You can practically hear the clacking of the streetcar and the pitch from the vendor with a sack over his shoulder in this richly detailed view of West 14th Street looking toward Fifth Avenue from 1905.

A young man stands in front of the camera, looking defiant; a woman carries packages under her arms on this busy shopping street of middle-class department stores and emporiums. Another woman is in the street, perhaps trying to cross?
Fourteenth Street over a century ago had no garish store signs or street architecture, but its hustle and energy feels very similar to the vibe of the street today.
[Postcard: MCNY; x2011.34.328]
Tags: 14th Street New York City, 14th Street NYC in 1905, old postcards of New York City, Streetcars on 14th Street NYC, Vintage postcard 14th Street
February 27, 2023 at 6:36 am |
fun to see this… all of this was once the Spingler farm. I notice the remains of the enclave of houses built by the descendants at rear left (21 W. 14th etc.)
February 27, 2023 at 2:44 pm |
Ah yes, the Spingler farm! I did a post about this some years back and should have linked, it’s a fascinating story:
February 27, 2023 at 7:42 am |
Fourteenth Street was a vibrant hub of commercial life before the War.
February 27, 2023 at 2:44 pm |
And New York’s theater district, too!
February 27, 2023 at 3:05 pm
And its Tin Pan Alley as well.
February 27, 2023 at 10:46 am |
Wow! Looks a lot more cleaner and safer than the view I have at East 14th Street & 1st Avenue looking towards Fifth Ave.
February 28, 2023 at 7:14 pm |
Your description that begins with “A young man” sounds like a passage from a novel–or something out of Walt Whitman. I think he would have appreciated the energy of the street, signs or no signs.
March 1, 2023 at 1:17 am |
I think he did appreciate it; his journals of his days spent loafing, as he called it, are filled with wonderful observations.
March 1, 2023 at 3:17 am |
Is 14th Street the beginning of the “grid”?