Cities in the late 1800s, early 1900s [Archive]

MonkeyRonin

Oct 21, 2006, 4:06 AM

These are all the ones I have, feel free to post more from this era.

Boston
http://img227.imageshack.us/img227/9716/bostonhy3.jpg

http://img227.imageshack.us/img227/1353/scollay1880shm7.jpg

Halifax
http://img213.imageshack.us/img213/397/34103006zn0.jpg

Istanbul
http://img150.imageshack.us/img150/4803/oldbeyoglubx9.jpg

Montreal
http://img170.imageshack.us/img170/9210/00p26bum3.jpg

http://img170.imageshack.us/img170/6724/00194005gd7.jpg

http://img170.imageshack.us/img170/9259/84105011bz5.jpg

http://img80.imageshack.us/img80/6504/stjamesstmontreal1910tv7.jpg

http://img99.imageshack.us/img99/7912/v24048yr7.jpg

http://img146.imageshack.us/img146/6964/v3341jx5.jpg

Los Angeles

http://img99.imageshack.us/img99/1079/00013674kb2.jpg

http://img242.imageshack.us/img242/5290/00014304pf7.jpg

http://img146.imageshack.us/img146/6308/00014325xh9.jpg

Cincinnati

http://img246.imageshack.us/img246/9143/cincinnati1900nr1.jpg

Shanghai

http://img246.imageshack.us/img246/3750/shanghai1920slu2.jpg

Chicago

http://img242.imageshack.us/img242/2857/02973mlki2.jpg

http://img90.imageshack.us/img90/5894/12419olff8.jpg

http://img179.imageshack.us/img179/6894/754bg7.jpg

http://img90.imageshack.us/img90/9206/snow2qa5.jpg

http://img90.imageshack.us/img90/8049/chi1893oi6.jpg

http://img223.imageshack.us/img223/9613/chicago19098bely9.jpg

http://img180.imageshack.us/img180/7971/n0830153suzg2.jpg

http://img147.imageshack.us/img147/3026/old13xd6.jpg

Vancouver

http://img223.imageshack.us/img223/7718/georgiaviaductds8.jpg

http://img147.imageshack.us/img147/3207/10902rv8.jpg

Sao Paulo

http://img95.imageshack.us/img95/7831/benjaminconstantxs9.jpg

http://img95.imageshack.us/img95/3803/joaobricolatv4.jpg

http://img82.imageshack.us/img82/4470/largomisericordiaqv0.jpg

http://img82.imageshack.us/img82/839/largosantahr1.jpg

http://img139.imageshack.us/img139/4345/liberobadaropp9.jpg

http://img139.imageshack.us/img139/1443/quitandabk8.jpg

New York

http://img139.imageshack.us/img139/5615/042si5.jpg

http://img80.imageshack.us/img80/8529/749pxoldtimerstructuralworkeryq5.jpg

http://img223.imageshack.us/img223/8164/church27le2.jpg

http://img222.imageshack.us/img222/3161/brooklyn20bridgejpgg36joyk2.jpg

http://img223.imageshack.us/img223/4592/img26019vw8.jpg

http://img180.imageshack.us/img180/5514/lowereastsidelq4.jpg

http://img180.imageshack.us/img180/845/nassau162qh1.jpg

http://img150.imageshack.us/img150/7497/newyrokce4jr9.jpg

http://img150.imageshack.us/img150/8821/singerbuildingviewgc5.jpg

http://img133.imageshack.us/img133/6825/usslosangelesairship2432br6.jpg

Toronto

http://img301.imageshack.us/img301/3521/1909kingwfromyongezy6tp7.jpg

http://img226.imageshack.us/img226/8141/1912lookingeastfromkingandyongezq1iv0.jpg

http://img226.imageshack.us/img226/6559/1912yongeandkingyo7tf4.jpg

http://img152.imageshack.us/img152/6618/1918sequeenandbaygk6ck9.jpg

http://img150.imageshack.us/img150/2585/1920streetcatstrikeyongenu1ev4.jpg

http://img150.imageshack.us/img150/8016/1920viewfromkingandyongerl9vy8.th.jpg (http://img150.imageshack.us/my.php?image=1920viewfromkingandyongerl9vy8.jpg)

http://img152.imageshack.us/img152/5199/1923nwqueenandbaywu9ca1.jpg

http://img220.imageshack.us/img220/6205/1924noonqueenwlookingefromjamessr8bi8.jpg

http://img143.imageshack.us/img143/3355/1924yongelookingnfromkingnoon2ip4qk5.jpg

http://img220.imageshack.us/img220/475/1924yongelookingnfromkingnoonyr9nh8.jpg

http://img220.imageshack.us/img220/4814/1929nfromqueenpw6ow5.jpg

http://img137.imageshack.us/img137/5238/1929sfromqueenqw3zl2.jpg

http://img137.imageshack.us/img137/3899/1930lookingsfromcasalomajr5vh2.jpg

http://img134.imageshack.us/img134/4240/1933spadinatowardsqueenlf9yw3.jpg

http://img97.imageshack.us/img97/6011/1939oldcityhallroyalvisitzp5ni7.jpg

http://img134.imageshack.us/img134/5716/baysouthfromqueen1930ri9de7.jpg

http://img134.imageshack.us/img134/1530/f1244it10017zo0fv5.jpg

http://img134.imageshack.us/img134/4720/torontostreetlookingn18851895vq4or6.jpg

LSyd

Oct 21, 2006, 4:16 AM

cities now suck.

-

Joey D

Oct 21, 2006, 4:23 AM

Philadelphia Aerials, late 1800s

http://robroy.dyndns.info/KAP-history/photo_miniature/HiRes/p156a.jpg

http://robroy.dyndns.info/KAP-history/photo_miniature/HiRes/p156b.jpg

http://robroy.dyndns.info/KAP-history/photo_miniature/HiRes/p164a.jpg

flar

Oct 21, 2006, 4:23 AM

These are amazing pictures, the Chicago ones in particular. I'd love to be able to go back in time and experience these cities in the old days before automobiles took over.

village person

Oct 21, 2006, 4:59 AM

Whoa. This is outstanding. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

I'm just amazed. Was there something going on here beyond simply a traffic jam? And are those building materials on some of those wagons?
http://img223.imageshack.us/img223/9613/chicago19098bely9.jpg

James Bond Agent 007

Oct 21, 2006, 6:03 AM

Wow, great finds! They don't build 'em like they used to. ;)

niwell

Oct 21, 2006, 6:38 AM

Wow... it's sad that many of our cities looked more urban then they they do now in areas...

STLgasm

Oct 21, 2006, 7:01 AM

ST. LOUIS, 1920's, the 6th largest city in America...

http://www.pbase.com/jivecity/image/23510825.jpg

http://www.pbase.com/jivecity/image/23510827.jpg

http://www.pbase.com/jivecity/image/23510863.jpg

http://www.pbase.com/jivecity/image/23510864.jpg

PHX31

Oct 21, 2006, 7:25 AM

holy fuck chicago

hauntedheadnc

Oct 21, 2006, 10:32 AM

I posted some of these in a thread a couple of months back, but here they are. In the late 1800's on up until the onset of the Great Depression, Asheville was one of America's premier resort cities.

http://toto.lib.unca.edu/findingaids/photo/ball/jpeg/ball1754.jpg

http://toto.lib.unca.edu/findingaids/photo/ball/jpeg/ball1550.jpg

http://toto.lib.unca.edu/findingaids/photo/ball/jpeg/ball1541.jpg

http://toto.lib.unca.edu/findingaids/photo/ball/jpeg/ball1802.jpg

http://toto.lib.unca.edu/findingaids/photo/ball/jpeg/ball1582.jpg

http://toto.lib.unca.edu/findingaids/photo/ball/jpeg/balln1354.jpg

http://toto.lib.unca.edu/findingaids/photo/ball/jpeg/ball1606.jpg

http://toto.lib.unca.edu/findingaids/photo/ball/jpeg/ball1496.jpg

http://toto.lib.unca.edu/findingaids/photo/ball/jpeg/ball1234.jpg

http://toto.lib.unca.edu/findingaids/photo/ball/jpeg/ball1632.jpg

http://toto.lib.unca.edu/findingaids/photo/ball/jpeg/ball1630.jpg

http://toto.lib.unca.edu/findingaids/photo/ball/jpeg/Ball1059.jpg

http://toto.lib.unca.edu/findingaids/photo/ball/jpeg/Ball1054.jpg

http://toto.lib.unca.edu/findingaids/photo/ball/jpeg/ball1597.jpg

http://toto.lib.unca.edu/findingaids/photo/ball/jpeg/ball1804.jpg

http://toto.lib.unca.edu/findingaids/photo/ball/jpeg/ball1229.jpg

And the piece de resistance (accent marks sold seperately), Asheville circa 1851.

http://toto.lib.unca.edu/findingaids/photo/ball/jpeg/ball1822.jpg

lexberg

Oct 21, 2006, 12:33 PM

Helsinki

http://memory.loc.gov/pnp/ppmsc/03800/03807r.jpg

http://memory.loc.gov/pnp/ppmsc/03800/03806r.jpg

http://memory.loc.gov/pnp/ppmsc/03800/03808r.jpg

http://arvid.abo.fi/aabs/1974/54/1.jpg

http://arvid.abo.fi/aabs/1931/23/5.jpg

fflint

Oct 21, 2006, 12:34 PM

San Francisco, circa 1930

http://img221.imageshack.us/img221/2095/marketstreetau6.jpg

keninhalifax

Oct 21, 2006, 12:40 PM

Great idea for a thread, but there's a notable lack of Ottawa. I'll sweeten the pot!

Sparks Street at Elgin, 1901:
http://data2.collectionscanada.ca/ap/a/a024818.jpg

East down Rideau Street, 1896:
http://data2.collectionscanada.ca/ap/a/a027742.jpg

York Street in the Market, 1911:
http://data2.collectionscanada.ca/ap/c/c005647.jpg

The old Chaudière District, late 1800s:
http://data2.collectionscanada.ca/ap/a/a009309.jpg

Arssenev

Oct 21, 2006, 12:50 PM

Moscow 1895-1921
Photos by Vladimir Shukhov (http://www.shukhov.ru/eng/fotos.html)
http://www.shukhov.ru/eng/photo/album/construction_02.jpg
The construction of Kievskiy station (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kievskiy_Rail_Terminal), 1916

http://www.shukhov.ru/eng/photo/album/city_reporting_04.jpg
The Tsar Bell (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsar_Bell), 1895

http://www.shukhov.ru/eng/photo/album/repor_n_port_04.jpg
Getting ready for a motor racing, 1908

http://www.shukhov.ru/eng/photo/album/city_landscape_03.jpg
Cathedral of Christ the Saviour (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cathedral_of_Christ_the_Saviour), 1900

http://www.shukhov.ru/eng/photo/album/construction_01.jpg
The construction of a Shukhov tower (http://www.shukhov.ru/eng/tower.html), 1921

brickell

Oct 21, 2006, 2:22 PM

I'm always amazed by NYC's full waterfront and inward looking urbanism.

ItsConanOBrien

Oct 21, 2006, 2:43 PM

Those were the days. Luckily, history repeats itself. Right?

CGII

Oct 21, 2006, 3:02 PM

If I could live in Milwaukee in any time period, it would've been from 1870-1930.
http://www.uwm.edu/Library/digilib/Milwaukee/images/prints/mi000162xl.jpg
http://www2.jsonline.com/desk/histwis/images/rowbig.jpg
http://www2.jsonline.com/desk/histwis/images/hotelbig.jpg
http://www2.jsonline.com/desk/histwis/images/lakebig.jpg
http://www2.jsonline.com/desk/histwis/images/gimbelbig.jpg
Check out this amazing aerial of the valley from 1965, when Maitland Field was still operating and I94 starts to creep in on downtown:
http://home.earthlink.net/~tfonstad/oldmil.jpg
http://www2.jsonline.com/desk/histwis/images/railroadbig060799.jpg
http://nrhp.mnhs.org/images/s039_02.jpg
http://www.uwm.edu/Library/digilib/Milwaukee/images/kwas/kw000139xl.jpg

Circa 1885:
http://www.uwm.edu/Library/digilib/Milwaukee/images/prints/mi000065xl.jpg
http://www.uwm.edu/Library/digilib/Milwaukee/images/prints/mi000060xl.jpg
http://www.uwm.edu/Library/digilib/Milwaukee/images/prints/mi000106xl.jpg
http://www.uwm.edu/Library/digilib/Milwaukee/images/prints/mi000111xl.jpg
http://www.uwm.edu/Library/digilib/Milwaukee/images/prints/mi000059xl.jpg

Enough of my incessant flooding. ;)

quashlo

Oct 21, 2006, 4:02 PM

Incredible.
Much thanks to the thread starter and everyone who shared photos.
If only our cities could regain a fraction of their urbanity... :(

UrbanSophist

Oct 21, 2006, 6:42 PM

If I could live in this period in terms of urbanity, but with modern conveniences... I'd be one happy dude.

tergeste

Oct 21, 2006, 6:50 PM

These are all the ones I have, feel free to post more from this era.

Boston
http://img227.imageshack.us/img227/9716/bostonhy3.jpg

If you hadn't written that it was from Boston, I could have thought that this pic was from somewhere in north-western Europe.

Sirus

Oct 21, 2006, 6:52 PM

http://collections.mnhs.org/VisualResources/VRDbimages/pf109/pf109967.jpg

http://memory.loc.gov/pnp/pan/6a13000/6a13600/6a13601r.jpg

http://collections.mnhs.org/VisualResources/VRDbimages/pf020/pf020848.jpg

http://collections.mnhs.org/VisualResources/VRDbimages/pf014/pf014155.jpg

http://collections.mnhs.org/VisualResources/VRDbimages/pf014/pf014197.jpg

http://collections.mnhs.org/VisualResources/VRDbimages/pf012/pf012837.jpg

http://collections.mnhs.org/VisualResources/VRDbimages/pf022/pf022048.jpg

http://collections.mnhs.org/VisualResources/VRDbimages/pf020/pf020425.jpg

http://collections.mnhs.org/VisualResources/VRDbimages/pf093/pf093682.jpg

http://collections.mnhs.org/VisualResources/VRDbimages/pf044/pf044860.jpg

http://collections.mnhs.org/VisualResources/VRDbimages/pf020/pf020879.jpg

http://collections.mnhs.org/VisualResources/VRDbimages/pf079/pf079696.jpg

http://collections.mnhs.org/VisualResources/VRDbimages/pf079/pf079712.jpg

boden

Oct 21, 2006, 10:35 PM

Some really interesting pics...that Chicago one is unbelievable! :cheers:

Monetto

Oct 21, 2006, 10:48 PM

So beautiful. It is amazing how these so much smaller cities of yesteryear feel almost bigger than today's cities.

Flash

Oct 21, 2006, 11:00 PM

Awesome!

Alibaba

Oct 21, 2006, 11:18 PM

similar thread - http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=118239

hudkina

Oct 21, 2006, 11:38 PM

America's 4th Largest City:

http://www.downriverdetroit.net/waynecounty/detroit/1920s/002.jpg
http://www.downriverdetroit.net/waynecounty/detroit/1920s/009.jpg
http://www.downriverdetroit.net/waynecounty/detroit/1920s/010.jpg
http://www.downriverdetroit.net/waynecounty/detroit/1920s/012.jpg
http://www.downriverdetroit.net/waynecounty/detroit/1920s/013.jpg
http://www.downriverdetroit.net/waynecounty/detroit/1920s/016.jpg
http://www.downriverdetroit.net/waynecounty/detroit/1920s/027.jpg
http://www.downriverdetroit.net/waynecounty/detroit/1920s/024.jpg
http://www.downriverdetroit.net/waynecounty/detroit/1920s/001.jpg
http://www.downriverdetroit.net/waynecounty/detroit/1920s/021.jpg

DJM19

Oct 21, 2006, 11:39 PM

More Los Angeles photos! (Including both downtown and surrounding area) All pre-1900

Its hard to imagine what it was like back then, so much has changed or been engulfed by newer buildings.

Downtown
http://jpg2.lapl.org/pics09/00014299.jpg
http://jpg1.lapl.org/pics16/00007872.jpg
http://jpg1.lapl.org/spnb01/00007016.jpg
http://jpg1.lapl.org/pics15/00007400.jpg
http://jpg2.lapl.org/pics07/00013120.jpg
http://jpg2.lapl.org/pics08/00013726.jpg
http://jpg2.lapl.org/pics18/00018592.jpg
http://jpg2.lapl.org/pics17/00018308.jpg
http://jpg2.lapl.org/pics18/00018994.jpg
http://jpg2.lapl.org/pics08/00013672.jpg
http://jpg2.lapl.org/pics09/00014260.jpg
http://jpg2.lapl.org/pics49/00059109.jpg

Outside of Downtown
http://jpg3.lapl.org/pics03/00021031.jpg
http://jpg1.lapl.org/pics16/00007772.jpg
http://jpg2.lapl.org/pics02/00010787.jpg
http://jpg2.lapl.org/pics20/00019925.jpg
http://jpg2.lapl.org/spnb2/00017585.jpg
http://jpg2.lapl.org/pics20/00019850.jpg
http://jpg2.lapl.org/pics20/00019951.jpg
http://jpg2.lapl.org/pics20/00019835.jpg
http://jpg2.lapl.org/theater3/00015676.jpg
http://jpg2.lapl.org/pics03/00011198.jpg

And one of DT in 1857:
http://jpg1.lapl.org/pics17/00008143.jpg

MonkeyRonin

Oct 22, 2006, 5:15 AM

Nice photos people, thanks for posting :)

By the way, I'm curious to know if anyone has any metro maps from this time as well? more specifically, of New York's?

zilfondel

Oct 22, 2006, 8:08 AM

Wow - I've actually seen a book that has a lot of those aerial pics of Chicago and other rust belt cities. They had it at our college bookstore, forgot the name... =P

Looking at these pictures, one thing comes to mind: FUCK PARKING LOTS!!!

INDUSTRIAL PULSE

Oct 22, 2006, 9:14 AM

While thinking to myself how cool all these cities once looked, I came to the realization that they all pretty much looked alike, a common complaint about the cities of today....

CGII

Oct 22, 2006, 2:27 PM

America's 4th Largest City:

:(

rockyi

Oct 22, 2006, 3:43 PM

Rock Island postcard views, early 20th century all showing pretty much the same view of 2nd Ave.

http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/il/rockisland/postcards/2av17.jpg

http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/il/rockisland/postcards/ted08.jpg

http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/il/rockisland/postcards/ri2av.jpg

StreetsOfOmaha

Oct 22, 2006, 7:08 PM

OMAHA

http://images15.fotki.com/v11/photos/4/42372/167062/1-2-vi.jpg

http://images19.fotki.com/v18/photos/4/42372/167062/1-vi.jpg

http://images4.fotki.com/v42/photos/4/42372/167062/HistoricOmaha-vi.jpg

muppet

Oct 22, 2006, 8:28 PM

This is one superb thread, a total swansong to lost urbanity, density and atmosphere in our globalised, car lotted suburbaworld. That pic of San Fransisco blew me away, plus those unsightly Union Jacks in Toronto too, and Shanghai at the height of its 'Whore of the East/ Paris of the East infamy as the most cosmopolitan place in the world.
But most interesting was the Sao Paulo pics and the rise of early modernism already, +that romanticist tropical feel, the streamline cars and white shirts -what must have been the dapper equivalents of todays model-esque Brazilians.

Anyone got any Tokyo pics? Before and after the Great Quake of 1923? Its said the rebuilt city - in the short 2 decades before WWII re-annihilation - was the perfect art deco city.

muppet

Oct 22, 2006, 9:02 PM

London in the 1920s population 8.5 million, about to be eclipsed as the world's largest city by Tokyo and in turn, NYC.

http://www.ideal-homes.org.uk/images/bromley/crystal-palace/crystal-palace-00834-640.jpg
The Crystal Palace, a vast palace to the industrial era, soon to be destroyed by lightning

http://www.theodor-springmann.de/andy/spirit_021.jpg
Battersea, London's vast power station (another two chimneys were later added making it look like a huge art deco table upended

http://www.theodor-springmann.de/andy/spirit_105.jpg
the creaky fogs that earned the city the moniker of the 'Big Smoke'. Despite the romanticism these low level coal smogs- in effect what they were- grew progressively worse until The Great Smog a decade later killed nearly 10,000 in four days, and called in legislation to curb the pollution.

http://www.theodor-springmann.de/andy/spirit_015a.jpg
Parisian fashions copied from over the Channel

http://www.theodor-springmann.de/andy/spirit_081.jpg
Parisian style caffs (read: London tea houses, now all gone) were the order of the day. (love those streeamline chairs).

http://www.theodor-springmann.de/andy/spirit_093a.jpg
working class ghettoes

http://www.theodor-springmann.de/andy/spirit_024.jpg
all over London you will still see people sitting on the under-pediment steps in summer

http://www.theodor-springmann.de/andy/spirit_033.jpg

http://www.theodor-springmann.de/andy/spirit_036.jpg

http://www.theodor-springmann.de/andy/spirit_075.jpg
Leicester Square. That neoned building on the left still functions as a tacky club.

http://www.theodor-springmann.de/andy/spirit_078.jpg

http://www.theodor-springmann.de/andy/spirit_051b.jpg
working class market at Covent Garden

http://www.theodor-springmann.de/andy/spirit_074.jpg
while the rich queued up for galleries around the Opera House next door

http://www.theodor-springmann.de/andy/spirit_062a.jpg
note the Black guy under the left of the arch. Blacks were then very rare (despite many in medieval times and reaching a peak population of 20,000 in the 1500s, were later 'absorbed' into the white population through intermarriage). Most of the ethnic groups were Jewish and European, though the majority of 'native' Londoners were actually descended from immigrants through the centuries.

http://www.museumoflondon.org.uk/piclib/images/%5CMID%5C0330000778_5mb.jpg http://www.museumoflondon.org.uk/MOLsite/piclib/images/%5CMID%5C0330000758_5mb.jpg
The City of London was still the medieval and Victorian business district, not yet razed by wartime firestorms.

http://www.theodor-springmann.de/andy/spirit_050b.jpg

http://www.theodor-springmann.de/andy/spirit_051a.jpg

soleri

Oct 22, 2006, 10:37 PM

Those pictures should make it pretty clear that cars have done more to ruin cites than anything else you can name. Cars are like a cancer in the body of civilization.

hauntedheadnc

Oct 22, 2006, 11:21 PM

MonkeyRonin

Oct 22, 2006, 11:49 PM

Shanghai again
http://img297.imageshack.us/img297/3237/zysh05ec1.jpg

Wonderful old cinemas, this one is the Capitol Theatre in Ottawa
http://img102.imageshack.us/img102/6186/ottawacapitolmgs2ot0.jpg

http://img102.imageshack.us/img102/9730/ottawacapitolmgsfs5.jpg

shappy

Oct 22, 2006, 11:52 PM

neato... skyline from Casa Loma:

then:
http://img137.imageshack.us/img137/3899/1930lookingsfromcasalomajr5vh2.jpg

now:
http://willmatheson.com/photos/photojournal1/carsand/r4d2/toronto.jpg

http://img156.imageshack.us/img156/672/image17ut4.jpg

1ajs

Oct 23, 2006, 12:42 AM

Winnipeg

Winnipeg city hall, Sept. 28, 1886.
http://img353.imageshack.us/img353/126/wpg1tu6.jpg

Main Street looking south from City Hall 1882
http://img317.imageshack.us/img317/6955/wpg21lz0.jpg

main street 1874
http://img272.imageshack.us/img272/6361/wpg54643nl3.jpg

Portage and Main, showing Horse Street Car. 1890
http://img55.imageshack.us/img55/509/emergent01pic07elgqm5.jpg

Portage Avenue. 1914
http://img355.imageshack.us/img355/3765/wpg4oh3.jpg

Milk Delivery Cart. Batten Limited,
http://www.winnipeg.ca/clerks/graphics/pathways/MilkSupply01/MilkSupply01Pic03Sm.jpg

Winnipeg, 1913 Milk Delivery carts
http://www.winnipeg.ca/clerks/graphics/pathways/MilkSupply01/MilkSupply01Pic06Sm.jpg

Kelly Block, Winnipeg. Circa 1911
http://www.winnipeg.ca/clerks/graphics/pathways/PWYCoverPic01.gif

1907
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/b/bd/Winnipeg1907.jpg

early 1910's
http://www.virtual.heritagewinnipeg.com/photogallery/00Main1/00-212.jpg

manitoba hotel fire 1899 http://www.virtual.heritagewinnipeg.com/photogallery/04Commercial/04-004.jpg

portage and main 1915
http://www.virtual.heritagewinnipeg.com/photogallery/04Commercial/04-010.jpg

Construction of the T.Eaton Co. store
http://www.virtual.heritagewinnipeg.com/photogallery/04Commercial/04-064.jpg

Construction of the Hotel Fort Garry 1912
http://www.virtual.heritagewinnipeg.com/photogallery/04Commercial/04-084.jpg
http://www.virtual.heritagewinnipeg.com/photogallery/04Commercial/04-085.jpg
http://www.virtual.heritagewinnipeg.com/photogallery/04Commercial/04-086.jpg

1905 Collapsed building at King St and McDermot Av
http://www.virtual.heritagewinnipeg.com/photogallery/04Commercial/04-125.jpg

more photos also here: http://www.virtual.heritagewinnipeg.com/gallery.htm

muppet

Oct 23, 2006, 1:38 AM

Every time I look at 1920's pictures of European cities, especially London or Berlin, I get a little nervous. You know that something more horrible than most anyone can imagine is coming in a couple of decades, and the people in the picture have no clue.

Same for old pictures of Japanese cities, come to think of it, but there don't seem to be as many of those.

Add to that Warsaw (then considered most romantic city in the world), Milan, Vienna (thankfully rebuilt), Hamburg, Manila, Volgograd (Stalingrad), St Petersburg (the worlds worst siege with 1.1 million starving to death), Nanjing (300,000 killed in a few days), Tokyo (worlds worst air raids) and of course the cosmoploitan European styled cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

peo

Oct 23, 2006, 1:59 AM

Santiago in the early 20th Century.

http://www.nuestro.cl/chilectra/imagenes/fotos1_grande9.jpg

http://www.nuestro.cl/chilectra/imagenes/fotos1_grande2.jpg

http://www.nuestro.cl/chilectra/imagenes/fotos1_grande12.jpg

http://www.nuestro.cl/chilectra/imagenes/fotos1_grande17.jpg

http://www.nuestro.cl/chilectra/imagenes/fotos1_grande38.jpg

http://www.nuestro.cl/chilectra/imagenes/C3-29.jpg

http://www.nuestro.cl/chilectra/imagenes/C3-32.jpg

http://www.nuestro.cl/chilectra/imagenes/C2-26.jpg

http://www.nuestro.cl/chilectra/imagenes/fotos1_grande4.jpg

O-Town Hockey

Oct 23, 2006, 3:29 AM

Ottawa, Canada

Intersection of Rideau St. and Sussex Dr. (1865-1870)
http://jamieloubier.8m.com/PictureStorage/Rideau&Sussex1865-1870.jpg
Sparks St. at Metcalfe
http://jamieloubier.8m.com/PictureStorage/SparksatMetcalfe.jpg
VE Day on Sparks St.
http://jamieloubier.8m.com/PictureStorage/VEDaySparks.jpg
The old Albion Hotel on Nicholas St.
http://jamieloubier.8m.com/PictureStorage/AlbionHotelNicholas.jpg
VE Day at Parliament Hill
http://jamieloubier.8m.com/PictureStorage/OttawaVEDay.jpg

rockyi

Oct 23, 2006, 10:14 PM

^ I can't believe how wide those streets are in Ottawa in your first picture from the 1860's.

Wheelingman04

Oct 23, 2006, 11:29 PM

It is ashame what the automobile and "urban renewal" has done to our cities.

dfane

Oct 24, 2006, 12:44 PM

Found some old Philly pics.

I think it would have been fun riding a trolley back then it would probably be faster crawling since the streets looked packed and nothing could move on them lol

http://www.archives.gov/research/american-cities/images/american-cities-100.jpg

outside of Shibe park in North Philadelphia
http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://216.248.192.55/Metrotest/Images/People/thumb_6292006Broad_St_c1900.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.hellophiladelphia.com/Photos_People.Cfm&h=75&w=93&sz=2&hl=en&sig2=GQKm1saDAaRzsigVgWfJWQ&start=212&tbnid=3zjTH04Um2_aXM:&tbnh=65&tbnw=80&ei=EQg-RYCsLqeOaM3ypbEJ&prev=/images%3Fq%3D1900%2Bphiladelphia%26start%3D200%26ndsp%3D20%26svnum%3D10%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26sa%3DN

South Broad st.
http://www.hellophiladelphia.com/Images/Buildings/6292006South_Broad_Street_1939.jpg

Center city 1939
http://www.hellophiladelphia.com/Images/Buildings/6292006near_Walnut_and_Broad_Streets_1939.jpg

Market st in 1900
http://www.hellophiladelphia.com/Images/People/6292006Market_Street_1904.jpg

yakumoto

Oct 25, 2006, 4:39 AM

SANTA CRUZ

These are mostly from the mid to late 1800s...

http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l313/assrapist/things/0445.jpg

http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l313/assrapist/things/0448.jpg

http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l313/assrapist/things/0094.jpg

http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l313/assrapist/things/0005.jpg

http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l313/assrapist/things/0100.jpg

http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l313/assrapist/things/0553.jpg

http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l313/assrapist/things/0595.jpg

and the Boardwalk, obviously...

http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l313/assrapist/things/SCCFU-32.jpg

keninhalifax

Oct 25, 2006, 11:19 AM

^ I can't believe how wide those streets are in Ottawa in your first picture from the 1860's.

Only Rideau Street was that wide; it served as the main thoroughfare through 'Lowertown' and connected the east and west parts of the city. I don't think it's any wider today than it was in the 1860s!

Sacto

Oct 25, 2006, 11:20 AM

Life sucked back then...

CGII

Nov 5, 2006, 2:44 PM

http://www.hellophiladelphia.com/Images/Buildings/6292006near_Walnut_and_Broad_Streets_1939.jpg
Wow...That looks like some sort of movie backdrop from the era.

CGII

Nov 5, 2006, 2:57 PM

More Milwaukee (or, I can't let this thread die):

1885
http://www.uwm.edu/Library/digilib/Milwaukee/images/prints/mi000158xl.jpg
http://www.uwm.edu/Library/digilib/Milwaukee/images/prints/mi000029xl.jpg
http://www.uwm.edu/Library/digilib/Milwaukee/images/prints/mi000110xl.jpg
http://www.uwm.edu/Library/digilib/Milwaukee/images/prints/mi000011xl.jpg
http://www.uwm.edu/Library/digilib/Milwaukee/images/prints/mi000006xl.jpg
http://www.uwm.edu/Library/digilib/Milwaukee/images/prints/mi000012xl.jpg
http://www.uwm.edu/Library/digilib/Milwaukee/images/prints/mi000008xl.jpg
http://www.uwm.edu/Library/digilib/Milwaukee/images/prints/mi000016xl.jpg
http://www.uwm.edu/Library/digilib/Milwaukee/images/prints/mi000018xl.jpg
http://www.uwm.edu/Library/digilib/Milwaukee/images/prints/mi000019xl.jpg
http://www.uwm.edu/Library/digilib/Milwaukee/images/prints/mi000015xl.jpg
http://www.uwm.edu/Library/digilib/Milwaukee/images/prints/mi000009xl.jpg
http://www.uwm.edu/Library/digilib/Milwaukee/images/prints/mi000030xl.jpg
http://www.uwm.edu/Library/digilib/Milwaukee/images/prints/mi000003xl.jpg
http://www.uwm.edu/Library/digilib/Milwaukee/images/prints/mi000091xl.jpg
http://www.uwm.edu/Library/digilib/Milwaukee/images/prints/mi000114xl.jpg
http://www.uwm.edu/Library/digilib/Milwaukee/images/prints/mi000007xl.jpg
http://www.uwm.edu/Library/digilib/Milwaukee/images/prints/mi000068xl.jpg
http://www.uwm.edu/Library/digilib/Milwaukee/images/prints/mi000014xl.jpg
http://www.uwm.edu/Library/digilib/Milwaukee/images/prints/mi000032xl.jpg
http://www.uwm.edu/Library/digilib/Milwaukee/images/prints/mi000124xl.jpg
http://www.uwm.edu/Library/digilib/Milwaukee/images/prints/mi000002xl.jpg
http://www.uwm.edu/Library/digilib/Milwaukee/images/prints/mi000063xl.jpg

1895
http://www.uwm.edu/Library/digilib/Milwaukee/images/prints/mi000099xl.jpg
http://www.uwm.edu/Library/digilib/Milwaukee/images/prints/mi000168xl.jpg
http://www.uwm.edu/Library/digilib/Milwaukee/images/prints/mi000151xl.jpg
http://www.uwm.edu/Library/digilib/Milwaukee/images/prints/mi000174xl.jpg
http://www.uwm.edu/Library/digilib/Milwaukee/images/prints/mi000100xl.jpg

st steven

Nov 5, 2006, 6:32 PM

I frequently complain that I was born too late. This thread is only a painful reminder. ;)

These are great! Thanks for sharing, everybody.

Taller Better

Nov 5, 2006, 6:42 PM

I think most cities looked much more beautiful back then.... however, I would not want to be transported back to the old days! I like the mores of modern day much better!

Boris2k7

Nov 5, 2006, 7:28 PM

Fort Calgary founded by North West Mounted Police 1875

1876
http://img102.imageshack.us/img102/8505/nd8252mq1.jpg

Canadian Pacific Railway reaches tent city near Fort Calgary 1883
Town of Calgary established 1884 - Population ~1000

1885
http://img102.imageshack.us/img102/6649/na403577fo2.jpg
http://img102.imageshack.us/img102/613/nb78nr4.jpg

1886
http://img75.imageshack.us/img75/4377/na11001hv2.jpg
http://img75.imageshack.us/img75/4734/na17531nv8.jpg

1887
http://img75.imageshack.us/img75/2841/na54001yw0.jpg

1892
http://img75.imageshack.us/img75/6039/na17027eo6.jpg
http://img78.imageshack.us/img78/7425/pa35271jm0.jpg

City of Calgary established 1894 - Population ~3900

1894 First City Council
http://img78.imageshack.us/img78/6496/na14021tt9.jpg

1897
http://img78.imageshack.us/img78/2127/na40641at3.jpg

October 4, 1897 -Just after the Death of Sam Livingston, Calgary's First Settler
http://img78.imageshack.us/img78/5417/pa36561kn7.jpg

1898
http://img75.imageshack.us/img75/8918/na145132ld7.jpg
http://img78.imageshack.us/img78/7157/na9678qh1.jpg

Sometime in the late 1890's, Fire Hall #1 erected in 1887
http://img57.imageshack.us/img57/4885/na283112ks9.jpg

EDIT: More Calgary, now some pictures up to 1920

1900-1903
http://img179.imageshack.us/img179/1640/na46817lj6.jpg
http://img179.imageshack.us/img179/1420/na4687fj7.jpg
http://img179.imageshack.us/img179/4986/na11262mk1.jpg
http://img179.imageshack.us/img179/5520/na11145kl3.jpg
http://img141.imageshack.us/img141/3773/na14974nr2.jpg
http://img141.imageshack.us/img141/8747/na8992oi8.jpg

Calgary's first City Hall and Police building
http://img179.imageshack.us/img179/812/na144724rf5.jpg

1906
http://img141.imageshack.us/img141/423/na11921ht6.jpg
http://img144.imageshack.us/img144/1124/na14373va4.jpg

1907-1908
http://img144.imageshack.us/img144/6051/na100917bn1.jpg

1910's
http://img215.imageshack.us/img215/5171/na160454yp1.jpg
http://img215.imageshack.us/img215/1040/na1604117yc0.jpg
http://img291.imageshack.us/img291/8236/na532935vz4.jpg
http://img291.imageshack.us/img291/193/na532937xj7.jpg
http://img81.imageshack.us/img81/8379/na352214ab7.jpg

May 20, 1910 - Memorial Procession for the death of King Edward VII
http://img291.imageshack.us/img291/9678/na27985vz6.jpg

1920 - Population around 75 000
http://img152.imageshack.us/img152/2217/na54161qj8.jpg
http://img152.imageshack.us/img152/6240/na486819sg4.jpg
http://img148.imageshack.us/img148/3142/na554815ti7.jpg

LOL, sorry about posting so many pics, but I find Calgary's early history fascinating. Not only because of the astounding early growth, but also because we lost so damn much of what we built. In the 70's and 80's we lost the vast majority (let's say 85-90%) of our original downtown, which gives the downtown an appearance of being entirely modern. It's sad really, a lot of those old buildings were gorgeous and I would surely trade away a dozen parking lots and several brutalist blocks if I could get them back. The street life on 7th and 8th was also astounding, and tons of street car lines who can only be remembered by the names of the districts they ran through.

Edan

Nov 26, 2006, 5:22 PM

wow! these cities weren't always dull, lifeless ghost-towns... can you imagine the insane sensory experience one would have experience every day on those streets? now we have cars, ipods, few pedestrians, and zoning laws up the ass. granted life was harder back then, but we've lost something huge in our "progress" -- we've lost the satisfaction that comes from being a thread in the fabric of humanity.

Moty_The_Undead

Nov 26, 2006, 7:39 PM

Quebec City,

Quebec's Old Town, the only North American fortified city north of Mexico whose walls still exist, was declared a World Heritage Site by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in 1985 as the "Historic District of Old Quebec". It is also one of the oldest city in Canada. However Quebec city is the first to have been founded with the explicit goal of receiving permanent settlement and not as a commercial outpost, and therefore is often considered to be the first city in Canada.

Quebec City 1608
http://www.fineart.utoronto.ca/canarch/quebec/quebec.jpgs/60-79.jpg

1700
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/a/a2/Quebec_nouvelle_france.jpg

During the attact of the British on the summer of 1759
http://www.fineart.utoronto.ca/canarch/quebec/quebec.jpgs/60-34.jpg

1859
http://www.quebecurbain.qc.ca/images/2004/0318-2a.jpg

1865
http://www.quebecurbain.qc.ca/images/2004/0402-2a.jpg

1870
http://www.quebecurbain.qc.ca/images/2004/0329-2a.jpg

1875
http://www.quebecurbain.qc.ca/images/2004/0330-2a.jpg

1889
http://www.banq.qc.ca/histoire_quebec/parcours_thematiques/siecles/images/f-P74,S8,SS1,P1.9.jpg

Carnaval of Quebec 1894
http://www.banq.qc.ca/histoire_quebec/parcours_thematiques/carnaval/images/P560,S2,D80066,P3.jpg
http://www.banq.qc.ca/histoire_quebec/parcours_thematiques/carnaval/images/P560,S2,P76764.jpg
http://www.banq.qc.ca/histoire_quebec/parcours_thematiques/carnaval/images/P560,S2,P76795.jpg

1899
http://www.quebecurbain.qc.ca/images/2004/0406-2a.jpg

1910
http://www.quebecurbain.qc.ca/archives/fay7.jpg

1926
http://www.quebecurbain.qc.ca/images/2004/0511-2a.jpg
http://www.quebecurbain.qc.ca/images/2004/0403-3a.jpg
http://www.quebecurbain.qc.ca/archives/quebecvueaerienne1926ba2.jpg

1928
http://www.quebecurbain.qc.ca/images/2004/0512-2a.jpg
http://www.quebecurbain.qc.ca/images/2004/0325-1a.jpg

1929
http://www.quebecurbain.qc.ca/images/2004/0401-3a.jpg

1930
http://www.quebecurbain.qc.ca/images/2004/0116-1a.jpg
http://www.quebecurbain.qc.ca/images/2004/0328-1a.jpg

1940
http://www.quebecurbain.qc.ca/images/2004/0409-1a.jpg
http://www.quebecurbain.qc.ca/images/2004/0324-1a.jpg

1951
http://quebecurbain.qc.ca/images/2004/0609-1a.jpg

1958
http://quebecurbain.qc.ca/images/2004/0410-1a.jpg

1960
http://quebecurbain.qc.ca/images/2004/0603-1a.jpg

Now
http://www.quebecurbain.qc.ca/archives/qc%20vue%20de%20gare.jpg
http://www.quebecurbain.qc.ca/archives/jc100_4538b.jpg

BTinSF

Nov 27, 2006, 12:02 AM

Early 1900's you say? Well, see, San Francisco had a little problem then:

Fire:
http://www.sfgate.com/c/pictures/2006/04/12/mn_EARTHQUAKE_NY308.jpg
http://www.sfgate.com/c/pictures/2006/04/12/mn_missionstfire.jpg
http://www.sfgate.com/g/pictures/2006/04/18/mn_quake_fire01.jpg
http://www.sfgate.com/g/pictures/2006/04/18/mn_quake_fire03.jpg
http://www.sfgate.com/g/pictures/2006/04/18/mn_quake_fire02.jpg
http://www.sfgate.com/g/pictures/2006/04/18/mn_h74601wfire.jpg
http://www.sfgate.com/g/pictures/2006/04/18/mn_h439037.jpg

The aftermath: aerial
http://quake.usgs.gov/info/1906/images/sf06.city.gif

http://www.sfmuseum.org/photos2/damage2.gif

Sacramento St.
http://quake.usgs.gov/info/1906/images/sfburning.gif

Market St.

http://www.sfmuseum.org/photos15/mktstfire.jpg
http://www.sfmuseum.org/photos7/mktst.jpg

Stockton at Geary
http://www.sfmuseum.org/photos7/stockgear.jpg

City Hall
http://www.sfmuseum.org/photos7/c-hall.jpg
http://www.sfgate.com/c/pictures/2006/04/11/mn_quake_damage18.jpg

U.S. Mint
http://www.sfmuseum.org/photos5/usmint.jpg

Embarcadero
http://www.sfmuseum.org/photos7/embar.jpg

Sansome St.
http://www.sfmuseum.org/photos7/sansome.jpg

The Palace Hotel (Jessie St.)
http://www.sfmuseum.org/photos7/jessiest.jpg

Kearny & Columbus (North Beach)
http://www.sfmuseum.org/06photos/ruef.jpg

Mason at Post
http://www.sfmuseum.org/06photos/1stcong.jpg

Franklin & Bush: Relief HQ and temporary City Hall
http://www.sfmuseum.org/photos7/fillmore1.jpg

18th St.
http://www.sfgate.com/c/pictures/2006/04/10/mn_quake_damage13.jpg

Valencia St.
http://www.sfgate.com/c/pictures/2006/04/11/mn_beforeafter_valencia_1.jpg

Refugee feeding station: Jefferson Square
http://www.sfmuseum.org/06photos/jeffsq.jpg

Refugee Camp: Golden Gate Park
http://www.sfmuseum.org/06photos/ggtents.jpg

Comrade Reynolds

Nov 27, 2006, 12:22 AM

Salt Lake City:

200 South and West Temple 1918.

http://content.lib.utah.edu/cgi-bin/showfile.exe?CISOROOT=/USHS_Shipler&CISOPTR=9565

Downtown in 1920:

http://content.lib.utah.edu/cgi-bin/showfile.exe?CISOROOT=/USHS_Shipler&CISOPTR=8722

1912:

http://content.lib.utah.edu/cgi-bin/showfile.exe?CISOROOT=/USHS_Shipler&CISOPTR=3890

Auerbach Company 1912, demolished.

http://content.lib.utah.edu/cgi-bin/showfile.exe?CISOROOT=/USHS_Shipler&CISOPTR=8226

1911:

http://content.lib.utah.edu/cgi-bin/showfile.exe?CISOROOT=/USHS_Shipler&CISOPTR=3414

A pan of SLC in 1908:

http://images.blocku.com/images/admin/oldpan.jpg

Main in 1916:

http://content.lib.utah.edu/cgi-bin/showfile.exe?CISOROOT=/USHS_Shipler&CISOPTR=6875

1903:

http://content.lib.utah.edu/cgi-bin/showfile.exe?CISOROOT=/USHS_Shipler&CISOPTR=3722

1914:

http://content.lib.utah.edu/cgi-bin/showfile.exe?CISOROOT=/USHS_Shipler&CISOPTR=5976

http://content.lib.utah.edu/cgi-bin/showfile.exe?CISOROOT=/USHS_Shipler&CISOPTR=6035

It's fireproof!

http://content.lib.utah.edu/cgi-bin/showfile.exe?CISOROOT=/USHS_Shipler&CISOPTR=8605

Walker Bank Building on Main in 1914, still standing.

http://content.lib.utah.edu/cgi-bin/showfile.exe?CISOROOT=/USHS_Cityeng&CISOPTR=725

Walker Bank entrance.

http://content.lib.utah.edu/cgi-bin/showfile.exe?CISOROOT=/USHS_Shipler&CISOPTR=8495

Then:

http://content.lib.utah.edu/cgi-bin/showfile.exe?CISOROOT=/USHS_Shipler&CISOPTR=2347

Now:

http://images.fotop.net/albums/Sean84106/cbd/DSCF2444.jpg

1940s:

http://images.fotop.net/albums/Sean84106/Web_Stuff/skylineold8.jpg

GVNY

Nov 27, 2006, 4:25 AM

New York City

1. http://img171.imageshack.us/img171/9616/broadbr6.jpg

2. http://img171.imageshack.us/img171/5043/brooklynzm6.png

3. http://img222.imageshack.us/img222/5418/cvb3xdfdfgfht2.jpg

4. http://img120.imageshack.us/img120/9821/dfgdfdfdgfgli2.jpg

5. http://img120.imageshack.us/img120/3531/dfeezm0.jpg

6. http://img170.imageshack.us/img170/4325/dfgdfgdfgtt9.jpg

7. http://img170.imageshack.us/img170/707/dfgdhfghmq7.jpg

The lovely old Pennsylvania Station:

8. http://img120.imageshack.us/img120/2544/dfdfdggqm5.jpg

9.http://img300.imageshack.us/img300/7575/dfhdfhyo6.jpg

10. http://img169.imageshack.us/img169/3549/pennsylvaniastationee1.jpg

11. http://img293.imageshack.us/img293/4968/fghfghfghfghcn0.jpg

12. http://img291.imageshack.us/img291/4221/fhgfgfgfghfgcx4.jpg

Returning to the metropolis:

13. http://img170.imageshack.us/img170/2519/dfj3nx4.jpg

14. http://img85.imageshack.us/img85/2389/dsggggcl3.jpg

15. http://img143.imageshack.us/img143/7051/fddfgdgsa6.jpg

16. http://img171.imageshack.us/img171/9536/fghfghfdh9.jpg

17. http://img95.imageshack.us/img95/915/ghj554554gp1.jpg

18. http://img169.imageshack.us/img169/830/hjkhhvg6.jpg

19. http://img300.imageshack.us/img300/613/jhfw7.jpg

20. http://img296.imageshack.us/img296/2879/sdfgghtu0.jpg

21. http://img95.imageshack.us/img95/6710/vbfff8.jpg

22. http://img170.imageshack.us/img170/4206/woolowrthlq2.jpg

23. http://img170.imageshack.us/img170/2015/nyza9.jpg

24. http://img95.imageshack.us/img95/3606/xcvxcvxcvhx0.jpg

Exodus

Nov 27, 2006, 3:00 PM

http://www.merit.edu/~jimmoran/detphot/campco.jpg

binjakob

Nov 27, 2006, 5:02 PM

http://www.ssa.stockholm.se/Arkivbeskr/Fortum/b/oljelyktor2.jpg
http://www.ssa.stockholm.se/Arkivbeskr/Fortum/b/oljelyktor1.jpg
http://www.ssa.stockholm.se/Arkivbeskr/Fortum/b/kungsgatan.jpg
http://www.ssa.stockholm.se/Arkivbeskr/Fortum/b/slussen.jpg
http://www.ssa.stockholm.se/Arkivbeskr/Fortum/b/A57.jpg
http://www.ssa.stockholm.se/Arkivbeskr/Fortum/b/klaragasverket.jpg

-GR2NY-

Nov 27, 2006, 6:06 PM

This picture reminds me of how far my simcity cities ever get:

http://images.fotop.net/albums/Sean84106/Web_Stuff/skylineold8.jpg

MonkeyRonin

Nov 28, 2006, 2:39 AM

The 20 largest cities in North America 1930* (arguably the awesomest time for many cities)

1. New York - 6,930,446
2. Chicago - 3,376,438
3. Philadelphia - 1,950,961
4. Detroit - 1,568,662
5. Los Angeles - 1,238,048
6. Montreal – 1,100,000
7. Cleveland - 900,429
8. St. Louis - 821,960
9. Baltimore - 804,874
10. Boston - 781,188
11. Toronto - 631,200
12. San Francisco – 630,000
13. Milwaukee - 578,249
14. Buffalo - 573,076
15. DC - 486,869
16. Minneapolis - 464,356
17. Cincinnati – 451,160
18. Newark - 442,337
19. Seattle - 365,583
20. Rochester - 328,132

*Just a few things to note..
1. Missing Mexico City and many Canadian and some US cities, which would have definitely affected this list.
2. These are inner city populations, though for most cities metro wouldn't have made much of a difference.
3. Montreal and San Francisco are approximations and could vary by a few thousand more or less people.

Anyway, time for more pictures.

Tokyo
http://img120.imageshack.us/img120/3606/nitihasi2km3.jpg

Toronto
http://img140.imageshack.us/img140/6945/skyline1wvj2.jpg

Budapest
http://img294.imageshack.us/img294/262/754pxbudapestundergrounyo7.jpg

Portland
http://img171.imageshack.us/img171/8453/atkesons25cportlandoregqn3.jpg

Enschede
http://img171.imageshack.us/img171/3264/enschedene9.jpg

Vilnius
http://img134.imageshack.us/img134/710/vilniusba2.jpg

Wheeling
http://img171.imageshack.us/img171/5058/wheelingwvskylinepanoravw2.jpg

London
http://img120.imageshack.us/img120/2961/0300089031ar3.jpg

Roanokerichmonder

Nov 28, 2006, 4:33 AM

I'm loving this post!!!:yes:

Roanokerichmonder

Nov 28, 2006, 5:05 AM

In 1936 Richmond, Virginia had a population of 255,426. Today the city population is only about 192,000 although the metro population is around 1.2 million. Here are two pics from http://www.rootsweb.com

Year 1864
http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/va/photo/cityofrichmond/canalbasin.jpg

http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/va/photo/cityofrichmond/rich.jpg

Year 1939 Picture from http://www.chpn.net/archives/2006/02/trolleys_of_chu.php

http://www.chpn.net/archives/richmond_trolley_car_oakwoo.jpg

MonkeyRonin

Dec 8, 2006, 4:20 AM

Tokyo
http://img422.imageshack.us/img422/910/mitsukoshiroofgarden650hv0.jpg

Halifax
http://img422.imageshack.us/img422/4613/hollissthalifaxbn5.jpg

Toronto
http://img455.imageshack.us/img455/4629/16404fire1020ck9.jpg

http://img455.imageshack.us/img455/7276/ttcfirstincanadaoe9.jpg

Montreal
http://img175.imageshack.us/img175/8602/canqcmontrealpostoffbanck6.jpg

http://img453.imageshack.us/img453/6448/s61112d3fk4.jpg

http://img175.imageshack.us/img175/2202/87019001di7.jpg

http://img293.imageshack.us/img293/4181/v761hb9.jpg

http://img293.imageshack.us/img293/2807/v2519ti6.jpg

http://img244.imageshack.us/img244/117/v2702he6.jpg

http://img244.imageshack.us/img244/7553/v842la6.jpg

excel

Dec 8, 2006, 10:52 AM

great finds!

HooverDam

Dec 8, 2006, 11:23 AM

I'll share some from my hometown, the Valley of the Sun. Since Phoenix is such a young city, and didn't grow until after WW2 (do to the popularization of Air conditioning), you can see how sparse it once was, and finding old (turn of the century) photos is tough:

Downtown Phoenix circa 1908:
http://www.acmeron.com/puhs/panorama%20pc.jpg

More downtown, date unknown:
http://www.acmeron.com/puhs/washington%20st%202778.jpg

Notice, we were trying to sell Cactus Candy even back then:
http://www.acmeron.com/puhs/Donofrio's.jpg

These are a bit later, Phoenix 1917-18:
http://www.acmeron.com/puhs/Donofrios%20night2.jpg

http://www.acmeron.com/puhs/birdseye%20best.jpg

Tempe Normal Teachers College (now known as ASU):
http://www.acmeron.com/puhs/tempe%20college.jpg

So I guess those aren't quite as interesting as other cities, since there isn't much there...but knowing how much it changed is pretty incredible.

muppet

Dec 8, 2006, 12:42 PM

Swede

Dec 8, 2006, 2:19 PM

More Stockholm...

aerials ca. 1936
http://www.lansmuseum.a.se/bild/flyg/flygs/fb0063s.jpg
http://www.lansmuseum.a.se/bild/flyg/flygs/fb0078s.jpg
1907
http://www.stockholmskallan.se/gamla_platser/bild4stor.jpg

ca. 1900
http://www.stockholmskallan.se/gamla_platser/bild1stor.jpg
http://www.stockholmskallan.se/gamla_platser/bild2stor.jpg

At one point Stockohlm had more telephones than London, so all those wires had to go somewhere...
1886, 45m tall, first steel framed "building" in Sweden.
http://www.tekniskamuseet.se/upload/Dokochforskning/Artiklar/1886_bs.jpg
People thought it looked ugly tho, so after a competition a few decorations were added
http://www.tekniskamuseet.se/upload/Dokochforskning/Artiklar/flaggoritopp_bs.jpg
Lots of wires... (with frost on, winter pic)
http://www.tekniskamuseet.se/upload/Dokochforskning/Artiklar/rimfrost_bs.jpg
by 1913 all the wires had been buried underground instead but the tower stayed up til 1953 when it was torn down after a fire.

MonkeyRonin

Dec 24, 2006, 10:20 PM

Had to bump up this thread just for this pano of Tokyo.

http://img179.imageshack.us/img179/5274/panoramaofedowg8.jpg

neuhickman79

Dec 26, 2006, 12:39 AM

http://www.uwm.edu/Library/digilib/Milwaukee/images/prints/mi000158xl.jpg

CGII, I want to know EXACTLY what happened to this Milwaukee beauty - tell me she's still alive. If not we have to fucking resuscitate
It is still very much alive. It was just recently refurbished.
http://graphics.jsonline.com/graphics/news/img/dec04/cityhall122604.jpg

Urban Zombie®

Dec 26, 2006, 4:02 AM

Milwaukee looked positively amazing back then...how much of what we see in those pictures still exists today? (forgive my ignorance)

fflint

Dec 26, 2006, 5:22 AM

The 20 largest cities in North America 1930* (arguably the awesomest time for many cities)

Here's the list using SF's actual listed census population and corresponding rank:

1. New York - 6,930,446
2. Chicago - 3,376,438
3. Philadelphia - 1,950,961
4. Detroit - 1,568,662
5. Los Angeles - 1,238,048
6. Montreal – 1,100,000
7. Cleveland - 900,429
8. St. Louis - 821,960
9. Baltimore - 804,874
10. Boston - 781,188
11. San Francisco – 634,394
12. Toronto - 631,200
13. Milwaukee - 578,249
14. Buffalo - 573,076
15. DC - 486,869
16. Minneapolis - 464,356
17. Cincinnati – 451,160
18. Newark - 442,337
19. Seattle - 365,583
20. Rochester - 328,132

MonkeyRonin

Dec 26, 2006, 6:23 PM

Dammit, those bastards and their extra 3,000 people ;)

I was just going by a graph on Wikipedia..

mrherodotus

Dec 26, 2006, 7:30 PM

Here's the list using SF's actual listed census population and corresponding rank:

1. New York - 6,930,446
2. Chicago - 3,376,438
3. Philadelphia - 1,950,961
4. Detroit - 1,568,662
5. Los Angeles - 1,238,048
6. Montreal – 1,100,000
7. Cleveland - 900,429
8. St. Louis - 821,960
9. Baltimore - 804,874
10. Boston - 781,188
11. San Francisco – 634,394
12. Toronto - 631,200
13. Milwaukee - 578,249
14. Buffalo - 573,076
15. DC - 486,869
16. Minneapolis - 464,356
17. Cincinnati – 451,160
18. Newark - 442,337
19. Seattle - 365,583
20. Rochester - 328,132

Where is Pittsburgh? Pittsburgh had over 600,000 people in 1930.

GVNY

Dec 26, 2006, 9:11 PM

Milwaukee does most certainly look extremely beautiful. So that means, of course, it must be nearly totally destroyed today.

Tombstoner

Dec 27, 2006, 1:43 AM

Lots of terrific photos. I especially liked Santiago! :tup:
US and Canadian cities look amazing as well. What happened? Maybe fluoride in the drinking water killed off our sense of aesthetics. :shrug:

fflint

Dec 27, 2006, 3:13 AM

Where is Pittsburgh? Pittsburgh had over 600,000 people in 1930.
Not sure. I just inserted SF's proper population into a list someone else had already posted.

roner

Dec 27, 2006, 6:21 AM

Here's some good ones I found on the Oregon Historical Society website of P-town. Thanks to everyone else for posting some amazing photos.:)

http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o119/roner77/1905logging.jpg

http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o119/roner77/arches1920sportland.jpg

http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o119/roner77/chinatown1911.jpg

http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o119/roner77/downtownportland.jpg

http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o119/roner77/portland1911parkave.jpg

http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o119/roner77/shipbuilding.jpg

http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o119/roner77/stjohnsbridge1900.jpg

http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o119/roner77/streetcarwreckonsw11th1915.jpg

toddguy

Dec 27, 2006, 11:09 AM

It is still very much alive. It was just recently refurbished.
http://graphics.jsonline.com/graphics/news/img/dec04/cityhall122604.jpg
Such a beautiful building.:) I was wondering the same thing as muppet..(I hope that it still there!!!) .I guess this one still standing proud and refurbished makes up for the loss of the beautiful Pabst building.

mrherodotus

Dec 27, 2006, 4:13 PM

This is the correct population for US cities in 1930.

| | | | Density
| | | Land | (average
| | | area | popula-
| | | (sq. | tion per
Rank | Place 1/ |Population| miles) |sq. mile)
----------------------------------------------------------------
1 New York city, NY *...... 6,930,446 299.0 23,179
2 Chicago city, IL......... 3,376,438 201.9 16,723
3 Philadelphia city, PA.... 1,950,961 128.0 15,242
4 Detroit city, MI......... 1,568,662 137.9 11,375
5 Los Angeles city, CA..... 1,238,048 440.3 2,812
6 Cleveland city, OH....... 900,429 70.8 12,718
7 St. Louis city, MO....... 821,960 61.0 13,475
8 Baltimore city, MD....... 804,874 78.7 10,227
9 Boston city, MA.......... 781,188 43.9 17,795
10 Pittsburgh city, PA...... 669,817 51.3 13,057

11 San Francisco city, CA... 634,394 42.0 15,105
12 Milwaukee city, WI....... 578,249 41.1 14,069
13 Buffalo city, NY......... 573,076 38.9 14,732
14 Washington city, DC...... 486,869 62.0 7,853
15 Minneapolis city, MN..... 464,356 55.4 8,382
16 New Orleans city, LA..... 458,762 196.0 2,341
17 Cincinnati city, OH...... 451,160 71.4 6,319
18 Newark city, NJ.......... 442,337 23.6 18,743
19 Kansas City city, MO..... 399,746 58.6 6,822
20 Seattle city, WA......... 365,583 68.5 5,337

wlyyl

Jan 2, 2007, 6:46 PM

I believe my hometown was still a village at that time

buffalo90

Jan 2, 2007, 7:54 PM

Buffalo waterfront 1936

http://wnyheritagepress.org/store/waterfront1936.jpg

GVNY

Feb 26, 2007, 4:53 AM

Bump.

I cannot believe the beauty of old Milwaukee. What the hell happened to Milwaukee?

What the hell happened to America?

DecoJim

Feb 26, 2007, 8:58 PM

What the hell happened to America?

The Automobile!

Before you heap all the blame on Detroit, remember that people from New York to Los Angeles bought these machines of their own free will even though mass transit was available at the time in most cities (even Detroit).
Besides, as Detroit lived by the car it has (almost) died by the car. Starting around the 1950s about 50% of the population and 67% of the tax base left Detroit for the suburbs.

Here are a few more shots of Detroit before the destruction of so many of the buildings for parking lots.

The old Russell House hotel:
http://www.maj.com/gallery/DecoJim/OldDetroit/russellhouse.jpg
(note the horses - soon to be replaced by the car)

Campus Martius area on Nov. 11, 1918:
http://www.maj.com/gallery/DecoJim/OldDetroit/armistice1918.jpg
(note the streetcars that were later made "obsolete" by the car)

Fort Street railroad station (rendered "obsolete" by the car):
http://www.maj.com/gallery/DecoJim/OldDetroit/rrstation02.jpg

ikcyzrteip

Feb 26, 2007, 9:23 PM

I wish cities would have held on to their railcars.

Xelebes

Feb 26, 2007, 9:41 PM

The Automobile!

Before you heap all the blame on Detroit, remember that people from New York to Los Angeles bought these machines of their own free will even though mass transit was available at the time in most cities (even Detroit).
Besides, as Detroit lived by the car it has (almost) died by the car. Starting around the 1950s about 50% of the population and 67% of the tax base left Detroit for the suburbs.

I'd actually blame the Great Depression and World War II, moreso than the automobile.

CGII

Feb 26, 2007, 10:57 PM

Milwaukee looked positively amazing back then...how much of what we see in those pictures still exists today? (forgive my ignorance)

Very very little, lamentably. What wasn't lost to fire was demolished for parking/freeways or new highrise construction. Virtually all of the residential areas in my posts are now considered 'downtown' and far larger in scale today.

However, outside of the core the city is astonishingly well preserved, save perhaps the Gold Coast. But a lot of what's preseved isn't exactly lost, per say, as much as it's simply changed. For example take a look at this lakefront photo.

http://www.uwm.edu/Library/digilib/Milwaukee/images/prints/mi000099xl.jpg

Sometime later tons of dirt led to acres of infill East of the train tracks into the lake. Later still the tracks were removed in anticipation of a Lakefront freeway project that never took off (the remnants of which became Lincoln Memorial Drive). The area to the right of this photo, then lake, is where the current War Memorial and Art Museum/Calatrava stand.

Ironically enough the area in the photo where the ravine and bridge stand is now a parking garage with parked rooftop.

DecoJim

Feb 26, 2007, 11:22 PM

I'd actually blame the Great Depression and World War II, moreso than the automobile.

I can't speak for all cities in the USA but the Depression more or less put Detroit in stasis from 1930 until 1940. By preventing new development, it actually somewhat preserved the old urban density. WWII, while putting an end to civilian automobile production for the duration, actually provided more jobs in Detroit factories building war material. Photos of Detroit's downtown from 1930 to 1950 look about the same in terms of buildings and streets. Starting in the 1950s a lot of old buildings were torn down to make way for modern buildings, freeways, parking lots, the civic center and Cobo hall, etc.

The Depression and WWII, temporarily put the brakes on the inevitable sprawl which the automobile made possible.