Market Street: 1916

Can't figure out what kind of business this would be.

I live outside Harrisburg and was able to identify where this is. Unfortunately only a couple of the smaller of these buildings remain (the building that says "Clark's" and the small one next to it). The commenter who mentioned the Whitaker Center hit the nail right on the head. Basically everything from the building with the large columns to the building that says "Walk Over" are now the Whitaker Center, which is a beautiful building and facility (a museum,etc.) but is very modern and not at all in keeping with the buildings it replaced.

My mom had a wicker baby carriage like the one in the lower right. When she got a little older, she had a small-scale replica for her dolls.

I tried a "timeandagain" myself today, of the fountain picture that delworthio posted.

Maybe I should have put something in the member gallery instead of committing a bit of thread hijacking here.

The third car in line on the lower left appears to have a fat man's steering wheel, which swings up out of the way for ease of entry and exit.

The pic here looks like the same style.

Only one horse visible in downtown Harrisburg in 1916. Note the scarcity of horse apples on the street. The three guys on the steps of what I assume is a bank, scoping out the chicks. The mother apparently correcting her small daughter. The right hand drive car parked so close to a fire plug. Thanks to delworthio for the picture of the Indianapolis Soldier and Sailors Memorial Monument Fountain Buffalos.

I looked at Google Street View to see what they looked like, but the view was not anywhere near as good as his picture. No modern views look as good as the old photos. Thank you Shorpy for letting us view the old days in their true glory before progress ruined it.

That flag looks to have been hanging there a long time; not many stars on it.

• Boher. Drugs, Soda.
• C.R. Boas. Jeweler, Silversmith
• Clark's. Cut Rate Medicine Store.
• Rothert Company. The House of Quality. Cash or Credit.
• The Globe
• The Lenox
• The New Store of Wm Strouse
• Theatre
• Walk-Over

The second car from the left sure is jammed in. I guess it's interesting to see that common courtesy was no better at that time than it is today.

I'm in Europe! That is until I look past the two leftmost buildings in the composition.

I hope someone will post a photo of what this street scene looks like now.

Here's the head in question at the Indianapolis monument. My question is "Are those bears going to relieve themselves on the buffalo heads or are they just kicking back"?

>>>I forgot to mention the source: http://www.loc.gov/pictures/

Notice in the 1906 street scenes horse and buggies seem dominant and just ten years later Detroit iron is king.Of course I'm sure the transition varied from city to city.

I live in Lancaster, PA, but I'm in Harrisburg several times a week.

This looks more like NYC. I don't think there's been that many people on Market Street at the same time since, well, 1916.

Surely there's a Harrisburg-area Shorpy fan who can tell us if any of these buildings has survived these 94 years. I know the Whitaker Center is at 222 Market now, but don't remember what else.

Looks like a beautiful, brand new 1916 Cadillac at the curb (third from left) which would not need a drinking fountain. But what's with the two large U S flags flying behind and partially concealed by columns? They appear to be the 46 star configuration, created in 1908 and rendered obsolete in 1912 with the admission of Arizona and New Mexico to the union.

That's what Mom told me when I asked to get a drink from one of those "drinking fountains" as a little tyke. At the time, I didn't really understand.

I must say I never really considered those drooling buffalo heads as beautiful. Interesting -- but not beautiful.

I live in Indianapolis, and the Soldiers and Sailors Monument in the middle of town still has working horse fountains, which get used by the police mounts and by the horses which draw the tourist carriages. There are four fountains around the Monument's perimeter, with the streams issuing forth from the mouths of beautiful cast-metal buffalo heads.