Penn Station, New York, Photographs
name: label: Creator
content: Pennsylvania Railroad.
label: Architect
content: McKim, Mead & White
label: Collector
content: National Museum of American History (U.S.). Division of History of Technology
label: Collector
content: National Museum of American History (U.S.). Division of Mechanical and Civil Engineering
label: Collector
content: National Museum of American History (U.S.). Division of Work and Industry
label: Names
content: Pennsylvania Station
label: Photographer
content: Dreyer, Louis H.
topic: label: Topic
content: Railroads
label: Topic
content: Railroads -- 20th century
label: Topic
content: Railroad stations
label: Topic
content: Tunnels -- New York
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: The photographs and stereograph cards were purchased from Charles Lloyd, III, a dealer, in 1980.
creator: label: Creator
content: Pennsylvania Railroad.
setName: label: See more items in
content: Penn Station, New York, Photographs
abstract: label: Summary
content: Collection documents the construction of Penn Station and the Pennsylvania Railroad's work in New York City, including the station foundations and the East and Hudson River tunnels.
bioghist: label: Historical
content: Pennsylvania Station, also known as Penn Station, is a railroad station located in New York City between Seventh and Eighth Avenues and 31st and 33rd Streets. It was named for the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR), and the project was initiated and lead by Alexander Johnston Cassatt (1839-1906), the seventh president of the PRR. Cassatt's vision was to construct tunnels under the Hudson River, bringing the PRR's line into New York City which enabled Pennsylvania Railroad trains to enter from New Jersey for the first time. 

"Beginning with a double-track line across New Jersey's marshy Hackensack Meadows, they would dig two tunnels through Bergen Cliffs, continue down under the mile-wide Hudson, emerging deep underneath a great terminal. From there two tunnels, each with two tracks, would continue under and through Manhattan, becoming four separate tunnels under the East River. Two would be for the LIRR (Long Island Railroad), and would thus create a through ride all the way from the mainland to Long Island. The two other tunnels would serve the PRR, whose empty trains would terminate in Sunnyside, Queens." (Jonnes, page 84) 

Construction of the tunnels began in 1904 and opened for service in 1910. The architects of the station building were McKim, Mead & White. The station's building was demolished (1963-1966) and Madison Square Gardens was built above the station, opening in 1968. 

Sources

"Completion of the Pennsylvania Railroad Tunnels and Terminal Station," Scientific American, Vol. 102, No. 20 (May 14, 1910), pp. 398-401. 

Historic American Buildings Survey, Engineering Record, Landscapes Survey, (HABS) No. NY-5471, "Pennsylvania Station," 1968. 

Jonnes, Jill. Conquering Gotham: A Gilded Age Epic: The Construction of Penn Station and Its Tunnels. New York: Viking Penguin Group, 2007.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 10.5 Cubic feet (23 boxes)
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1904-1910
custodhist: label: Custodial History
content: Transferred to the Archives Center from the Division of Civil and Mechanical Engineering (now Division of Work and Industry) in 2007.
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives Center, National Museum of American History
identifier: label: Identifier
content: NMAH.AC.1048
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Glass plate negatives
label: Type
content: Photographs
label: Type
content: Stereographs
arrangement: label: Arrangement
content: The collection is arannged into three series.

Series 1: Photographs, 1904-1909

Series 2: Steregraph Cards, 1904-1909

Series 3: Glass Plate Negatives, 1908-1910

Series 4: Contract Material Vouchers, 1907-1908
processinfo: label: Processing Information
content: Collection processed by Alison Oswald, archivist, 2023.
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Glass plate negatives
label: Genre/Form
content: Photographs -- Black-and-white negatives -- 20th century
label: Genre/Form
content: Photographs -- 20th century
label: Genre/Form
content: Stereographs -- 1900-1910
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: Photographs, stereographs, and glass plate negatives documenting the construction progress of the Pennsylvania Terminal, including the Pennsylvania Station Site, from pre-existing structures through the foundation construction; construction of Sunnyside Yard; Construction of Sunnyside Yard Power House; and all aspects of the construction of the East River tunnels. The photographs depict machinery, equipment, techniques, and the men working on the site. The collection is also strong in depicting streets, buildings and the clothes worn by people at that time.
relatedmaterial: label: Related Materials
content: Materials at Other Organizations

New York Historical Society

McKim Mead & White Architectural Records Collection, circa 1875-1950

Columbia University, Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library

McKim Mead & White architectural records and drawings, 1879-1958

Progress photographs taken by L. H. Dreyer and others during the construction of the Pennsylvania Terminal (Penn Station), New York City, 1907-1910

Hagley Museum and Library

Pennsylvania Railroad Company records, 1813-1968