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William F. Reeves Elevated Railroads Photograph Collection

Call Number

PR 154

Date

[1868]-1933, inclusive

Creator

Extent

12.05 Linear feet (11 boxes)

Language of Materials

The documents in the collection are in English.

Abstract

Collection of photographs documenting the elevated railroads in New York City.

Historical Note

The implementation of a rapid transit system in New York City became an increasingly important issue during the 1850s and 1860s as the city spread northward and a growing number of people needed to be transported faster and more efficiently than horse-drawn vehicles would allow. New York's densely populated neighborhoods, the existing pedestrian and vehicle traffic, and Manhattan's long, narrow configuration necessitated a system that would run either above or below ground level. Numerous designs for both types of system were proposed to the state legislature during this time and public demand for rapid transit grew fervent.

In 1867 the city legislature approved a proposal for an experimental elevated cable railroad to be constructed on Greenwich Street between Dey and 29th Streets in Manhattan. Despite litigation brought by the omnibus companies, the elevated system evolved rapidly. By 1880, four steam-powered railroad lines ran through Manhattan, stretching from the Battery to the Harlem River, and carrying more than 175,000 passengers each day. Construction continued into the Bronx, linking the boroughs as the population swelled. The El, as the system was known from its earliest days, transformed the city during the second half of the nineteenth century. As the iron tracks dominated the landscape, the trains accelerated the pace of urban life, and in doing so facilitated a range of economic and social changes.

The elevated system reached it peak in 1921, with ridership reaching 374 million. However, the economic depression of the 1930s, changing political tides, and the expansion of the subway system soon brought about its demise. Service was discontinued on the Sixth Avenue Line in 1938 and the other lines followed shortly thereafter. With the demolition of the Third Avenue Line track in 1956, the era of New York's elevated railroads came to an end.

Sources:Jackson, Kenneth T., ed., Encyclopedia of New York. London and New York: Yale University Press, 1995.Reed, Robert C., The New York Elevated. South Brunswick and New York: A. S. Barnes and Co., 1978.Reeves, William Fullerton, The First Elevated Railroads in Manhattan and the Bronx of the City of New York. New York: New-York Historical Society, 1936.Stelter, Lawrence, By the El: Third Avenue and its El at mid-century. Flushing, New York: H&M Productions, 1995.

Biographical Note

William Fullerton Reeves was born in New York City in 1859. He was raised in the city and attended New York University. In 1880, he went to work as a civil engineer for the Manhattan Railway Company, the company that merged New York's independent elevated railroad lines into a unified system. Reeves continued to serve as an engineer when Manhattan Railway was taken over by the Interborough Rapid Transit Company in 1903. He spent the rest of his career with Interborough Rapid Transit, working on both the elevated railroads and the subway system. He specialized in the legal aspects of engineering and became an authority on contracts and easements. Reeves was a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers, the National Society of Professional Engineers, and the New York State Society of Professional Engineers, as well as a member of the Salmagundi Club in New York and an Associate Member of The New-York Historical Society.

The history of New York's elevated railroads was of great interest to Reeves. The city's earliest elevated structures were erected when he was a child, and he grew up during an era in which rapid transit was at the forefront of public affairs. He collected photographs, maps, and documents relating to the development of the elevated system. In 1935, he published "Elevated Railroads on Manhattan Island," a two-part article in the January and April volumes of the Quarterly Bulletin of the New-York Historical Society. Both parts were illustrated with images from his collection. The following year, the Society published a revised and augmented version of the article as a limited edition book entitled The First Elevated Railroads in Manhattan and the Bronx of the City of New York.

Williams Reeves died of a heart attack in his apartment at Hotel des Artistes, 1 West 67th Street, on September 18, 1936.

Arrangement

Photographs are arranged from south to north on the train route.

The collection is arranged into six series by railroad line:

Missing Title

  1. Series I. Second Avenue Line ([1899]-1906)
  2. Series II. Third Avenue Line (1876-1904)
  3. Series III. Sixth Avenue Line ([1876]-1933)
  4. Series IV. Ninth Avenue Line (1868-1905)
  5. Series V. Bronx Lines (1883-1906)
  6. Series VI. Miscellaneous Photographs (1924, undated)

Scope and Content Note

The William F. Reeves Elevated Railroad Photograph Collection spans the period from ca. 1868 to 1933 and contains photographic prints of elevated railroads in New York City collected by William F. Reeves. The collection contains 235 photographs including albumen prints, cyanotypes, gelatin silver prints (mostly original early-twentieth century prints with some later copy prints,) and printing-out paper prints. In most cases the photographers have not been identified. The Estate of William F. Reeves donated these images to the New-York Historical Society in 1937 as part of a gift of approximately 300 photographs. The original donation was dispersed into various Print Room collections. The images in this collection were formerly included in the Geographic File (PR 020) and the Subject File (PR 068). The collection is arranged into six series by railroad line: Second Avenue Line; Third Avenue Line; Sixth Avenue Line; Ninth Avenue Line; Bronx Lines; and Miscellaneous Photographs. Although each Manhattan line is designated by the name of a numbered avenue, that avenue was not the only thoroughfare along which it traveled. Miscellaneous photographs include aerial photographs taken from a power plant and coal hoist on 74th Street near the East River.

Photographers represented throughout the collection include: James A. Bostick, N. L. Coe, Herman Cos, George P. Hall & Son, Instantaneous Photo Co., and J. Reid.

Access Restrictions

Materials in this collection may be stored offsite. For more information on making arrangements to consult them, please visit www.nyhistory.org/library/visit.

Use Restrictions

Taking images of documents from the library collections for reference purposes by using hand-held cameras and in accordance with the library's photography guidelines is encouraged. As an alternative, patrons may request up to 20 images per day from staff.

Application to use images from this collection for publication should be made in writing to: Department of Rights and Reproductions, The New-York Historical Society, 170 Central Park West, New York, NY 10024-5194, rightsandrepro@nyhistory.org. Phone: (212) 873-3400 ext. 282.

Copyrights and other proprietary rights may subsist in individuals and entities other than the New-York Historical Society, in which case the patron is responsible for securing permission from those parties. For fuller information about rights and reproductions from N-YHS visit: https://www.nyhistory.org/about/rights-reproductions

Preferred Citation

This collection should be cited as: William F. Reeves Elevated Railroads Photograph Collection, PR 154, Department of Prints, Photographs, and Architectural Collections, The New-York Historical Society.

Location of Materials

Materials in this collection may be stored offsite. For more information on making arrangements to consult them, please visit www.nyhistory.org/library/visit.

Provenance

300 photographs were a gift of the Estate of William F. Reeves, October 11, 1937.

Related Material at the Department of Prints, Photographs, and Architectural Collections

The New-York Historical Society holds copies of The First Elevated Railroads in Manhattan and the Bronx of the City of New York in the Library and the Print Room. The Library holds the manuscript for the book as well. Other N-YHS Print Room collections containing images of New York's elevated railroads include but are not limited to the Norvin H. Green Collection of Elevated Railroad Photographs (PR 023), the Subject File (PR 068), the Geographic File (PR 020), and the Architect and Engineer File (PR 003).

Collection processed by

Emily Wolff and Jenny Gotwals

About this Guide

This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2023-08-21 15:50:27 -0400.
Language: Description is in English.

Edition of this Guide

This version was derived from reeves.xml

Repository

New-York Historical Society
New-York Historical Society
170 Central Park West
New York, NY 10024