History, Natural History & the Arts
The Brooklyn Bridge was completed about 130 years ago in 1883, and remains an icon of New York architecture.
However, Brooklyn looked much different back then, as seen by this illustration done soon after the bridge was completed. How did the illustrator even get up there? [Read more…] about Brooklyn From The Brooklyn Bridge (In The 19th Century)
Everyone in New York City is pretty familiar with the sight of Handsome Cabs, the horse-drawn carriages that take visitors on tours of Central Park. But that wasn’t always the horse’s job. Sometimes goats pulled people around!
According to the Parks Department, “In 1869 goat carriage rides were introduced into Central Park to cater to children.” They were a popular sight on the Mall. [Read more…] about When Goats Roamed New York City’s Central Park
How are you planning on spending your summer? Visiting Rockaway Beach? Biking in a city’s parks? Perhaps getting away from it all with a visit to the country? Well the New York City residents of the past spent their summers in a very similar way, as seen in these images from these photographs from New-York Historical Society’s digitized library collection!
New Yorkers have always hung out at the beach, whether it’s Rockaway (shown here in an undated photograph by John S. Johnson (c. 1890-1899)… [Read more…] about New Yorkers of Summers Past…They’re Just Like Us!
On June 12, 1909, New York City began an eight-day celebration of the connection of the East Side of Manhattan with Long Island City in Queens with the Queensboro Bridge, designed by Henry Hornbostel.
Though it officially opened to traffic on March 30, 1909, the June festivities drew over 300,000 people (larger than the population of Queens at the time) to see the bridge lit up with electricity, and hear 1,500 children sing the “Star-Spangled Banner” in its honor. It meant that crossing the East River was no longer an obstacle to the development of the borough of Queens. [Read more…] about When The City Celebrated The Queensboro Bridge
This summer, the New-York Historical Society will be displaying all fifty objects from Harold Holzer’s new book, The Civil War in 50 Objects. Though the book looks at the Civil War from many angles, quite a few of the objects originate from New York City. We spoke with the historian about the Civil War’s impact on the city, and the city’s attempt to secede from the Union! [Read more…] about Harold Holzer On The Civil War in 50 Objects
In May 1654, the early settlers of Gravesend, Brooklyn purchased what is now known as Coney Island from the local Native Americans. Back then it was just a beach, but by the 1840s it had morphed into how many of us know it now: a vacation getaway right in our own city.
Roads and steamships around that time made travel time from New York City around two hours, making Coney Island an accessible beach destination for anyone. By the 1920s it was even more popular, after the subway made its debut. But visitors weren’t content with just beaches and hotels. There were games to be played, rides to be ridden, and souvenirs to take home! Here are a few from the New-York Historical Society‘s collection.
[Read more…] about Coney Island Souvenirs Throughout The Years
On April 29, 1939, the largest world’s fair of all time came to Flushing Meadows-Corona Park in New York. The 1939-40 New York World’s Fair promised visitors a look at “the world of tomorrow.” And part of that included cool souvenirs.
The Perisphere and the Trylon, known together as the “Theme Center,” were two of the main draws of the 1939 World’s Fair. Connected to the Trylon’s spire was at the time the world’s longest escalator, and inside the Perisphere’s dome was a diorama called “Democracity,” which depicted the city-of-the-future. But you could take these structures home as fun salt shakers! [Read more…] about Great Souvenirs From The 1939 World’s Fair
On April 3, 1783 Writer and satirist Washington Irving was born in New York City. He best known for his short stories “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” and “Rip Van Winkle,” but I will always love him best for coining the name of New York’s basketball team!
In 1809, Irving published his first major book, A History of New-York from the Beginning of the World to the End of the Dutch Dynasty, by Diedrich Knickerbocker. Through the Knickerbocker pseudonym, Irving poked fun at the city’s self-important Dutch elite, in which Knickerbocker was a fairly common last name. He also pulled an elaborate prank in anticipation of the book’s release, posting “missing person” adverts in city newspapers, claiming Knickerbocker, a Dutch historian, had gone missing from his hotel room. [Read more…] about Happy Birthday Washington Irving!
Many New Yorkers say the reason you can’t get a good bagel anywhere else is because of New York City’s tap water, and indeed, we have some of the best in the country.
But that wasn’t always the case. Early 18th century inhabitants rarely had clean drinking water (in fact, beer was a more trusted drink than water), but that all changed in 1799 with the founding of the Manhattan Water Company and pipes like this. [Read more…] about A Short History of Manhattan’s Water Supply
Monopoly has long held the title of America’s most capitalist board game—a mad scramble to accumulate as much money and property as possible before someone accuses the banker of cheating and storms off (or was that just in our family?). Still, perhaps it’s time to bring another commerce-centric board game into the mix. What about The Game of Playing Department Store?
[Read more…] about 19th Century Games: Let’s Play Department Store!