Hi Wilbur,
Entering from the Atlantic Ocean into Lower Bay and The Narrows,
Staten Island will be to your left and Brooklyn to your right,
gradually opening up into Upper Bay with New Jersey to your left,
Ellis Island, the Statue of Liberty and Manhatten straight ahead and
Brooklyn still to your right. I think what might first make an
impression on immigrants approaching their destination are the number
of forts guarding the entrance of New York Harbor.
"New York Harbor, Use with Coast and Geodetic Chart No. 369"
issued c.1910, by Horenburger:
"A lovely hand colored map of New York Harbor, showing New York City,
Brooklyn, Jersey City, Staten Island, and the New Jersey mainland."
"Shows the beginning of the Hudson River, the East River, the Upper
Bay, Newark Bay, Raritan Bay, Lower Bay, Sandy Hook Bay, and Gravesend
Bay. This map features lines that indicate the distances between major
points, as well as lines that define the major channels of the
harbor."
http://www.portsmouthbookshop.com/MapPage/MapPages552xx/55272nyha.htm
"The narrow approaches to the harbour from the ocean and from Long
Island Sound make its fortification easy. On Sandy Hook... is Fort
Hancock, established as a military reservation (1366 acres) in 1892...
Between the lower and upper bays on the Narrows, are Fort Wadsworth...
including Fort Tompkins, ...and, across the Narrows, ...Fort Hamilton"
"Older fortifications are Fort Lafayette... and Fort Columbus (i8o6),
South Battery (1812) and Castle Williams..."
http://80.1911encyclopedia.org/N/NE/NEW_YORK_CITY_.htm
1) On the right of the Narrows, Brooklyn. Was it a village to the
water? What did it look like?
No, it wasn't a village (although called one) but a very busy place,
complete with the Brooklyn Navy Yard and the Brooklyn-Manhattan
Transit Corporation.
BROOKLYN"
Population 1910: 1,634,400
"By 1910, there were more than 112 different ferry lines, for freight
and for passengers, operating along the shared waterways of New York
and New Jersey."
http://www.gothamgazette.com/commentary/92.fleischer.shtml
History of the Brooklyn-Manhattan Transit Corporation:
http://www.bmt-lines.com/history.html
Tugboats:
"By 1910, Moran Towing was grossing nearly $800,000 a year"
http://www.baycrossings.com/Archives/2002/02_March/new_york_report_new_york_harbor_history.htm
"By the next decade, other complexes like Red Hook began as far north
as the Navy Yard and by 1865 the remaining marshes were converted to
docks, warehouses and the factories which supplied them. The Brooklyn
waterfront was growing, but it was still second in size to Manhattan
through the rest of the century. However, by the turn of the century
the Manhattan docks were at full capacity and developers looked to
Brooklyn for expansion."
"Between 1902 and 1918 one of the developers, Irving Bush, built the
most extensive of these dock developments, one which became a model
for the Navy during World War I and an adjunct to it. Bush Terminal is
composed of deep water piers, vast warehouses and manufacturing lofts,
all served by a railroad system, carfloats, float bridges, and a truck
fleet for ocean shipping. Thus, when the US Navy needed to expand its
warehousing capacity, it turned in 1917 to the construction company
responsible for the multitude of Bush Terminal buildings, the Turner
Construction Company."
http://w3.gsa.gov/web/p/interaia.nsf/0/18d2bef9c9c1d6678525672a00796480?OpenDocument
"Moored at the New York Navy Yard (also called Brooklyn Navy Yard),
Brooklyn, New York, after being fitted for naval service, 21 May
1898."
http://www.navsource.org/archives/12/130090.htm
USS Terror, an armored monitor being fitted out at Brooklyn Navy Yard:
Between 1896 and 1901:
http://rs6.loc.gov/pnp/det/4a10000/4a14000/4a14700/4a14744r.jpg
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
2) Was Staten Island green and bucolic? Were there any big buildings
to remark on either side?
STATEN ISLAND: The 1911 Edition Encyclopedia Love to Know:
Population: 85,969
"Staten Island i~ connected by ferry with the borough of Manhattan, 5
m. distant, and with Perth Amboy, New Jersey. The Staten Island Rapid
Transit railway extends along the north shore and the south-east side,
and there are several electric lines and pleasant drives."
"The island is chiefly a residential district, and in the picturesque
hill section are many fine residences. Forts Wadsworth and Tompkins
commanding the passage of the Narrows constitute one of the strongest
defences of New York Harbor."
"The north-east quarter is broken by two ranges of hills having a
precipitous east slope and rising to a maximum height of about 400
ft., I m. inland from the Narrows; but on the west and south the hills
fall gently to the Coastal Plain, which, occupying the greater part of
the island, is broken only by low morainal ridges and terminates in
salt marshes along much of the west coast. There are many species of
forest trees and more than 1300 species of flowering plants and
ferns."
"The island is chiefly a residential district, and in the picturesque
hill section are many fine residences. Forts Wadsworth and Tompkins
commanding the passage of the Narrows constitute one of the strongest
defences of New York Harbor."
"South Beach, below the Narrows, is a popular seaside resort."
http://69.1911encyclopedia.org/S/ST/STATEN_ISLAND.htm
Port Richmond Square, Circa 1910, Staten Island NY.
http://jerseycoa.tripod.com/May16DorisLane/
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
3) The Jersey swamps...were there ports or landmarks there? Or light
houses in the bay?
NEW JERSEY
Population 1910: 2,537,167
SANDY HOOK LIGHTHOUSE:
"Off the tip of Sandy Hook, NJ, is the oldest working lighthouse in the country.
It was designed and built in 1764 by Isaac Conro. The light was built
to aid mariners entering the southern end of the New York harbor. It
was originally called New York Lighthouse because it was funded
through a New York Assembly lottery and a tax on all ships entering
the Port of New York."
http://www.visitmonmouth.com/lighthouses/sandyhook.htm
TWIN LIGHT OF THE NAVESINK:
"Twin Lights became America's first electrically powered lighthouse in
1898, with installation of an electric arc bivalve lens in the south
tower. It was the nation's most powerful light and visible for 22
miles at sea."
http://www.highlandsnj.com/history/html/twinlights.html
GREAT BEDS LIGHTHOUSE:
"The Great Beds Lighthouse sits about 3/4 of a mile off Staten
Island?s, Wards Point, in Raritan Bay."
http://www.lighthousemuseum.org/nylights/gtbeds.htm
ROBBIN'S REEF LIGHTHOUSE:
"Robbin's Reef Lighthouse is passed daily by thousands of commuters
who take the Staten Island ferry to and from work. The light is about
2 miles southwest of the Statue of Liberty and has guided mariners
safely around the harbor's dangerous reefs for over 100 years."
http://www.lighthousemuseum.org/nylights/robrf.htm
ROMER SHOAL LIGHTHOUSE:
"Since 1898, the Romer Shoal Lighthouse has stood off the shore of
Staten Island, serving mariners who sail through the Swash Channel."
http://www.lighthousemuseum.org/nylights/romer.htm
"The eastern terminals of the southern and western lines running from
New York City are situated on the western shore of the Hudson river,
in Weehawken, Hoboken Or Jersey City; whence passengers and freight
are carried by ferry to New York. Jersey City and Hoboken are also
connected with New York by tunnels under the Hudson river."
http://44.1911encyclopedia.org/N/NE/NEW_JERSEY.htm
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
4) The Statue of Liberty would be in sight to the left and Governor's
Island to the right...What would that have looked like in terms of
construction?
She was assembled and accepted by President Grover Cleveland in 1886.
In 1910, you would've still been able to go into the arm, as that
wasn't closed until 1916.
Date of Final Assembly of statue & pedestal: 1886:
http://www.endex.com/gf/buildings/liberty/libertyfacts.htm
Statue of Liberty 1898:
http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/papr:@field(NUMBER%2B@band(lcmp002%2Bm2a01604))
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
5) Could I see any bridges from the bay?
Probably only the Brooklyn Bridge and perhaps the Manhattan Bridge.
Trains travelling from NY and NJ used the "tubes".
"In 1910 there were between manhattan and Long Island four bridges.
Three of these bridges led to Brooklyn and one to Long Island city:
The New York and Brooklyn Suspended Bridge; the Williamsburg Bridge
(1897-1903), also a suspension bridge; the Manhattan Bridge (1901-09),
a wire cable suspension bridge; and the Queensboro Bridge (1901-09), a
cantilever from Second Avenue, between Fifty-ninth and sixtieth
Streets, Manhattan, to Long Island City, with sustaining towers on
Blackwell's Island."
"It was during the period between 1900 and 1910 that the tunnels of
the Pennsylvania Railroad were constructed under Manhattan Island and
the Hudson and East Rivers. The McAdoo Tubes, which provided rapid
transit to the many cities and communities in the Metropolitan
District on the New Jersey side of the Hudson, were also completed and
put into operation during these years. the question of connecting
Manhattan with New Jersey by a bridge or tunnel has been much
discussed for a number of years."
http://www.usgennet.org/usa/ny/state/his/bk2/ch5/pt3.html
Brooklyn Bridge, From a Roof-Top, ca. 1905-1910:
http://www.josephbellows.com/coburn/coburn10.html
Manhattan Bridge, 1910:
http://members.tripod.com/gillonj/newyork/id25.htm
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
6) What would the waterfront look like from the ship?
Panorama from the tower of Brooklyn Bridge 1903:
"The view was taken from the tower on the Brooklyn side of the bridge.
As the film begins, the camera is looking southwest, towards the
southern tip of Manhattan (the Battery). The camera pans very rapidly
north following Manhattan's East River shoreline, across the bridge
span itself and the bridge's New York side tower, following the
shoreline further north towards Corlear's Hook, where the film ends."
http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/papr:@field(NUMBER%2B@band(lcmp002%2Bm2b04725))
New York City Harbor 1910:
http://c250.columbia.edu/dkv/eseminars/0708/web/sect_4/0708_s4_2_tx.html
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
7) And, in front of me, Manhattan. No high skyscrapers, but what would
the "skyline" look like?
MANHATTAN
Population 1910 Humans: 2,331,542
Population 1910 Horses: 128,175
"Buildings.The citys sky-line is broken by the tall business
buildings, known as sky-scrapers,1 the construction of which was made
necessary by the narrowness of the down-town portion of the island in
wbich the increasing business population had to be accommodated. The
ten-storey Tower Building (1889)... was the first of these, and was
soon followed by much taller ones."
Singer Sewing Machine Companys Building (612 ft)
Metropolitan Life Insurance Companys Building (693 ft)
Produce Exchange (with a 225-ft. tower)
Manhattan Life Building (with a 36o-ft. tower)
Empire Building (20 storeys)
Drexel Building, the Trust Company of America (23 storeys)
Broad Exchange Building (276 ft)
Commercial Cable Building (317 ft)
City Investing Building (32 storeys; 486 ft)
Hudson Terminal Buildings (22 storeys)
Park Row Building (30 storeys; 390 ft)
Pulitzer Building (with a dome 310 ft)
Fuller (or Flatiron ) Building (290 ft)
New York Times Building (363 ft)
http://80.1911encyclopedia.org/N/NE/NEW_YORK_CITY_.htm
New York City Skyscrapers 1910, taken from Jersey City:
http://www.hellonewyork.com/images/New%20York%20skyscrapers%201910.jpg
New York City Skyline 1911:
http://www.hellonewyork.com/images/New%20York%20skyline%201911.jpg
Manhatten from Brooklyn. 1910:
http://www.gangrule.com/gallery/other_html/from-brooklyn-1910.html
Lower Manhattan:
http://www.leegallery.com/images/StieglitzR1813.jpg
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Additional Links:
Immigration, The Journey to America: The Italians:
http://library.thinkquest.org/20619/Italian.html
The Immigrant Journey:
http://www.americanparknetwork.com/parkinfo/sl/history/journey.html
1910 in NY:
http://home.eznet.net/~dminor/NYNY1910.html
Rail System in 1910:
http://www.tmk.com/hm_gallery/
Emigrants [i.e. immigrants] landing at Ellis Island 1903:
"From a contemporary Edison film company catalog: EMIGRANTS LANDING AT
ELLIS ISLAND. Shows a large open barge loaded with people of every
nationality, who have just arrived from Europe, disembarking at Ellis
Island, N.Y. A most interesting and typical scene."
http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/papr:@field(NUMBER%2B@band(lcmp002%2Bm2a10987))
Arrival of emigrants [i.e. immigrants], Ellis Island 1906:
"Depicts scenes at the Immigration Depot and a nearby dock on Ellis
Island. Appears to show, first, a group of immigrants lined up to
board a vessel leaving the island, then another group arriving at the
island and being directed off of the dock and into the Depot by a
uniformed official."
http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/papr:@field(NUMBER%2B@band(lcmp002%2Bm2a13402))
Madison Square Garden 1910 Pamorama:
http://www.hellonewyork.com/images/Madison%20Square%20pamorama%201910.jpg
Immigration History Research Center:
http://www1.umn.edu/ihrc/
Balch Institute for Ethnic Studies:
http://www.balchinstitute.org/
LoC ImmigrantArrivals: Personal Narratives & Correspondence:
One example of what you can find at this site:
LoC record / electronic resource (toc, index, biblio)
Novotny, Ann.
Strangers at the door; Ellis Island, Castle Garden, and the great
migration to America.
Riverside, Conn., Chatham Press [1971]
160 p. illus. 29 cm.
ISBN: 0856990256
Notes: Bibliography: p. 152-153.
http://www.loc.gov/rr/genealogy/bib_guid/immigrant/personal.html
Wards Island Immigration Station circa 1871-2:
engravings & photographs
http://www.theshipslist.com/pictures/wards.html
NYC Timeline 1900-1949:
http://timelines.ws/cities/NYC_B.HTML
DEVASTATING THUNDERSTORM HITS NEW YORK CITY: June 19, 1910:
http://www.bklyn-genealogy-info.com/Newspaper/Disasters/1910.Thunder.html
Thank you for this question, which I thoroughly enjoyed researching
because I was born in New Jersey. I'm afraid I've gotten a bit lost in
the history (those Edison Motion Pictures are terrific - I hope you
enjoy them as much as I did) - if you find I've gone off-track and
neglected something, or if you have any questions, please post a
clarification request before rating/closing my answer and I'll be
happy to respond. Just a note: Ellis Island was used for processing
immigrants in 1910 - we can find no evidence that Riker's Island was
ever used as such, although if it were, it would've been much earlier.
Sincerely,
hummer
Google Search Terms Used:
"brooklyn waterfront" 1910
completion "statue of liberty"
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etc. |
