Vintage Photographs of the New York City Subway

This is an 1878 view of the Third Avenue Line El train tracks, looking north up the east side of the Bowery, at Chatham Square in lower Manhattan, New York.

This group of financiers and city officials get a tour of New York City's first subway in January 1904 while the city's policemen stood by on the platform at City Hall Station. Seated toward the front of the ceremonial flat car are Alexander Orr, August Belmont, John B. McDonald, and Mayor George B. McClellen.

This is excavation at Lafayette Street, then known as Elm Street, near Pearl Street, for New York's subway line, seen May 6, 1901.

This is an undated photo of a New York City subway car, the "A" train.

A man gets change in nickels from a change booth operator so he can pass through the new nickel-operated turnstiles which have replaced the ticket and ticket-chopper (a man who manually cut tickets at the gate) system in the New York City subway, early 1920s. The move allowed subway companies to reduce operating costs by drastically reducing personnel.

Work begins for an underground replacement for the Sixth Avenue "El" (elevated train), shown looking north from 42nd Street, July 28, 1936. The El is to be demolished in 1939.

Steel cars for the new 8th Avenue subway in New York, in May 1937.

This is an interior view of the new 8th Avenue subway car in New York City, May 1937.

The new streamlined red, white and blue Rapid Transit car which made its "maiden voyage" along the BMT lines in New York, March 28, 1939. It weighs 76,000 pounds, about half the weight of the conventional cars, and is equipped with special sound-deadening and shock-cushioning devices.

Air conditioned and equipped with upholstered green mohair cushions, a new streamlined luxury car of the BMT lines made its inaugural run in New York, March 28, 1939. This group tried out the comforts of the new car which will be placed in operation March 30. Sound-deadening and shock-absorbing devices are part of the new equipment.

The Ninth Avenue "El" or elevated, is shown looking north along State Street in New York, Feb. 22, 1940. The transit commission has authorized the condemnation of the structure.

The Ninth Avenue "El", or elevated, tracks are seen looking south at 33rd Street in New York, Feb. 22, 1940. The transit commission authorized condemnation of the structure.

This view shows the 42nd Street subway entrance and store fronts in New York City on April 2, 1940.

Mayor John F. Carr of Medford, Mass., Mayor Maurice J. Tobin of Boston, and Mayor Fiorello La Guardia of New York, left to right, take a subway to go from City Hall to their hotel for lunch in New York, Aug. 5, 1942, after conferring with mayors of Atlantic Coast cities on gasoline and fuel problems for the northeast.

Interior view of the subway car of the future as it was displayed at the Chambers Street Station of the Independent Division in New York on July 9, 1947. The new car has 56 seats, 14 adjustable, exhaust ventilators, eight 10-inch fans, is painted blue and grey and has an off-white ceiling.

The photo shows the Bowery where it intersects with Canal Street in New York, 1947. The Third Avenue El, or, Elevated, train is on the left.

A brother and his sister look up at a newsstand, located on the platform of the New York city subway, as they wait for the train to Coney Island, New York, 1948.

From Yahoo/AP:

The first subway line in New York City opened about 35 years after the first elevated train line in NYC, October 27, 1904. The subway lines opened in 1904 were owned and run by privately owned companies. They also started some elevated train lines in Brooklyn.

In 1913 New York City built and improved some of the subway lines, they were then leased to the companies. 1932 was when the first line owned and operated by New York City, Independent Subway System (IND). New York City bought the two private systems and closed some of the elevated train lines.

The goal of the NYC Subway trains was to get passengers transported quickly into and out of Manhattan as well as around different areas of Manhattan. Passengers liked the system because it was much faster and cheaper than other options and not affected by bad weather when it was underground. The NYC subway system is very popular serving hundreds of thousands of people every day. (AP)

via Yahoo

vintage photography

Matt Coneybeare

Editor in Chief

Matt enjoys exploring the City's with his partner and son. He is an avid marathon runner, and spends most of his time eating, running, and working on cool stuff.

Posts by Matt Coneybeare

Something wrong with this post? Let us know!