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 […]