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Help us Solve Some Historic Photo Mysteries

Can you help us identify where this photo was taken? Likely in lower Manhattan…

Over 80 new historic photos taken by Carole Teller were recently added to the GVSHP Image Archive. Every time we add photos to our collection, we uncover some great stories, like when a woman emailed us that her mother was the subject of this photo, a man let us know this is the only existing photo of his grandfather, and several people who helped us identify this man as former Vice-President and presidential candidate Henry Agard Wallace.

Now there is a whole new set of images and mysteries to explore in Carole Teller’s Changing New York Part 3. What do you remember about the Feast of San Gennaro in the early 1980s? Do these photos of a chicken vendor on what we think is Canal Street near Mulberry Steet jog your memory? Who are these bands and musicians playing in Washington Square Park?

Do you know who or where these men are? We assume they are debating whether denim or corduroy is the superior fabric.

There are many interesting photos yet to be identified, such as the location of this ghost sign, this ghost figure graffiti, these women in a phone booth,

Look through the new collection, as well as Part 1 and Part 2 and let us know if you can identify a person or place we can’t. Email us at info@gvshp.org.


While we have been able to identify the exact location of about ninety percent of the images in our historic image archive, there are some we have just not been able to figure out and any help is appreciated!  All images for which we do not have locations can be found on our map in the black boxes on the left and right sides. Peruse them all, and see if you can offer any clues!

Can you identify this probably long gone Lower East Side Restaurant?

Among the locations we have been able to identify is this photo of a large parking lot on Third Avenue between 11th & 12th Street which made way for an NYU dorm in the mid-1980s; the early 1980s Union Square renovation; the now-demolished Loew’s Avenue B Theater that stood from 1912 to 1968 on the southwest corner of Avenue B and 5th Street, some great photos of the S. Klein Department Store, and men playing Bocce at Houston & First Streets.

We originally thought this was Great Jones Alley, but it’s not. Do you know?

Do you remember the not too distant past of just twenty or so years ago when gas stations in Lower Manhattan were plentiful? Most of them have long made way for new residential developments, and only one still exists below 14th Street. There was this one on Lafayette between Great Jones & Bond Streets, this one on the corner of Bowery and Great Jones, and this one on Bowery & 5th Street. Click here to read more about researching historic photos.

3 responses to “Help us Solve Some Historic Photo Mysteries

  1. Are there any photos available of the area that was razed to build Stuvysant Town? I lived on Avenue B and 17th St. and my father had a grocery store on Avenue B and 15th St. I would so like to see what the neighborhood looked like to see if it matches my memories.

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