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Between 1939 and 1941, and again in the mid-1980s, the city photographed every house and building in the five boroughs. As a result, the&nbsp;Municipal Archives has a collection of over 1.5 million photos.&nbsp;Researchers can view photographs from the 1940s collection on microfilm in the reference room. Low-resolution copies of the 1980s photos can be&nbsp;viewed online or on computers at the&nbsp;Municipal&nbsp;Archives. You can find office records, manuscript&nbsp;material, still and moving pictures, ledger volumes, maps, blueprints, and audio recordings regarding the administration of the New York City government. &nbsp;The records regarding the criminal justice system in NYC, dating form 1684 to 1966, are the largest and most comprehensive in the United States. The archives also&nbsp;maintains records of births reported in the five Boroughs of New York City (Manhattan, Brooklyn, Bronx, Queens and Staten Island), prior to 1910; deaths reported prior to 1949; and marriages reported prior to 1930.&nbsp; Committed to long-term preservation, a conservation unit continually upgrades its processes to maintain the archival collection in its care.

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Founded in 1950, New York's Municipal Archives preserves and maintains over 220,000 cubic feet of records from over a hundred city agencies. Holdings date back to the Dutch colonial period, including records related to government, land deeds, criminal cases, census records, and items that can help those interested in uncovering their family history. The largest municipal archive in the world, the collection includes over a million photos. 

Municipal Archives

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Not only is it important to be an engaged citizen in your home town but as we go off to college it is important to also be civically engaged in our new communities as well!

Before there was the City Hall we see today, the work of the government of New York City was done in the original city hall. Built in 1700, it was located at the corner of Wall Street and Nassau Street. It was determined that the building needed to be replaced, and a competition was held to select an architect to design the new City Hall. In 1802, the designs of John McComb, a native New Yorker, and Joseph Francois Mangin, a French émigré, won the competition.     Work began immediately. Construction took nine years, beginning in 1803 and continuing into 1812. However, it took several more years until the building was ready to be inhabited. By blending the international flavor of both men's influences, the interior can be described as American Georgian while the exterior is French Renaissance. The new City Hall is three stories high with a central pavilion that is flanked by two projecting wings with large arched windows, delicate ornamental swags, and decorative Corinthian and Iconic style columnns and pilasters.     You enter City Hall by ascending a large stone stairway leading to the main entrance that has been the scene of many important events throughout the last two centuries. Upon entering City Hall, a grand marble staircase sweeps up to the one-story portico fronting the building. The roof of the portico is capped by a balustrade, forming a balcony outside the Governor’s Room where five large arched windows soar to impressive heights. The rotunda dominates the interior and is dramatically encircled by a keystone-cantilevered staircase. Ten columnns on the second floor support the coffered dome that is modeled after the one in the Pantheon in Rome. A cupola rises above the attic where a copper statue of Justice majestically watches over the city below.     City Hall's most notable room, the Governor's Room, has served as a museum and reception room. It houses one of the most important collections of 19th century American portraiture as well as a collection of historic furnishings, including George Washington's desk and pieces by Charles Christian and Honoré Lannuier. Many distinguished guests have visited City Hall, including the Marquis de Lafayette, Albert Einstein, President James Monroe, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and Abraham Lincoln whose body lay in state there for two days. Over the years, it has been refurbished and restored many times including a redecoration by Bernstein and Bernstein from 1905 to 1907.

New York City's City Hall houses the city’s government offices, such as the Mayor of New York City and the chambers of the 51 New York City Council members. It is the oldest city hall in the nation that still serves its original purpose, and is considered one of the finest architectural achievements of its period. Tours are offered to the public; however, they must be scheduled in advanced. It is located at the center of City Hall Park between Broadway, Park Row, and Chambers Street.    

New York City Hall

The first subway train to hold public passengers in New York City departed from City Hall station in 1904. This station was designed by architects Heins &amp; LaFarge with vaulted tile ceilings crafted by Rafael Guastavino. Guastavino was a Spanish engineer known for his sweeping arches, a feature that he included in other prominent NYC landmarks such as Grand Central Terminal and the Queensboro Bridge. Heins &amp; LaFarge was a New York-based architectural firm that had previously won the contract for the Cathedral of St. John the Divine among other projects. The station design was influenced by the Beaux Arts movement and the City Beautiful movement. At a time when cities were expanding rapidly and haphazardly, the City Beautiful movement was an urban planning idea which held that beautifully designed spaces were key to creating more livable and orderly cities. The early stations designed by Heins &amp; LaFarge are identified by ornate bas relief plaques and swirling flourishes. They also only worked on the numbered subway lines, as the lettered lines were constructed later.  John B. McDonald won the bid from the City of New York to construct the first subway line at an estimated cost of nearly $34 million. City Hall station was the most elegant of all stations along the Interborough Rapid Transit subway line, featuring elaborate “skylights and ornate Grueby Faience tiles.”(3) Some of the skylights can still be spotted peeking through the foliage in the modern-day City Hall Park. The Interborough Rapid Transit Subway (or IRT) was the first subway company in New York and operated the subway under an agreement with Mr. McDonald. The first subway line ran from City Hall to 145th Street, a distance of more than nine miles, and the fare was only a nickel. According to reports from the New York Times, 150,000 passengers rode the subway on its opening day. The Mayor at the time, George B. McClellan, acted as the conductor for the first subway ride, a ride which departed City Hall and arrived at 145th and Broadway in 26 minutes. In true New York form, almost immediately after the subway was open to the public, advertisers carted large signs down to the subway platforms. Passengers were quick to complain that, “the fine appearance of things was to be marred” and the Mayor commented that the signs, “look very bad.”(7)  Amazingly, nearly 30 years prior to the opening of this subway line, New York City had tested another underground train system. In 1870, the city briefly tested a “pneumatic-powered subway beneath Broadway in Lower Manhattan.” (6) Despite continued interest in alleviating traffic in the City, due to complications in the political and economic environment, any version of the subway project struggled to gain support over the next three decades. In March of 1900, the first actual work began on the subway. Construction continued for four years and seven months. Over the course of construction, 16 men were killed and 125 injured, although this was considered below average at the time for a project of this scale.  The station was closed in 1945 as longer trains came into service and the cost of modernizing the old station, which was built on a tight curve, outweighed the benefits of keeping the station in service . Today, there is only one tour available for those who wish to visit New York City’s first subway station. The tour is operated by the New York Transit Museum and is only available for members – details are available through the link at the end of this entry.  Visitors can also catch a glimpse of the station via the Number 6 Train. Hop on any downtown-bound 6 train and remain on the train after the final stop (Brooklyn Bridge). The 6 train will make a loop after the final stop, passing through this little sliver of the past before heading back uptown.

New York’s first subway station opened on October 27, 1904, and was located almost directly beneath City Hall. Elegantly designed with gilded chandeliers and vaulted tile ceilings, this station was the crown jewel of New York's new modern engineering marvel - an underground railroad. The original subway line covered nine miles from City Hall to 145th Street and Broadway. The opening day for the subway saw some 150,000 New Yorkers testing their new form of transit. The old City Hall subway station is no longer in use and is closed to the public, but the station may still be viewed by remaining on the downtown-bound Number 6 Train after its final stop as the train continues and makes a loop before heading uptown. In addition, some of the original skylights can still be spotted by peeking through the foliage in the modern-day City Hall Park.

New York's Old City Hall Subway Station (1904-1945)

The area now called Chatham Square was once a forest
clearing named Warpoes (meaning Small Hill). Fenced off for cattle, it was
granted to twelve freedmen from the West India Company in 1647, and it grew into
an outdoor market trading in horses and housewares during the 18th century.
Around the time of the 1837 depression, the square became a site of working
class entertainment, and by the middle of the 19th century had become an
"Old Times Square of sorts, only 10 times seedier" [3]<a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.nychinatown.org/chatham.html]"></a>.
Flophouses and saloons dominated the square and the neighborhood around it. At
1 Chatham Square (or 2 Mott Street), where a 1977 office building now stands,
Moses Baker (in the 19th century) based his Five Points gambling operations,
private lotteries Baker dubbed "the policy business". In 1872, former Hong Kong merchant Wo Kee opened a general
goods store on Mott Street (one of the many streets leading into Chatham
Square), establishing the beginning of Manhattan's Chinatown. Also in the 1870s,
Chatham Square Crossing was a busy exchange on the New York rapid transit
system; passengers had to transfer at the square to switch between the 2nd and
3rd Street El lines.



At 5 Chatham Square, in 1899, the first American tattoo
parlor opened after a barber named Samuel F. O'Reilly created a mechanical tattoo
needle based on Thomas Edison's electric engraving pen. In the same year, a
branch of the New York Free Circulating Library opened at Chatham Square,
replaced in 1903 by the Chatham Square Library (part of the New York Public
Library) using funds from Andrew Carnegie's 1901 gift to the city. The new
library was designed by the McKim, Mead, and White architectural firm, and had
a circulating Chinese language collection as early as 1911. The Chatham Square
Library was remodeled in 2001, but the woodwork and windows on the first floor
are original, and the lower level boasts a Chinese Heritage Collection.

Chatham Square is also the site of Kimlau Square (see <a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://theclio.com/web/entry?id=21600">http://theclio.com/web/entry?id=21600</a> and <a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://theclio.com/web/entry?id=21601">http://theclio.com/web/entry?id=21601</a>)
and Chatham Square Cemetery (see <a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://theclio.com/web/entry?id=21597">http://theclio.com/web/entry?id=21597</a>).

Eight streets converge at Chatham Square, which is named for the Earl of Chatham, William Pitt. The square has a long, rich, and (in some eras) notorious history, having served as an open-air market and a central point of the historic Bowery and Five Points neighborhoods. It is  now part of Manhattan's Chinatown.

Chatham Square

The building’s façade is similar in design to those of architect Minard Lafever; however, its actual designer remains unknown. The original structure is not entirely intact, as the earliest incarnation of the church included a domed cupola above the roof. St. James’ was built on the foundation of one of the neighborhood’s earliest breweries. The Church later championed the Catholic temperance movement in order to end alcohol abuse. The Church of St. James cared for the poor and indigent in the community, including many who contracted cholera (several priests contracted the disease and died shortly after their patients). St. James’ served an area of lower Manhattan primarily made up of Irish immigrants and was home to several notable parishioners including Alfred E. Smith and the Ancient Order of Hibernians. Smith was an altar boy in the church and later served as Governor of New York, going on to become the first Roman Catholic candidate for president. The Ancient Order of Hibernians was a fraternal group originally established in Ireland that organized their first chapter in the United States out of St. James' Church in 1836. Following acts of violence against Irish clergy and the burning of St. Mary’s Church, the Hibernians felt the need to band together. The burning of St. Mary's Church was part of broader, overarching hostility towards Irish immigrants in New York at the time (the ongoing hostility between Catholics and Protestants in Europe was beginning to reveal itself in the States as well). The largest membership of Hibernians is no longer found in Ireland, but in the United States. In 1983, the roof of St. James was dangerously close to collapsing and in need of financial repair. The Hibernians financed the restoration of the church roof after New York City officials ordered it closed. In 2009, two volunteers (John Perry and George Zapata) put in significant effort to help restore the church, refurbishing the walls, refinishing the oak doors, and plastering and painting the ceiling. On January 11, 2011 firefighters saved the historic church from ruin after a 90-minute battle with a blaze that started out in the attic. In 2014, St. James’ merged with the Church of the Transfiguration on Mott Street.

Constructed between 1835 and 1837, this is the second oldest remaining Roman Catholic church in Manhattan and was recognized as an official city landmark in 1966 by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission. The church was dedicated by Bishop Dubois in 1836 and is constructed of fieldstone with a Greek revival brownstone façade. In recent years, the church has been preserved by members and also saved from a devastating fire in 2011. The congregation has also merged with both the Parish of St. Joseph St. James and the Church of the Transfiguration in recent years. 

St. James Roman Catholic Church

More than one hundred
years ago, on April 15, 1912, the world received the devastating news of the sinking of the RMS
Titanic. It sank to the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean, and 2,224 people died.&nbsp;&nbsp;Exactly one year
after the sinking of the&nbsp;Titanic, the Titanic Memorial Lighthouse
and Time Ball, mounted atop the Seamen’s Church Institute, were dedicated to
honor the passengers, officers, and crew who perished in the tragedy.&nbsp;The following words were read by&nbsp;Rt. Rev. David H. Greer, Bishop of New York:<blockquote>To the glory of Almighty God, and in loving memory of those passengers, officers, and crew who lost their lives in the foundering of the steamship Titanic, on April 15, 1912, I, David Hummell Greer, Bishop of New York, and President of the Seamen’s Church Institute of New York, do solemnly dedicate the Titanic Memorial Lighthouse Tower. As its light by night shall guide pilgrims and seafaring men from every clime into this port, so may they follow Him who is the Light of Life across the waves of this troublesome world to everlasting life; and, looking at noon toward this place to note the time of day, may they remember that our days pass as the swift ships, and in view of the shortness and uncertainty of human life, strive to fulfill their duty well, as the beat preparation for Eternity. Amen.</blockquote>

<blockquote> </blockquote>

&nbsp;After a long debate, the idea offered by the Seamen’s Benefit Society won out. Thereafter, the new 12-story Seamen’s Church Institute building was built, and it would be completed along with the memorial lighthouse atop of it. The lighthouse was dedicated on the first anniversary of the Titanic Sinking. A fixed green light shone from the memorial lighthouse, and it could be seen throughout the New York Harbor.&nbsp; At noon every day, a time ball would be dropped to remind New York’s citizens of the tragedy that changed the world.&nbsp;The cost of the Titanic Memorial Lighthouse was estimated to be $10,000 at that time.On this day, the US Government gave permission to allow a green light rather than the typical red.The Titanic Memorial
Lighthouse originally stood atop the 12-story Seamen’s Church Institute building, shining the green light and dropping the ball. However, in July of
1968, the 12-story building was&nbsp;demolished, and the Seamen’s Church Institute
decided to relocate the lighthouse to another location. That
same year, the Titanic Memorial Lighthouse was donated to South Street Seaport
Museum by the Kaiser-Nelson Steel &amp; Salvage Corporation. &nbsp;In May of
1976, it was erected at its current location, with funds provided by the Exxon
Corporation.

Today, the 60-foot
lighthouse is no longer working, but the
Titanic Memorial Lighthouse has the mission of bringing the visitors closer to the tragic story of the Titanic
with respect and pride.&nbsp;

Located at the entrance to the Historic Seaport District, the Titanic Memorial Lighthouse is a memorial to the passengers, officers, and crew who died as heroes when the steamship Titanic sank after colliding with an iceberg on April 15, 1912.

Titanic Memorial Lighthouse

Founded in 1967, the South Street Seaport Museum celebrates the rich maritime history of NYC’s 19th Century waterfront. The Museum’s building is a part of the Schermerhorn Row complex, a series of warehouses built in the early 19th century. Within the buildings there are remains of two mid-19th century hotels. The museum preserves and interprets the history of New York City as a world port place where goods, labor, and cultures are exchanged through work, commerce, and the interaction of diverse communities. From transatlantic shipping and immigration to New York’s rise to economic pre-eminence, New York City’s waterfront has played a critical role in developments that have transformed the entire city, state, and nation. Designated by Congress as America’s National Maritime Museum in 1998, it is located in a 12 square-block historic district on the East River in Lower Manhattan, the site of the original port of New York City. The museum is home to Bowne Printers, who carry on the age old tradition of job printing (small batch printing), and Bowne &amp; Co. Stationers, which is New York’s oldest existing business under the same name, originally founded in 1775. The museum is also home to a fleet of 6 ships including the 1907 lightship Ambrose, a "floating lighthouse which guided ships safely from the Atlantic Ocean into the broad mouth of the lower New York Bay, the 1885 ship Wavertree, one of the last large sailing ships built of wrought iron, the 1885 schooner Pioneer, and an authentic 19th Century Schooner with public sails daily from May thru October. Also berthed at Pier 16 are the 1911 barquePeking, a nitrate clipper of the famous F. Laietz line of Hamburg, the 1893 Essex-built fishing schooner Lettie G. Howard, now sailing as a Sailing School Vessel, and the 1930 tug W.O. Decker, the last surviving New York-built wooden steam tug.By the late-1950s, Pier 15, 16, and part of 17 were mostly vacant. South Street Seaport Museum was founded and opened by Peter and Norma Stanford. When originally opened as a museum, the focus of the Seaport Museum conservation was to be an educational historic site, with shops mostly operating as reconstructions of working environments found during the Seaport's heyday circa 1820-1860. Visitors can not only tour the displays, but they can also enjoy voyages on many of the above listed ships.

Opening in 1967, The South Street Seaport Museum tells the history of New York City’s 19th century waterfront. The Seaport is a designated historic district, distinct from the neighboring Financial District. It features some of the oldest architecture in downtown Manhattan, and includes the largest concentration of restored early 19th-century commercial buildings in the city. This includes renovated original mercantile buildings, renovated sailing ships, the former Fulton Fish Market, and modern tourist malls featuring food, shopping and nightlife, with a view of the Brooklyn Bridge. At the entrance to the Seaport is the Titanic Memorial lighthouse.

NYC College Walking Tour

Municipal Archives

Introduction

Images

Backstory and Context

Sources

Additional Information