It just might be, according to New York: An Illustrated History, by Ric Burns and James Sanders. Taken at Broadway between Franklin and Leonard Streets, it’s believed to date to May 1850.
Looks like workers have torn up the street. On the far left, at 360 Broadway, is a building advertising carriages, and a block down Broadway is an ad for “Moffat” on the side of a taller structure.
Who was Moffat? John Moffat was a doctor whose “Moffat’s Life Pills and Phoenix Bitters” made him quite wealthy in the mid-19th century. He and his family lived on Union Square, but he also owned the building that bore his name, at 337 Broadway.
Tags: 337 Broadway, Broadway and Franklin Street, Broadway and Leonard Street, John Moffat, Moffat's Life Pills and Phoenix Bitters, Moffat's Pills, New York: An illustrated History, oldest photograph of New York City, Ric Burns
December 23, 2009 at 7:37 am |
oldest photo of New York is 1840s Daguerreotype, This daguerreotype, showing a country home along “a continuation of Broadway,” was likely taken in New York City, in October 1848 or earlier. It sold for $62,500 at a Sotheby’s auction.
see it at http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/03/30/1840s-daguerreotype-is-sold-for-62500/
December 23, 2009 at 3:33 pm |
Thanks–now I remember that auction from last spring. Maybe the book predates the discovery of the daguerreotype.
December 24, 2009 at 5:22 am |
Is there a single structure in this photo that is in some way still existent today?
March 11, 2010 at 6:50 pm |
My Irish great grandfather and his brothers lived on Broadway at the corner of Leonard Street during this time period. I’m always interested in old photos of the area.
They later moved to 52 Leonard Street, where my grandfather was born.
I live in Northern Virginia now but return often to NYC for genealogical research.
December 25, 2009 at 2:06 am |
The second building on the left (358 Broadway?) is still there fore sure, the one next to it may be the same building but has a new facade…
December 29, 2009 at 8:38 pm |
[...] b. the oldest photograph of NYC right HERE.? [...]
January 7, 2010 at 8:23 pm |
[...] Broadway in 1850 via ephemeralnewyork.wordpress.com [...]
February 9, 2011 at 6:44 pm |
Hi, Looking for photos of the Moffat Building at 337-339 Broadway. Either the whole building or partial in the time frame of 1860 to 1920.
June 28, 2011 at 5:23 am |
Are you sure that isn’t the second avenue subway being worked on?