A Journey Through Chinatown
homemanhattanflushingbrooklynmapsresources


Historical Photos

Chinatown and surrounding area in the early 20th-century
go to 1700s-1800s "Five Points" page.

Images copyright RK Chin, email to lucky_dog89 AT yahoo.com
Click on images to view larger size






Police detectives guarding Chinatown, July 6, 1909. Two detectives, one of whom is Chinese, and a policeman reading the day's paper with a passerby on the street. The street is not indicated in the photograph. Above them, on the doorway, is some sort of paper sign written in what appears to be Hebrew.




Doyers Street, 1909, view from mid-block.

The building to the right could possibly be Callahan's, the famous saloon where Al Jolston and Irving Berlin got their start.





Intersection of Pell, and Doyers, circa 1900, by Byron.




Chinatown on Sunday -- Pell Street, 1899. (source: NYPL MMPCO)

Many Chinese worked or lived outside of Chinatown and when they had the day off, came here to shop and to socialize.

[ eBook ]



The Chinese Cook Book, by Shiu Wong Chan, published in 1917, helped cooks learn how to cook Chinese cuisine either for the home, or restaurant. It includes addresses of Chinatown grocery stores, and price lists.


[ eBook ]



Pocket Guide to New York, by Merchant's Assocation, 1906. A 1906 guidebook for tourists and businessmen with maps, things to do, addresses, and what to do when a taxi overcharges you.






Mulberry Bend, circa 1890s, by Jacob Riis.

The neighborhood that spawned so much misery, as written about by Riis, eventually led to its demolition a few years later; the buildings to the left of the photo were replaced by Columbus Park.





Columbus Park, 1912, lantern slide negative by C.D. Lay.




Mulberry Street, Little Italy, circa 1900.

A hand-tinted photo of a busy street market with people posing for the camera.





Corner of Mott and Park Streets (today Mosco St.) circa 1900. The Byron Collection. larger image located at MCNY.
[ search ]



Search the The Byron Collection of 1900s photos of New York City.




Free coffee at Bowery Mission for Unemployed, Jan 2, 1908.




Seven Cent Flophouse, 1892. This was almost the lowest you could go in terms of lodging on the Bowery.

There were also church-run shelters, and the local police station one could go to if they were poor. For those with even less, maybe two-cents, you could always slump over a table at a liquor house for a few hours.

[ image ]



The Bowery from Grand Street, 1903. By George P. Hall. To the far left are the pillars of the Bowery Savings Bank.




"El" Second and Third Avenue lines; Bowery and Doyer St. Apr. 24, 1936, by Bernice Abbott.

This photo was one of several variations Abbott took of the El at this location. (source: NYPL) larger image located at NYPL.





"The Bowery about 10 p.m." by Marjory Collins. Taken 1942 near 29 Bowery.

Photo from the Farm Security Administration, Office of War Information.





Blossom Restaurant; 103 Bowery. Oct. 3, 1935, by Bernice Abbott. (source: NYPL) larger image located at NYPL.




Pike and Henry Street. Mar. 6, 1936, by Bernice Abbott. (source: NYPL) larger image located at NYPL.

It appears we are looking down Pike street.

[ search ]



Search the The Byron Collection of 1900s photos of New York City.
[ search ]



Search the NYPL Digital Gallery for historic photos and items of New York City.
[ website ]



Shorpy.com, photos from the early 1900s
go to 1700s-1800s photo page

Chinatowns of New York City (Then and Now)
by Wendy Wan-Yin Tan
Harper Collins, 2006. 384pp.

USA click for price and purchase info at Amazon.com USA     CANADA click for price and purchase info at Amazon.ca CANADA UK click for price and purchase info at Amazon.co.uk UK

For a span of more than a century, New York's Chinese communities have grown uninterruptedly from three streets in lower Manhattan to five Chinatowns, over 100 street blocks, across the boroughs of Manhattan, Queens, and Brooklyn. This book documents the changes through past-and-present photos." book description

Manhattan's Chinatown (Postcard History: New York)
by Daniel Ostrow
Arcadia Publishing, 2008. 128pp.

USA click for price and purchase info at Amazon.com USA     CANADA click for price and purchase info at Amazon.ca CANADA UK click for price and purchase info at Amazon.co.uk UK

For generations of New Yorkers and visitors, Chinatown represents the very embodiment of exotica. With its ancient tenements, temples, fragrant food aromas, neon signs, colorful sites and sounds, and aromatic curio shops, it provides the ultimate journey of the senses, revealing an energetic and vibrant world. Through vintage postcards, Manhattan's Chinatown chronicles how this community has continually evolved over 150 years." book description


The Bowery, New York City
The Bowery

New York City
17 x 11 in
at AllPoster.com
Hester Street, New York City
Hester Street

New York City
17 in x 11 in
at AllPoster.com


NYC Chinatown Index | Manhattan | Flushing | Brooklyn | Links & Resources | What's New
Storefront Photos | Historical Photos | Bookstore | Directory | Image Usage Policy | E·mail  

© Copyright 2002-2013 by RK Chin. All rights reserved.
visit : rkchin home : photography : nyc chinatown : tenementcity :
vintage historical photos photographs image images map maps of New York City historic historical text documents the Five Points the Bowery Pell Street Doyer Doyers Doyer Street Manhattan Chinatown the Collect Pond Old Brewery