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New York City in 1870: Bird's-eye View of Manhattan From Brooklyn Bridge Tower

A.T. Stewart's "Iron Palace" Department Store

This set of three original photographs captures the dynamic growth of New York City in the 1870s, an era of rapid expansion and modernization.

• The first photograph (top left) showcases a bustling scene on Broadway, illustrating the energy of a city in constant motion. The streets are filled with horse-drawn carriages and pedestrians navigating the thriving commercial district, reflecting the vibrancy and pace of everyday life in the heart of Manhattan. Businesses visible in the image: Lord & Taylor department store, Thomas Loton Fruit Store, and a few others. Approximately 3 x 3 inches.

• On the top right is a view of A.T. Stewart's "Iron Palace," built in 1862, a symbol of New York's retail innovation following his "Marble Palace" at 280 Broadway. The Iron Palace, located at Broadway and 9th Street, was renowned for its grand architectural style and for transforming the shopping experience, catering to an upper middle-class clientele eager to partake in the burgeoning consumer culture of the time. Approximately 3 x 3 inches.

• The largest photograph captures a sweeping panorama of New York's harbor, centered around the Brooklyn Bridge, which is still under construction. The perspective offers a dramatic view, taken by a daring photographer who walked a catwalk to one of the bridge's massive towers. This image underscores the city's relentless progress, as the bridge - the engineering marvel of the time - was designed to connect Manhattan and Brooklyn, facilitating commerce and the city's expansion eastward. The skyline, dotted with the spires of landmark buildings like the Equitable Insurance Building, Western Union Telegraph Office, and Tribune Building, further attests to the metropolis's economic and architectural development. 3 1/2 x 6 inches.

Stewart's "Iron Palace"

After the success of his Marble Palace department store, Stewart took his retail marketing to the next level with his Iron Palace. Located at Broadway at 9th and 10th this mecca of shopping catered especially to upper-class women, encouraging shoppers to linger in a beautifully appointed interior space lit by natural light through its massive glass dome skylight. The store's reputation was so great among New Yorkers that no street signs were necessary (note the clean exterior street facade in the photograph). A contemporary review of the establishment by Alice B. Haven, appeared in Godey's:

On the landing, half way up, we pause for a coup d’oeil of the busy sparkling scene below. Now we have a full view of the saloon itself; the light and tasteful frescoes on wall and ceiling; the gilded chandeliers with grand glass globes; the graceful Corinthian columns, all of iron, that surround the floor above; the innumerable plate-glass windows, with the pale blue tint pervading the light that painters seek to soften an atmosphere, or tone down color; the gayly dressed, restless, ever-changing throng, like a waving tulip-bed, or the glittering of a kaleidoscope, with an ascending hum that marks a hive of human activity and industry.

Together these photographs offer a glimpse into the transformative decade of the 1870s in New York City, a period marked by economic prosperity, population growth, and infrastructural advancements that would shape the city's future. The images capture New York’s dynamic urban landscape as it prepared for its future as the world’s preeminent metropolis.