New England, Boston, Bridge Engineering Collection, ca. 1908

Summary

Creator:

Anonymous

Abstract:

The New England, Boston, bridge engineering collection consists of 56 photographs including scenes in New England and New York and a railroad drawbridge under construction as well as a series of 11 half-tone images of Boston landmarks.

Extent:

56 photographs and 11 photomechanical prints

Language:

English

Authors:

Collection processed and finding aid created by Les High and Jakob Dopp, May 2024

Background

Scope and Content:

The New England, Boston, bridge engineering collection consists of 56 photographs including scenes in New England and New York and a railroad drawbridge under construction as well as a series of 11 half-tone images of Boston landmarks.

The photographer/compiler of the collection has not been identified. Photographs are included on loose pages that appear to have once been bound together. The initial grouping of photographs includes major landmarks such as Grant’s Tomb, scenes of action on city streets, and serene views of rocky shorelines. Automobiles only appear in a couple of photos. The steel railroad drawbridge documented in the second section can definitively be dated to 1908 when the Pennsylvania Steel Company built Bridge Number 3.40, better known as the “Bronx River Bascules,” for the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad.

The final grouping of half-tones shows Boston as a modern, progressive city. Most of the images are derived from photographs, but the image of the new opera house was rendered from an illustration.

Acquisition Information:

Purchased from Stephen Resnick, September 2000. F-542 .

Rules or Conventions:

Finding aid prepared using Describing Archives: A Content Standard (DACS)

Subjects

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Subjects:

Photographs shelf.
Automobiles--1900-1910.
Drawbridges--1900-1910.
Horses--1900-1910.
Parades & processions--1900-1910.
Railroad bridges--1900-1910.
Ships--1900-1910.
Streets--1900-1910.

Formats:

Architectural photographs.
Gelatin silver prints.
Group portraits.
Photomechanical prints.

Names:

Boston Opera House.
Boston Public Library.
Charlestown Navy Yard (Mass.)
Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Old Corner Book Store (Boston, Mass.)

Places:

Back Bay (Boston, Mass.)
Boston (Mass.)
Tremont Street (Boston, Mass.)