The great archival photo blog Shorpy recently had a photo of Morningside Park circa 1904 and one of the more interesting details can be found on Manhattan Avenue. Looking closely at the image, one will find that the avenue by the park actually served as a trolley route in the earlier days. This was a time before buses became standard and it appears that there was still two lanes available for automobiles (or carriages) at the time. Today the scene is basically the same for the majority of the buildings seen in the picture are still intact. Check out the full high resolution photo at Shorpy:
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Ooooh. Full size on the site it is so cool!
ReplyDeleteBring back trolleys!
Yes, the full size photo at the link is fabulous! Many of the fascinating features of the original design of the park become clear. For instance, the triangle which now has the Washington and Lafayette Statue at 114th St was not cut off from the rest of the park! Thankfully the recent landmark designation for the park recognized the triangle as part of the park and captured it in the designation. Let's hope one day we can return to the original traffic flow and restore the triangle to its rightful relationship as an integral part of the park.
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