In 2019, I purchased from an eBay seller a collection of three original old New York photo prints. From a quick glance at the pictures, the prints initially appeared to date around the late 19th century or early 20th century. All three photos displayed writing to note their locations: “Brooklyn Bridge,” “NY from Brooklyn Bridge” and “Broadway, NY.”
The first old New York photo captioned as “Brooklyn Bridge” shows a view of some snow on the Brooklyn Bridge. At least two people appear to be walking away from the camera.
The second photo captioned as “NY from Brooklyn Bridge” displays a view from the Brooklyn Bridge above Front Street, looking south toward lower Manhattan. Many building signs are visible.
The third old New York photo captioned as “Broadway, NY” captures a view from Park Row looking north, in the area right next to New York City Hall. For readers unfamiliar with New York, Park Row is on the Manhattan side of the Brooklyn Bridge. This meant all three photos were taken around the same general location.
My first thought about the photos was the photographer – assuming there was only one photographer – was possibly a tourist. After all, why would someone living in New York label the pictures as “Brooklyn Bridge” and “Broadway, NY”? Also, the handwriting appeared somewhat similar on the two pictures captured on the bridge but a bit different from the Park Row print.
Right off the top, I’ll point out no evidence exists to definitively – without a shadow of a doubt – tie together the three old New York photo prints in terms of the date or dates when one or more photographers captured the pictures. However, based upon the fact a single eBay seller offered all three photos at the same time and that they’re printed on similar paper – as well as a wealth of other information I’ve documented for this story – it’s possible one person, perhaps a tourist, captured the three photos over the course of several days during a trip to New York. If nothing else, this article serves as a searchable gathering of information for some of the signs and structures visible in the photos.
In this story, I fully published all of my research in the order in which I found each piece of data, to show how I discovered various facts and reached my own conclusion. Note my conclusion is only my best guess based upon all the gathered historical evidence.
The First Photo: Snow on Brooklyn Bridge
In the first photo, the first thing that stood out to me was that part of the Brooklyn Bridge is covered in snow. However, there’s no sign of snow in the second photo captured from the bridge. The third photo shot in Park Row might show light snow on plants and tree limbs but it’s difficult to tell.
A closer look at the snow in the bridge photo displays a bit of a shiny look on the ground on the left side near benches, perhaps showing that it’s slushy and a bit melted. Also, visible in the full picture is the fact someone appears to have shoveled the snow off to the right side in piles.
Anyone who’s lived in New York is well aware of the slushy piles of snow that can sometimes remain on the ground for months. Sometimes on sidewalks, old trash bags are found underneath the snow after it melts. I did not observe any visible footprints in the snow, perhaps even more meaning the snow on the ground might be a slushy mixture of precipitation.
The Second Photo: Lower Manhattan from Brooklyn Bridge
In my research of the old New York photos, I made numerous observations about the second picture also shot on the Brooklyn Bridge. Zooming in, it looks like a large building is under construction. Several signs also stand out. For example, one sign displays words including “Miles,” a difficult word to make out and then “Son & Co, Wholesale Liquor Dealer, 252 Front St.” At first, I couldn’t make out the second word. So I searched Google for “Miles Son & Co. Wholesale Liquor” and “252 Front St,” both without quotes. A search result for a 1901 New York city directory displayed the difficult word to make out in the photo: O’Reilly’s. The sign reads, “Miles O’Reilly’s Son & Co. Wholesale Liquor” and “252 Front St.”
At this point, my goal was to find out how long Miles O’Reilly’s company was open at 252 Front St. Finding an answer would allow me to narrow down a range of years for when a photographer likely captured the second photo.
According to old New York city directories, O’Reilly’s liquor company previously operated out of 13 9th Ave in the 1880s, then moved to 248 Front St. According to later city directories, the address was the same one as seen in the photo, 252 Front St., between 1897 and 1906. At this stage in my researched, I believed this information to indicate a likelihood – even with the fact some large signs remain visible on buildings many years after businesses close – that an unknown photographer possibly shot the second photo between 1897 and 1906.
The Third Photo: Park Row
In the third old New York photo taken in Park Row, the New York City Hall building is visible on the right side of the frame. The sun casts shadows from the southeast, meaning it’s early morning. According to The New York Times, this direction of the sun means it’s likely closer to winter than summer. When it’s winter in New York, the sun rises in the southeast and sets in the southwest. Further, the people in all three examined photos appear wearing what looks like cold-weather clothing.
Speaking of The New York Times, one of the newspaper’s past offices was once located in a building steps away from where the photographer captured his or her picture.
More Buildings in Park Row Photo
A number of other prominent buildings are also visible in the Park Row picture. While examining the buildings, I kept in mind the idea the photographer may also have captured the second picture from the bridge pointing to lower Manhattan between 1897 and 1906.
For example, the old Sun Building is visible. This building was also known as the A.T. Stewart Dry Goods Store and the Marble Palace. Construction workers completed the building in 1846. I looked to find a building completed or demolished between 1897 and 1906.
Looking off to the left side of the frame, I examined the Broadway-Chambers Building. An 1898 postcard for sale on eBay showed that, as of that year, the Broadway-Chambers Building did not yet exist. Workers completed construction on the Broadway-Chambers Building in 1900. In other words, the photographer likely captured the Park Row picture between 1900 and 1906.
Chemical Bank Location
Another zoomed-in examination of the Park Row photo showed Chemical Bank was not yet occupying the space at 270 Broadway.
According to the Daytonian in Manhattan blog, workers completed that Chemical Bank location in 1907. This information helped to further confirm the Park Row picture dated prior to 1907. (Also in the Park Row picture, the old National Shoe and Leather Bank with its two towers was another visible building.)
More Signs in Second Photo
In the second photo shot from the Brooklyn Bridge and pointing down toward lower Manhattan, another sign reads, “Peter F. Dailey.” According to the website for Brooklyn’s Green-Wood Cemetery, Dailey was a stage performer at the time. To the right of the Dailey sign, another sign reads, “Horse Show” and “Madison Square Garden.” The last visible sign reads, “The O.J. Gude Co.”
A different sign mentions “mantels” and “fireplaces,” as well as “Front and Water Streets.” The word “Sons” is also visible. A Google search for these terms displayed a result from a helpful website. According to WalterCrutchfield.net, a man named Wm. H. Jackson & Co. sold fireplaces, mantels and a number of other products. The sign appears to show a match for this name. An ad for the company appeared in city directories in every year from 1900-1906. (A photo of this sign appeared earlier in this article.)
Another distant sign displays the word “stoves” and perhaps also “ranges.” Examining the picture alongside a map of streets, the building was located on Water St near Peck Slip. A simple Google search for this information displayed results for the Southard-Robertson Company. City directories listed this business at the same location between 1900 and 1906.
Trinity Building Under Construction
In the second old New York photo showing the view from the Brooklyn Bridge looking out to lower Manhattan, a tall building under construction is visible. This building under construction appeared to be the Trinity Building. According to the Record and Guide publication, foundation work on the Trinity Building – located next to Trinity Church – began in early 1904.
According to The Wall Street Journal, the Trinity Building opened to tenants on May 1, 1905. If the second photo truly shows the Trinity Building under construction – and workers are still in the process of adding floors – then theoretically the structure might be only months from completion.
National Horse Show Association
Regarding the “Horse Show” sign clue mentioning Madison Square Garden, a search of old newspapers displayed an interesting result. According to The Sun newspaper via Newspapers.com – a handy website for newspaper archives – the twentieth annual Horse Show of the National Horse Show Association opened at Madison Square Garden on Nov. 14, 1904.
Three days later, on Nov. 17, the Passaic Daily News reported Peter F. Dailey was preparing for a new musical comedy titled, “Life in Newport.” The company of the musical began rehearsals on Nov. 7. The New-York Daily Tribune published Dailey as the first billed cast member.
November 1904
Regarding the first old New York photo showing piles of snow on the Brooklyn Bridge, I looked for information about the weather in mid-November 1904. On Nov. 14, 1904, the New-York Daily Tribune published news of the first snow of the season falling in New York City on Nov. 13.
The Tribune’s report read, in part, “It was the first snow of the season, the first precursor of winter, this snow, but it was not of the dry, clean and close packing kind that crunches under foot and is a delight to the small boy who has mittens. It was wet, soggy snow, and it turned to slush as soon as it struck firm ground.”
My Own Conclusion
Again, no absolutely damning evidence exists to 100 percent and definitively tie together the three old New York photos in terms of their date or photographer (or photographers). However, here’s what I believe might be the truth: I believe it’s possible one person captured all three photos in November 1904.
Regarding the first old New York photo on the bridge, on Nov. 13, recall the newspaper’s report that said snow of a slushy kind collected on the bridge and began to melt. It’s possible that the photographer walked out on the bridge on the morning of Nov. 14 and captured a picture of the bridge with the slushy snow.
The second picture displayed a sign advertising Peter F. Dailey in the musical comedy “Life in Newport.” Recall that another newspaper announced rehearsals began on Nov. 7. The sign appeared next to a display for the twentieth annual Horse Show of the National Horse Show Association. That horse show ran for one week beginning on Nov. 14.
In the third old New York photo of Park Row, perhaps the photographer captured the image sometime between Nov. 11-13, 1904, just before the snow began to fall on Nov. 13, which was a Sunday. Or, maybe the photographer captured the Park Row photo days later. The photographer likely shot the picture from the bridge pointing to lower Manhattan either on the same weekend or in the following week, with the Trinity Building construction underway in the distance.
It’s even possible the photographer was in town to see the horse show since it was beginning on Nov. 14. The photographer – maybe a child – may have snapped the photos using a Perry Mason Co. Youth Companion camera.
Before this article ends, I’ll note one final clue. Four marks – one in each corner – are visible on the back of the second photo looking toward lower Manhattan. In other words, someone appeared to apply adhesive to display the photo on a wall or piece of furniture in their house, perhaps as a way to remember their trip to New York City in 1904.
As I published years ago when first looking into these old New York photos, we will never be 100 percent sure these photographs were all captured in November 1904. However, all of the data referenced in my research led me to believe that time period as a strong possibility of the truth.
For further reading, I recommend my project documenting photos captured by 19th-century Brooklyn photographer George Bradford Brainerd.
Editor’s Note: I previously published a YouTube video about the three photos examined in this story. I consider this article a much more trustworthy version of my research than the video. In the older video, I made claims about when a photographer captured the photos for which I did not have enough evidence.