History of Old Pennsylvania Station in Pictures (1904 - 1962)
Pennsylvania Station, often abbreviated to Penn Station, was a historic railroad station in New York City, named for the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR), its builder and original tenant.
The building was designed by McKim, Mead, and White and completed in 1910, enabling direct rail access to New York City from the south for the first time. Its head house and train shed were considered a masterpiece of the Beaux-Arts style and one of the great architectural works of New York City. The station contained 11 platforms serving 21 tracks, in approximately the same layout as the current Penn Station.
Its head house and train shed were considered a masterpiece of the Beaux-Arts style and one of the great architectural works of New York City. The original building was one of the first stations to include separate waiting rooms for arriving and departing passengers, and when built, these were among the city’s largest public spaces.
Passenger traffic began to decline after World War II, and in the 1950s, the Pennsylvania Railroad sold the air rights to the property and shrank the railroad station. Starting in 1963, the above-ground head house and train shed were demolished, a loss that galvanized the modern historic preservation movement in the United States.
Over the next six years, the below-ground concourses and waiting areas were heavily renovated, becoming the modern Penn Station, while Madison Square Garden and Pennsylvania Plaza were built above them. The sole remaining portions of the original station are the underground platforms and tracks, as well as scattered artifacts on the mezzanine level above it.
1904: Construction of New Pennsylvania Station
Aerial view of the New Pennsylvania Station whose construction is nearly complete.
1905: Main Waiting Room at Pennsylvania Station
Interior view of Penn Station's famously opulent waiting room, with its high vaulted ceilings and turn-of-the-century stonework.
1905: Track Level and Concourses at Pennsylvania Station
Interior view of Penn Station's concourses, drenched by the sun due to the greenhouse-inspired design of its glass ceiling.
1905: Track Level, Concourses and Exits at Pennsylvania Station
A three quarter perspective shows the tracks, concourses and exits of a brightly illuminated Penn Station.
1905: Main Concourse at Pennsylvania Station
A photograph which illustrates the great style, symmetry and lighting of Penn Station's Main Concourse.
1910: East Facade of Pennsylvania Station
Pedestrians walk in front of the recently completed Penn Station - whose opulence and grand design would make it one of the city's most cherished landmarks.
1910: Pennsylvania Station Interior
Photograph of pedestrians commuting at the Pennsylvania Station, where the Long Island Railroad opened to the public on September the 8th, 1910.
1911: Waiting Room at Pennsylvania Station
Passengers in the waiting room at Pennsylvania Station, with statue of Alexander Johnston Cassatt, president of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company.
1942: Soldiers at Pennsylvania Station
Soldiers and sailors line up inside the concourse of Pennsylvania Station.
1962: Clock at Pennsylvania Station
Photograph taken from a Historic American Buildings Survey on April 24, 1962 of the Pennsylvania Station Concourse from the south.
1962: Pennsylvania Station, Interior Entrance
Photograph of Pennsylvania Station's Entrance and Waiting Area.
1962: Pennsylvania Station
Photograph of the steel support beams of Pennsylvania Station's famous Main Concourse.
1962: Pennsylvania Station Interior Masonry
Photograph of the elaborate stonework and pillars that once adorned the walls of Pennsylvania Station.
1962: Pennsylvania Station Facade
Photograph of Pennsylvania Station's southern facade along 31st Street.
1962: Pennsylvania Station and Seventh Avenue
Photograph of Pennsylvania Station's Entrance at 370 Seventh Avenue.
1962: Pennsylvania Station Concourse Interior
Photograph of passengers waiting for their train at Pennsylvania Station's Main Concourse.
