10 Historic Photos That Show Us What It Was Like Living In New York In The Early 1900s
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Lisa Sammons
Author
It goes without saying that New York has a fascinating history. As one of the 13 original colonies, we go way, way back. There are a number of fascinating photographs from early 20th-century New York. We’ve collected ten for you here: check them out and wow at how much things have changed in the last 100 years!
This shot is of women with children waiting outside of the Margaret Sanger Clinic in Brooklyn. This was Sanger's very first clinic, the Clinical Research Bureau. The historic clinic was the first legal birth control clinic in the United States.
In the early 1900s, May 1 was celebrated more widely than it is now. This shot is of female marchers in a May Day parade in 1910.
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It's amazing to see how developed the Big Apple's skyline was already in 1902!
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The subway is such a regular part of life in New York City that it's strange to think about a time when it wasn't there! This shot is from the construction of the line at Broadway and 38th Street.
The early 1900s saw countless immigrants come to New York. Here, an Italian watchmaker displays his wares outside of his shop in NYC.
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Lafayette Square was part of the original urban plan for Buffalo way back in 1804.
This one's neat: the open-air building behind the children is actually their school!
Check out these proud firemen posing on their truck!
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These kids were being treated for tuberculosis at Sea Breeze Hospital (now Coney Island Hospital). At this time period, tuberculosis was a major concern for public health. At some points in the late 1800s and early 1900s, 25% of all deaths were from tuberculosis! Thankfully, modern treatment and sanitation processes have greatly improved the survival rate and lessened the prevalence of TB.
Judy, the Republican elephant, and Jennie, the Democrat donkey, appeared at a Coney Island political demonstration in 1911. They actually raced to Washington, D.C. in preparation for the 1912 election, though sadly there's no record of who won the race. For what it's worth, Democrat Woodrow Wilson beat his Republican competitor in the political race the following year.
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