33 Amazing Photos Capture Street Scenes of New York in the 1910s

New York City during the 1910s was a ball of motion with no signs of slowing down. The city grew and evolved with every passing year. In 1910, the original Pennsylvania Station was launched, becoming a central hub of transportation. Three years later, Grand Central Terminal also opened up.

 
 
New York in the 1910s
 
The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire happened on March 25, 1911, and took 145 innocent lives; the fire prompted the city to establish proper fire safety regulations.
 
World War I began in 1914, sending the country into a wartime society. When the war ended in 1918, soldiers returned home, and a new battle emerged. The Spanish Influenza raged through the country; over 20,000 New Yorkers died from the flu.
The 1910s also marked the beginning of New York’s new nickname as the “Big Apple.” Performers from out of town began referring to their shows as “apples.” Gigs performed in any other location was referred to as “little apples,” whereas a gig in NYC was a “big apple.” At the time, New York was seen as the place to be if you “made it” then you had a golden ticket to “make it.”
 
These amazing photos show what New York looked like in the 1910s.
 
Hudson River and Riverside Park, New York, October 1910

 

Metropolitan Life Building, Madison Square, New York, 1910

 

Metropolitan Life Insurance Company Building, New York, 1910

 

Fifth Avenue at West 43rd Street, New York, circa 1911

 

Grant's Tomb and rubber-neck auto on Riverside Drive, New York, circa 1911


New Year's decorations in Chinatown on Mott Street, New York, January 30, 1911

 

Broadway, looking north from Cortlandt Street and Maiden Lane, New York, circa 1912

 

Manhattan skyline from Brooklyn. The Singer Building rises at left along with the Woolworth tower and Municipal Building, both under construction, New York, circa 1912

 

Policeman and police dogs, New York, 1912

 

Auto Street Cleaner, New York, circa 1913

 

Fifth Avenue looking north, New York, Easter 1913

 

Fifth Avenue, New York, Easter 1913

 

Fifth Avenue, New York, March 23, 1913

 

New Municipal Building, New York, circa 1913

 

View of New York from the Woolworth Building, 1913

 

Washington hikers. Suffragists on bus in New York City, part of the 'hike' to Washington, D.C., which joined the March 3, 1913

 

Woolworth Building under construction, New York, 1913

 

Broadway at West 55th Street, subway fire in New York, January 6, 1915

 

New York skyline, view from the Manhattan Bridge, circa 1915

 

New York, circa 1917

 

South Street, New York, 1917

 

Flatiron Building, New York, 1918

 

Lewisohn Building, 119 West 40th Street, New York, 1918

 

Start of cripples' one-legged race, New York, circa 1918

 

Bowling Green Offices, New York, September 20, 1919

 

West 42nd Street east from Sixth Avenue, showing Aeolian Hall, New York, August 1919

 

Erie Canal at Utica, New York, circa 1910s

 

Pennsylvania Station, New York, circa 1910s

 

Riverside Park, New York, circa 1910s

 

Surrogate's Courthouse, New York, circa 1910s

 

The Curb Market, Broad Street, New York, circa 1910s

 

View of New York from the Brooklyn docks, circa 1910s

 

 
Washington Street from Fulton with Beecher statue, Brooklyn, New York, circa 1910s