Streetscape and Townscape of Metropolitan New York City,
1860-1942 Between 1850 and 1950, the population of New York City
grew from just under 700,000 to more than seven million. This
collection of 1,300 photographs documents the manifold changes
that characterized New York City's urban environment in this 100
year period. The photographs are gathered from several
collections: 1896 street views by Staten Island photographer
Alice Austen, 1911 panoramas of Fifth Avenue, Washington
Irving's home in the 1860s, 31 photo-lithographics of mid-1800s
Hudson River mansions, the Sperr collection of 335 photographs
taken between 1931 and 1942, and a general collection of
photographs divided by city borough. Highlights include Austen's
images of New York City laborers (organ grinders, bootblacks,
police men, messenger boys) and of her home life among the State
Island elite—both rare subjects for this period, and the Sperr
collection's documentation of the construction of the Belt
Parkway. Part of the New York Public Libr