These 19th century–looking numbers and letters on random buildings give the city such an old-timey vibe. A terra cotta relief on East Ninth Street marks a particularly lovely apartment building:
No. 1 Sylvan Terrace, in Harlem, has a very colonial feel:
This walkup on Weekhawken Street is especially sweet; the entire street name is painted above the door:
Tags: 19th century New York City, apartment numbers and letters, East Ninth Street, old New York City buildings, Sylvan Terrace, vintage New York City signs, Weehawken Street
November 30, 2009 at 2:32 am |
Thanks, Wild for the old-time house numbers.
What is also fun is to find house numbers still posted on Queens buildings for addresses that predate the “unified” Queens street plan.
One example is in Astoria; at 34-15 37th Street, you can see the etched-glass address number “178″, which stands for 178 Pomeroy Street, (or 8th Avenue; I’m not sure which) in old Long Island City, before it was part of New York City. Another example is down the block, where 34-27 carries the etched glass number “170″.
Hopefully, the old doors are still there, I photographed them in 2003.
November 30, 2009 at 5:21 am |
Thanks Force Tube. If you still have the photos, send ‘em on. Neat evidence that Queens was a collection of separate villages and cities not all that long ago.
November 30, 2009 at 3:50 pm |
I’ve sent the photos to your gmail account. Hopefully, they are waiting for you.
December 1, 2009 at 3:21 am |
Got ‘em; thanks FT. I’d love to use them in a future post–I’ll let you know when it runs.