I love looking up at old signs and facades and seeing the date the building or business opened. Sometimes the numbers are more functional than architecturally beautiful, but it’s always worth knowing how long a store or service has been around.
The sign for Northern Dispensary, kind of a walk-in health clinic for Greenwich Villagers in the early 19th century, has one of the oldest dates I’ve seen: 1827.
By comparison, the Treiss Building, on Atlantic Avenue on the Cobble Hill-Brooklyn Heights border since 1872, is practically a newbie.
Ornamentation like this, from the facade of a city firehouse established in 1894 in the Flatiron District, is always a treat. And the AD is a nice touch.
I’d love to go back in time and see what Thomas Drugs, on Columbus Avenue on the Upper West Side, looked like in 1904.
Judging from its shabby-chic faded look, the sign for Yonah Shimmel Knishes, on Houston Street, just might actually have been painted in 1910.
Tags: dates of old building facades, dates on old buildings, New York City firehouses, Northern Dispensary sign Greenwich Village, old building dates New York, old signs, Thomas Drugs Upper West Side, vintage store signs New York, Yonah Shimmel Knishes
Ephemeral New York 
September 2, 2013 at 7:39 pm |
Throw Veniero’s in there at 1894 and Ferrara’s at 1892…
September 2, 2013 at 9:16 pm |
And Katz’s old sign on the Ludlow side at 1888…
January 9, 2017 at 4:26 am |
My grandfather, Edward Ross, used to get me great mini and regular knishes there…excellent grandfather and memories. Only my grandmother, Pauline Ross, made better food. They were the best grandparents.