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Circa 1908. "New York Harbor from the Battery." Another super-detailed panorama, this one made from two 8x10 glass negatives. View full size.
There's another survivor peeking out at lower left -- "City Pier A" which is apparently the oldest surviving NY City pier. Abandoned for many years, it was once considered a possible departure point for ferries headed to Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. That idea fell through, though, and last I heard Pier A was being renovated for harbor-side dining.
The 12-story building to the right of the elevated train tracks is the Washington Building at No. 1 Broadway, a work of Edward H. Kendall built 1882-1885. It still stands today, although its original red brick facade was completely transformed into a white limestone facade in a renovation of 1920-1921 (an early episode of Extreme Makeover: Skyscraper Edition). The big building in the center of the picture is the 20-story Whitehall Building of 1902-1904, designed by Henry J. Hardenbergh (architect of the Plaza Hotel, Dakota Apartments, and many other NYC buildings). It, too, is still standing, but it has since been joined by a neighbor called the Greater Whitehall Building, which would appear just to its right in this picture.
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