The oldest house still standing on Manhattan, the Morris-Jumel mansion has an illustrious history, from its earliest days as a country estate commanding the heights, to serving as General George Washington’s headquarters from mid-September to mid-October 1776. The mansion was confiscated by the Americans and transformed into a tavern after […]
We Were All in the Gravest Peril: The General Slocum Disaster
On June 15th, 1904, congregants of the St. Mark’s Evangelical Lutheran Church, including many former members who loved the annual outing and used it as an excuse to return to the old neighborhood of Kleindeutschland, “Little Germany,” gathered on the pier at the end of East 3rd Street. Families and […]
The Jefferson Market and Courthouse
The Jefferson Market and Fire Tower, c. 1866. The police court was towards the back of the assembly room building. From Glimpses of Old New York by Henry Collins Brown. Greenwich Village, once a sleepy hamlet far outside the boundaries of the city that formerly was dotted with country estates […]
See Beach Express: Alfred Ely Beach and New York City’s First Subway
When the so-called “secret” subway line opened in February 1870, many New Yorkers were completely surprised that such a novel form of transit had been built, seemingly right under their noses and unbeknownst to “Boss” Tweed and his Tammany Hall cronies, operating across Broadway in the rooms of City Hall. […]
The (Short) History of Cannabis in NYC
Recreational cannabis usage in New York City can generally be traced back to the infamous Harlem “tea pads,” underground clubs where jazz musicians gathered to talk, jam, and enjoy “cannabis cigarettes.” Many of these musicians had been barred from larger institutions that were whites-only such as the Apollo and Cotton […]
The Elevated Railroads of New York City
Engineer Charles T. Harvey demonstrating his experimental elevated line for investors, 1867. The West Side and Yonkers Patent Railway was incorporated in 1866, and the test section ran for several blocks along Greenwich Street. The car was pulled along the single track by a cable that ran between the tracks […]
Dividing Manhattan: Tracing The Harlem Line, or how Harlem nearly became Lancaster
The British took over New Netherland in 1664, and English rule passed onto the residents of Harlem, several of whom left to go home to Holland. Others took the oath of allegiance to England, and people continued to buy land in the village. In 1665, Governor Richard Nicholls issued a […]
We Didn’t Have a Chance: The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire
The loft building in which the fire started was touted as “fireproof,” but within the floors occupied by the Triangle Shirtwaist Company, rows of tables with sewing machines were tightly packed and laden with piles of clothing. To make sure that the workers weren’t stealing anything, the owners had ordered […]
When the City Briefly Slept: The Blizzard of 1888
March is a time to look forward to the upcoming change of season, and New Yorkers were very much in the spirit over the weekend of March 10th and 11th, enjoying the balmy weather and cheerful air of the city. The Barnum and Bailey circus had come back to Madison […]
Dome-scrolling: The Grand Domes of New York City
I was inspired to make this page based on a joke I made on Bluesky the other day, as it seemed to be one of those days where everyone was caught up in extra doomscrolling. I had just been doing some research on the New York World (Pulitzer) Building and […]