The old City Hall Station, built in 1904 and decommissioned in 1945, is unlike any other New York City subway station. Filled with beautifully tiled vaults and arches, skylights, brass fittings and stained glass, it was once the terminus of the IRT line that ran north all the way to 145th street along Broadway.
The City Hall Station was designed to reflect the “City Beautiful” architectural movement of the late 19th century that fostered the notion that artful architecture could improve civic culture.
The station is nearly 400 feet long, curved with nary a straight line in sight. Fifteen colorfully tiled arches support the decorative ceiling and blue glass skylights.
Designated a city landmark in 1979, the station is still accessible today if you ride the No. 6 train to the end of the line at the Brooklyn Bridge stop, but stay onboard while the train does its route turn around.
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This rivals the ones in Moscow, stunning. Why isn’t it still in use? Guess it’d be run down if it was…
That’s a great design by spaniard Rafael Guastavino who developed other buildings like Grand Central Terminal or Carnagie Hall.
+info: http://www.newyorkcityfeelings.com/2010/09/city-hall-subway-station-in-new-york.html
What a beautiful set of photos! I’m continually impressed with the photos you unearth and share with us. Thank you for taking the time to do it!
According to Columbia Univ., only 600 people a day used this station at its peak in 1945. There were plans to use it as a museum and restore it, but that idea has since been abandoned.
What gets me is the comparison of this station with a “modern” station. I mean, if tile is tile, would it cost THAT much more to decorate like this more often?
I found more photos and history here: http://www.nycsubway.org/perl/stations?5:979
Please keep bringing us more stories like this!