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Urban Archive

Uncover the history of New York. Urban Archive is a location-based platform that empowers New Yorkers to learn about history where it happened.

The app brings together the digital collections of New York City’s museums, archives, and libraries in an easy-to-use resource built for discovery. Find us on your desktop and mobile devices! urbanarchive.org and in the App Store (for iOS)

10/10/2026

Stores around Norfolk Street and Grand Street, 1932.

Row of shops and advertising signs on Grand Street photographed by J.B. Lightman, a student of the Training School for Jewish Social Work. In 1932, he conducted a study of the Lower East Side.

Our partners at wrote that Lightman “had learned of the city’s upcoming east side reconstruction programs, which would drastically change the landscape of this culturally significant neighborhood.” The photographer himself said: “It was felt that there was passing a picture of Jewish communal life, activities, and endeavor, a record of which would someday be a matter of historical significance, as well as source material for the understanding of the early struggles and movements working toward the adjustment of Jewry in New York, and possibly in America.”

📷 Courtesy of the American Jewish Historical Society,

10/09/2026

Veselka, 144 2nd Avenue, 1980.

Established in 1954 in a small storefront—as a candy shop and newsstand— Veselka () was founded by Ukrainian refugees Wlodymyr and Olha Darmochwal. The new business was named for the Ukrainian word for rainbow. In 1966 the owners took over an adjacent space on 9th Street, allowing for a full luncheonette. A family-run business, even still, Veselka has long been a curious mix of old world traditions and the modern social milieu of the East Village. They began offering 24 hour service in 1990 and expanded in size in 1996.

📷 Courtesy of Village Preservation,

10/07/2026

Fifth Avenue looking south from 32nd Street, New York City, 1905.

The corner address at No. 316 Fifth Avenue was once the Kaskel & Kaskel Building. The Beaux Arts structure was designed in 1902 by architect Charles L. Berg as the headquarters of the city’s premier high-end menswear store. Both Nos. 314 and 316 stood until 2017, when the buildings were razed to make way for a planned 40-story condominium. The lot has remained empty since.

📷 Courtesy of the New-York Historical,

10/06/2026

Flatbush Avenue and Fulton Street in Brooklyn, 1940s.

A busy scene in Downtown Brooklyn. The original caption reads: “Aerial view of intersection of Flatbush Avenue and Fulton Street with many moving vehicles including many automobiles and several trucks, U. S. Army amd U. S. Air Force Recruiting Station and Bickford's restaurant in foregound, many shops and commercial and office buildings, many pedestrians, and Fox movie theater in far right foreground.”

📷 Courtesy of the Center for Brooklyn History,

10/01/2026

Three photos of the opening of the Sorolla Exhibition at the Hispanic Society, showing Joaquín Sorolla on the steps of the building and crowds gathered outside the building, 1909.

🔔 New Collection Alert: we are thrilled to be partnering with the Hispanic Society to host their digital collections on our platform. The first collection added to Urban Archive spans 1900 to 1940, and these photographs chronicle the construction of the Society’s Audubon Terrace headquarters and the exhibitions that established its presence.

09/30/2026

Gilsey House ca. 1903

After the Civil War, New York’s entertainment district began moving north of Madison Square. Numerous theaters, restaurants, and hotels opened in the newly fashionable neighborhood, and while the city’s architectural churn has erased much of what was built in that era, two important buildings remain on Broadway in the area now known as NoMad.

The Grand Hotel, built in 1868 on the southeast corner of 31st Street, and Gilsey House, built in 1871 on the northeast corner of 29th Street, both reflect the opulent spirit of the Gilded Age. They were designed in the French Second Empire style, with characteristic mansard roofs. Gilsey House in particular features elaborate ornamentation.

Located in the center of what was dubbed the Tenderloin, the hotels existed in an environment notorious for luxury and vice. However, as the entertainment scene continued moving northward to Times Square during the 20th century, the neighborhood’s fortunes declined considerably. Neither building continues to operate as a hotel, but both are designated New York City landmarks.

📷 Courtesy of the New-York Historical,

09/29/2026

Photos ahead of the Dewey Day Parade, including the triumphal arch.

On September 29-30th, 1899, a two-day land and sea parade welcomed Rear Admiral George Dewey (1837-1917) home. Dewey had become the nation’s great naval hero, the first and only admiral to be titled “Admiral of the Navy”, after his 1898 victory at the Battle of Manila Bay, in the Philippines, during the Spanish–American War.

The Spanish–American War ended with the 1898 Treaty of Paris, and the US took possession of several former Spanish colonies including Puerto Rico, the island of Guam, and the Philippine Islands. The US occupation of the Philippines would lead to the brutal Phillipine-American War.

📷 Courtesy of the New-York Historical,

09/28/2026

United Nations Building, 1967.

Not technically in New York City, but in international territory owned by the United Nations, the headquarters of the UN consists of four main buildings. The two buildings seen in this photograph taken a few years after the structures were completed, are the Secretariat Building (the tall one) and the General Assembly Building (the low rise sloping building).

The Secretariat Building is 39 stories above ground and three stories below and was completed in 1952. It was designed by Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer and the Swiss-French architect Le Corbusier, as part of a larger board of architects. The long exterior facings of the building are made of aluminum, glass, and marble. This International Style building was the first skyscraper in the city to feature a glass curtain wall (an extremely common design method in the 21st century).

The low rise building is the General Assembly Building, and it is 380 feet long and 160 feet wide with concave sides and a shallow dome on top. The minimal ornamentation, curving facade, and wide open interiors exemplify the International Style. The building, which was created by a Board of Design Consultants from all over the world, headed by the American Wallace K. Harrison, houses the large hall where the delegates to the UN meet.

📷 Courtesy of the Museum of the City of New York,

09/26/2026

Park Avenue, looking north from 50th Street, 1922.

People sitting on benches in the plaza space in the middle of Park Avenue, with St. Bartholomew's Church on the right.

📷 Courtesy of the Museum of the City of New York,

09/21/2026

In September 1899, after a two-day land and sea parade welcomed Rear Admiral George Dewey (1837-1917) home, a ceremonial arch, the "Dewey Arch," was constructed out of "staff" (plaster + wood shavings) at Fifth Avenue and 24th Street. The idea was that the arch would be re-created in stone when enough funds were raised.

At the time, Dewey had become the nation’s great naval hero, the first and only admiral to be titled “Admiral of the Navy”, after his 1898 victory at the Battle of Manila Bay, in the Philippines, during the Spanish–American War. However, the waning popularity of the Philippine War meant that fundraising for a permanent monument became nearly impossible. The arch was taken down a year after Dewey's homecoming.

📷 Courtesy of South Street Seaport Museum

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Tuesday	9am - 5pm
Wednesday	9am - 5pm
Thursday	9am - 5pm
Friday	9am - 5pm
Saturday	9am - 5pm
Sunday	9am - 5pm

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