IN PICTURES: 20th-century New York

Thirty-one spectacular images from bygone eras.

NEW YORK. THE Big Apple. The City That Never Sleeps. The Centre of the Universe.

Historically, Manhattan has been the hub of many important movements and milestones. It is also a town where rich and poor, black and white, Americans and immigrants have lived side-by-side for centuries.

The Library of Congress in the US has been working on digitising thousands of images from the city’s archives, giving a snapshot into the ordinary lives of New Yorkers through the years.

Be they images of Suffrage parades or a young boy on a paper round, the stills are fascinating, brilliant and engrossing. The NYCPast Tumbler has picked out some of its favourites, which we have reproduced here.

Enjoy.

Suffrage Parade, 1913

Suffragists marching in 1913.

22nd Street and Third Avenue, February 1908

This photo was taken during a newspaper round at 1am on Sunday 23 February 1908. John Newman said he was 16 years old but the photographer believes he was only about 13. He does not attend school, said a witness F. McMurry. Photographer: Lewis Wickes Hine

Little Italy, August 1942

A flag-raising ceremony in Little Italy in honour of Mott Street boys in the US Army. Photographer: Marjory Collins

May Day Parade, 1909

Women marchers in New York. (Image: Bain News Service)

East Side, 1915

A push cart market on the east side. (Image: George Grantham Bain Collection)

6 July 1912

Licking ice on a hot city day. The children were pictured in front of a grocery store. Photographer unknown.

Grand Central, between 1910 and 1920

The concourse in Grand Central Terminal. (Images: Detroit Publishing Co.)

Flatiron, 1905

After a snowstorm. (Image: Detroit Publishing Co.)

23rd and Broadway, no date provided

Photograph shows a Navy recruiting station next to the Flatiron Building, New York City. (Image: Bain News Service)

Columbia Yacht Club, 1913

Photo shows Miss Elizabeth Haldane (wearing hat with white plume), sister of Viscount Haldane; Judge Dickinson (carrying umbrella), and J.P. Morgan at the Columbia Yacht Club, located at the foot of 86th Street, New York City. (Image: Flickr Commons project, 2010 and New York Times, August 25, 1913)

Central Park, no date provided

Horse drawn sleigh in Central Park, New York City. (Image: Bain News Service)

Sixth Avenue, December 1905

Christmas shoppers on Sixth Avenue. (Images: Bain News Service)

Sixth Avenue, December 1910

(Image: Detroit Publishing)

Times Square, March 1943

Photographer: John Vachon

Union Square, 1909

A Labor Day meeting in Union Square. (Image: Bain News Service)

Tudor City Place, 1960

The Tudor City Complex, Woodstock Tower at 320 East 42nd Street.

Union Square, no date provided

More navy recruitment. (Image: Bain News Service)

Washington Square Park, March 1943

Photographer: John Vachon

Washington Street, March 1943

A street cleaner on Washington Street on the west side. Photographer: John Vachon

Broadway, 1905

The Times Building can be seen in the background. (Image: Detroit Publishing Co.)

Chrysler Building, 1953

Smog obscures the view of the Chrysler Building from the Empire State Building. Photographer: Walter Albertin

Times Square, February 1943

A Camel cigarette billboard on Times Square. Photographer: John Vachon

Grand Central Terminal, 1941

Photomural to promote the sale of defence bonds, designed by the Farm Security Administration, in the concourse of the Grand Central terminal. Photographer: Arthur Rothstein