History of NYC - 1900 to 1905

Vendors line up on Mulberry Street and draw a large crowd of shoppers taking advantage of the open-air market.

Interior view of immigrants seated on long benches and awaiting processing at the Main Hall of the Immigration Station at Ellis Island

Immigrants waiting to be processed at Ellis Island. New York had become a Wonder City and beacon of hope for people all over the world.

The facility at Ellis Island was equipped with a dining hall which was often used to provide free food for weary travelers after their long voyage.

Immigrants ready for travel with baggages lined up at teller's windows marked money exchange.

A line of immigrants has passed all phases of inspection at Ellis Island and await the ferry to Manhattan where they will begin their new lives.

An exterior perspective of Immigration Station at Ellis Island, with ferry docked at the adjacent pier.

A photograph of the piers at Wall Street with two large boats docked and a Colgate carriage with horses parked on the promenade.

Photograph of canal boats at the East River docks with Manhattan's downtown skyline in the background.

Photograph of a growing Williamsburg Bridge, spanning the East River and facing Brooklyn.

Photograph of crowds celebrating the Fourth of July on the shores of Coney Island.

A picture of pedestrians on Mulberry Street, located in the heart of a bustling Italian neighborhood.

Children purchasing snacks from a street vendor on West 42nd Street.

A man with an eyepatch and facial scars asking for spare change from a passing pedestrian.

Photograph of a man selling flowers to customers, framed by large bouquets against the iconic backdrop of the surrounding buildings.

Photograph of a busy scene on the Bowery as pedestrians make their way across the street and under the elevated overpass.

Colorized photograph of a mother and daughter of the Lenape tribe - the last of New York City's indigenous inhabitants at the turn of the century.

Photograph of an Italian watchmaker's shop. An older woman reads the newspaper as a pedestrian observes.

A woman buys flowers from a vendor in Union Square, surrounded by local children.

A blind man asking for spare change.

Following Cooper's death in 1883, Augustus Saint-Gaudens was commissioned to design a monument in honor of the great visionary.

Henry Seigel's 14th Street Store, opened in 1904 on Sixth Avenue between 13th and 14th Streets.

A colorized photochrom print depicting an aerial view of Bowling Green and its surrounding buildings.

Photograph of the Grand Central Railroad Train Depot Terminal on 42nd Street in midtown Manhattan.

Manhattan's Columbus Monument was created by Italian sculptor Gaetano Russo as the city's 1892 commemoration of Columbus' landing 400 years prior.

Photograph of the old Croton Reservoir prior to it's demolition at what is now the Great Lawn in Central Park.

A view of Fifth Avenue, from the perspective of St. Patrick's Cathedral. Photograph includes the Vanderbilt family mansions.

A view at the corner of 60th Street and Fifth Avenue, on the Southwest corner of Central Park

Photograph of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, founded in 1870. In the foreground a busy street filled with pedestrians, horses and carriages.

Two women passing a row of horse-drawn carriages as they walk alongside Madison Square Park.

Construction of the Flatiron Building by George A. Fuller Construction Company in 1902.

Families stroll through Madison Square Park, its trees framing the recently completed Flatiron Building.

Interior view of Grand Central's waiting room, completed in October of 1900

New York Times Building Under Construction at One Times Square. Completed in 1904 to serve as the headquarters of The New York Times.

Rapid transit construction work at Union Square at the intersection of Fourth Avenue and 14th Street, New York City, June 8, 1901

A perspective of Brooklyn from the Brooklyn Bridge, framed by a B.M.T. train and commuters in 1900.

Located at the intersecton of Bowery and Division Street, Chatham Square was an express station on the IRT Third Avenue Line. It had two levels.

Aerial photograph of City Hall Park and surrounding buildings.

A steam-powered locomotive awaits boarding passengers on the Bowery's elevated train line near Grand Street.

Crowds of shoppers fill the busy streets north of 14th Street in the shade of the elevated train which once ran along 6th Avenue.

Construction worker perched 5 stories above the ground during the construction of a new building at Union Square.

Aerial view of the New Pennsylvania Station whose construction is nearly complete.

View along waterfront on West Street with many freight wagons, street cars and the buzz of daily activity.

The Harlem River Speedway was opened in 1898, inviting sightseers to enjoy the spectacular views of the new waterfront esplanade.

Construction underway at the City Hall Loop. In 1904, the first subway train departed from City Hall station with Mayor McClellan at the controls.

The Williamsburg Bridge opened on December 19, 1903, at a cost of $24.2 million. At the time it was the longest suspension bridge span in the world.

The original Whitehall Building was constructed from 1902 as a speculative office building designed by architect Henry Hardenbergh.

One Times Square was completed in 1904 to serve as the headquarters of The New York Times, which officially moved into the building in January 1905

Photograph of the New York Times Building. Though construction was complete, the New York Times would not officially take residence there until 1905.

The bright lights of Times Square are not a new phenomenon as this picture reveals, albeit on a much smaller scale.