From humble beginnings... |
N ew York City is the most collectively recognized city in the entire nation, perhaps even the world. From Times Square; the 'crossroads of the world' to the Empire State Building, New York is one of our country's proudest crown jewels. Manhattan, Queens, The Bronx, Brooklyn, and Staten Island; five boroughs of American history. As with any measure of growth, New York began it's transformation from humbling beginnings. The photograph to the left shows the crowded city streets of Broadway in 1869.
Beaming horse-drawn carriages replace the beeping yellow taxi cabs we are familiar with today. What you cannot see in this photograph is the three hundred twelve foot long tunnel underneath the surface of Broadway. At this time in 1869, an inventor by the name of Alfred Beach was working hard to improve the transportation ability of the City of New York. Little did this man know that his work would inspire the multi-veined system of subway transit in this great city that exists to this day. |
Fueled progression...
T he year is 1880. Thomas Edison, an American inventor and a self-made-man, patented the first incandescent light bulb. Edison did not realize the astonishing effects his invention would have on our nation's way of living, forever. It is with the invention of the incandescent light bulb that New York City, among many other growing concrete jungles are fully illuminated. The transition from day to night is almost seamless as cities begin to light up. It is remarkable that such a simplistic design patented nearly a century and a half ago could light up our cities to this day.
As Americans, we rely on light, power, and energy for the majority of modern day activity. Edison re-imagined the American way of living, and through trial and error, he has revolutionized the way that the entire world is illuminated and powered. From Edison's excursions, famous corporations such as General Electric (GE) have sprouted and grown to innovate products from the simple bulb in your home's kitchen to the engines powering our strongest aircraft.
As Americans, we rely on light, power, and energy for the majority of modern day activity. Edison re-imagined the American way of living, and through trial and error, he has revolutionized the way that the entire world is illuminated and powered. From Edison's excursions, famous corporations such as General Electric (GE) have sprouted and grown to innovate products from the simple bulb in your home's kitchen to the engines powering our strongest aircraft.
W ith nearly every successful superpower, issues in equality and proper treatment often arise. This case is especially certain in the year of 1896, when American cities continue to sprout from all corners of this great nation. As cities are born, questions are raised. Questions of segregation and discrimination against former African American slaves are pondered as the Jim Crow era is in full swing. Even after the Civil War, when the Union claimed victory and established freedom for all, not all were truly treated as equals. To
To address these issues and more, vested in the power of the ultimate judicial authority of our government, the United States Supreme court ruled that white and colored races shall receive "separate but equal" accommodation under the law. This decision was upheld by the Plessy vs. Ferguson case (1896). It is with rulings such as "separate but equal" that our cities begin to transition into a tremendous period of social change. This ruling allowed for segregation between whites and blacks, as long as both receive equal accommodation by law. The civil rights movement, along with leaders such as Booker T. Washington in the south and Web Dubois in the north would later inspire the Women's Suffrage movement around the turn of the century, and even the March on Washington in 1963.
To address these issues and more, vested in the power of the ultimate judicial authority of our government, the United States Supreme court ruled that white and colored races shall receive "separate but equal" accommodation under the law. This decision was upheld by the Plessy vs. Ferguson case (1896). It is with rulings such as "separate but equal" that our cities begin to transition into a tremendous period of social change. This ruling allowed for segregation between whites and blacks, as long as both receive equal accommodation by law. The civil rights movement, along with leaders such as Booker T. Washington in the south and Web Dubois in the north would later inspire the Women's Suffrage movement around the turn of the century, and even the March on Washington in 1963.
Built History...
The Ultimate Expansion...
The map above shows the City of Boston in the year of 1873. The intricacy of the map illustrates the American Dream at this time in the Progressive Era; the construction of the largest, most profitable, most organized cities that the world has ever known. For the first time in our history, we have services such as law enforcement and fire departments, more efficient transportation and ports, as well as specialized city units responsible for regulation and control of city ordinances. This map conveys an incredible sense of power and dominance in terms of the breadth of our building Progressive Era cities. From analyzing this map, one could learn to imagine the scale of massive architectural design and construction that would be needed to construct our finest cities.