You're right, the domed structure is not the courthouse. However, it is in the picture. It's the short white structure, with statues on its roof, about the third building to the left of the church. It is on the northeast corner of 25th St and Madison Avenue, nestled into an area of highrise office buildings which also boast some of the best restaurants in the city.
Submitted by Anonymous Tipster on Fri, 05/16/2008 - 10:26am.
The building with the dome next to the Met Life tower is the Madison Square Presbyterian Church by Stanford White -- not the Appellate Division Courthouse. The church was demolished in the early 20th century.
The statue at the bottom of the picture is that of William Seward (1801-1872). He was an anti-slavery Governor of NY State and later Abraham Lincoln's Secretary of State. His greatest accomplishment, although not thought so at the time, was the purchase of Alaska from Russia (Seward's Folly). That was before the gold rush, during the Andrew Johnson Presidency. He also tried to block the recognition of the Confederate States by European countries. He was targeted for assassination during the John Wilkes Booth conspiracy, but survived. The Statue remains at the 23rd Street & Broadway/Fifth Avenue entrance to Madison Square Park. The Sculptor was Randolph Rogers, who was accused of creating a statue of Abraham Lincoln and then substituting the head of Seward on it.
This 8x10 negative has great detail. In addition to the Met Life Tower there is the NY Supreme Court Appellate Division building (domed building -still there), the variety of horse drawn carriages at the curb of Madison Square Park and the old, old Madison Square Garden (building with the tower-long gone). As a bonus, way in the background is the still under construction Queensboro Bridge.
Thanks to the gang at Shorpy (and G.G. Bain) for preserving this moment in time.
