Fifth Avenue Looking North From 51st Street – 1913

In this one hundred year old view of Fifth Avenue, we see some of the many methods of transportation that New Yorker’s took to get around the city.

A double-decker Fifth Avenue bus ambles to its terminus at 22nd Street and is packed with riders on the top deck taking in the sights. There are horse drawn carriages and many types of automobiles traveling both north and south as Fifth Avenue was a two way street until 1966.

And of course pedestrians crowd the sidewalks on this brisk sunny day.

A couple of things to take note of: the simple, old style four sided street sign attached to the lamppost and there is almost no visible trash or refuse in the streets or on the sidewalks.

This area of Fifth Avenue was still mostly residential, but the ever constant march of northward commerce would change that. As can be evidenced by the vacant lot on the right, within the next ten years commercial interests would buy many of the homes and convert or demolish them to build anew. By the 1920’s this portion of the avenue would become primarily business oriented.