City Hall subway station, New York by Detroit Photographic Company
8"x10" ($40) | 11"x14" ($85) | 16"x20" ($275) | 24"x30" ($1,100) | 30"x40" ($1,950)
City Hall station was the glistening crown jewel of New York City's IRT (Interborough Rapid Transit Company) subway, Gotham’s first system of rapid train transit. City Hall subway station, New York is an image taken at some point between the station’s opening on October 27th, 1904 and the end of 1906 by the Detroit Photographic Company (also known as the Detroit Publishing Company). That they would lovingly document the site is no surprise–the company thoroughly chronicled the breakneck speed at which New York City experienced growth and change during the turn of the century. Plus, the City Hall station’s stunning Romanesque Revival-style architecture, opulent brass chandeliers, glittering decorative glass tiles, and grand skylights begged to be photographed.
The station, unmistakably designed by Rafael Guastavino, is defined by a particular type of curved, vaulted ceiling patented by the architect and modeled after techniques popularized in the Catalonian region of Spain. Soaring multi-colored tiles dance in connecting curves high above the station floor, giving the space a dynamism that echoes the optimism felt in the city in response to its rapid development. With the Big Apple’s population boom, however, trains had to become longer…and because the City Hall station couldn’t be redesigned to accommodate the new 10-car trains, it was decommissioned on December 31st, 1945.
Now part of the New York City Transit Museum, the station has become a tourist destination. NYC’s current system, the MTA (the Metropolitan Transit Authority), leaves a lot to be desired in terms aesthetic appeal despite the robust efforts of its MTA Arts & Design Agency. One would be hard pressed to find a New Yorker who didn’t wish that the City Hall station was the norm instead of a museum relic. City Hall subway station, New York is a beautiful document of the industriousness that this city is absolutely capable of, and a love letter to the connection between beautiful architecture and civic pride.
More work by Detroit Photographic Company:
A Monday Washing, New York City
