 6th Ave El

2025-12-21T12:00:00-05:00

This 1905 shot of Herald Square is much different than what it looks like today. You can see square's namesake, the original New York Herald Building, the Elevated 6th Avenue IRT line, old horse carts and early automobiles, along with hundreds of classy, well dressed pedestrians.

You can even see down Broadway to the original New York Times Building on 42nd St, off in the distance. For reference, here is the Google Streetview from this angle today.

This photo is in the public domain in the United States. This applies to U.S. works where the copyright has expired, often because its first publication occurred prior to January 1, 1923. See this page for further explanation.

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[PHOTO] Vintage Aerial Photograph of Midtown Skyscrapers and Times Square Circa 1920

2025-12-19T12:00:00-05:00

Ephemeral New York is a site that seeks to chronicle "an ever-changing city through faded and forgotten artifacts."

In a recent post, the site shows a vintage postcard showing a colorized aerial photograph of the "tall" skyscrapers in Midtown around 1920's Times Square.

With so many skyscrapers in the city topping out with more than 70, 80, even 100 floors, the tall buildings shown in this photo of Times Square look pretty puny. But they impressed New Yorkers at the time, and the caption on the back of the card boasts about them. “This aerial photograph of the Times Square section of New York shows many of the skyscraper office buildings located in the heart of New York,” it reads.

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[PHOTO] Vintage Photograph Shows a Busy New York City Street Scene Outside the Casino Theatre, 1907

2025-12-17T12:00:00-05:00

As part of their Old New York in Photos series, the team behind historical blog Stuff Nobody Cares About recently shared this large vintage photograph from 1907 showing a busy street scene outside of the old Casino Theater on Broadway and W 37th St.

We’re looking at the Casino Theatre on 39th Street and Broadway in a Detroit Publishing Co. photograph that the Library of Congress has labeled “Saturday Matinee circa 1900 – 1910.” By looking at the few details available we can narrow down approximately when this photograph was taken. The weather appears to be on the cool side, as some of the men and women wear coats over their dress attire.

Check out their excellent accompanying article for an in-depth analysis and breakdown of the photo.

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[REPOST] Vintage Photographs of the Lower Manhattan Banana Docks Circa 1906

2025-11-25T12:00:00-05:00

The Old Slip piers along the East River, just below the end of Wall Street, used to be known as the Banana Docks for its frequent fruit shipments from around the world, including ships containing hundreds of bushels of bananas.

These images were obtained from the Library of Congress and are in the Public Domain. More information, as well high-resolution scans of the original glass plates, can be found here and here.

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Vintage Photograph From Empire State Building Observation Deck On Opening Day, 1931

2025-11-22T12:00:00-05:00

Brooklyn photographer Samuel Gottscho is well known for his New York City photography in the 1930's. We have featured his photos on Viewing NYC a few times before, and now we have this gem to share with you as well.

The Empire State Building has one of the most iconic observation decks in the world. Celebrated by locals, tourists, movies and television shows alike, the view from the deck is one of the best sights in all of New York. This shot was captured by Gottscho on it's opening day, May 1st, 1931, and shows a much different view of lower Manhattan than the one we enjoy today.

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[WATCH] The Oldest Photos of New York City You've Never Seen

2025-11-03T12:00:00-05:00

Explore fascinating and nearly forgotten images of New York captured at the peak of its history! Discover incredible portraits of streets, people, and moments that reveal a city completely different from what we know today. A unique journey through extremely rare photos showing New York as you've never seen it before!

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Check Out This Vintage Photograph Showing an Empty Times Square in 1905

2025-11-01T12:00:00-04:00

Love it or loathe it, Times Square has been an iconic part of New York City since at least 1872, when it was called Longacre Square and was the central hub of the City's horse carriage industry. In this vintage photograph captured around 1905, just one year after being renamed to "Times Square", peek south through the square at the namesake New York Times Building and surrounding buildings.

Here is a Google StreetView of approximately the same view today.

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This Vintage Photograph Shows a Crowded Queensboro Bridge Pedestrian Walkway in 1909

2025-10-18T12:00:00-04:00

Opened in 1909, the Queensboro Bridge is a large steel cantilevered-truss bridge spanning the East River between the boroughs of Manhattan and Queens, directly over Roosevelt Island. Carrying cars, buses, and pedestrians with two layers of road, the bridge is one of the busiest in the City. Captured by famous photographer Eugene de Salignac, this vintage photograph shows crowded pedestrian walkway over the bridge the year in opened to the public.

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[PHOTO] Vintage Photograph Shows Ansche Chesed Synagogue in Harlem Circa 1910

2025-09-03T12:00:00-04:00

This vintage photograph shows the corner of West 114th Street and 7th Avenue in Harlem back in 1910. At the time, this impressive building belonged to Ansche Chesed Synagogue, however the congregation moved to the Upper West Side in 1928, where it remains to this day. Here is a Google Street View of the building and intersection today, where the Mount Neboh Baptist Church currently resides.

Check out the specimen page in the Museum of the City of New York's digital collection for more info on the photograph.

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