Shorpy is funded by you. Help by purchasing a print or contributing. Learn more.
Our holdings include hundreds of glass and film negatives/transparencies that we've scanned ourselves; in addition, many other photos on this site were extracted from reference images (high-resolution tiffs) in the Library of Congress research archive. (To query the database click here.) They are adjusted, restored and reworked by your webmaster in accordance with his aesthetic sensibilities before being downsized and turned into the jpegs you see here. All of these images (including "derivative works") are protected by copyright laws of the United States and other jurisdictions and may not be sold, reproduced or otherwise used for commercial purposes without permission.
[REV 25-NOV-2014]
Vintage photos of:
Philadelphia circa 1905. "The Bellevue-Stratford Hotel." As is often the case in these architectural views, the most interesting bits are at the periphery. 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size.
The 19th floor is now a pretty cool bar. You can sit on those century old balconies.
[If it was in ancient Rome, you'd have to walk up the rest of the ten floors. 19 = XIX. -tterrace]
What was in the attics of these ornately-roofed buildings? Some utilities, I imagine, but were all those windows and balconies and railings there for apartments, servants' quarters, offices, or just trim fronting unfinished space?
This photo brings back memories. I stayed at the Bellvue-Stratford during the Bicentennial celebrations of 1976 and had a wonderful time. The following week is when they had the outbreak of Legionnaires' disease.
One of the best pics of a 19-story building I've seen on Shorpy.
Today's Top 5