Drawing looking north along Fourth Avenue (Park Avenue South) from between 31st and 32nd Streets, mid-1850’s. At left, with the flag, is the Brandes Hotel and Restaurant to its right, in the block now occupied by Two Park Avenue, are the ticket office, locomotive house and smith shop of the New York and Harlem Railroad, this location having been dictated by an 1842 ban on the use of steam power south of 32nd Street. Horsecars from downtown, arriving here a the city’s then northern limits, are being assembled into a steam-driven train for Boston, while the animals, unhitched, are refreshed for the return trip or retired to the railroad’s stables off to the right. In the background is the 34h Street bridge over the entrance to the railroad-out through Murray Hill, whose side streets are being built up with row houses and the Zion Protestant Episcopal Church (Madison and 38th), while Fourth Avenue (Park Avenue South) still remains mostly undeveloped.

Caption reads: Cars taking engine from New York to Boston.

Park Avenue at 40th Street. Murray Hill Hotel, Belmont Hotel and Grand Central Station, 1920s.

View of the west side of Park Avenue looking north to Grand Central Station. Center is the Belmont Hotel; Built: 1905; Razed: 1930; Architect: Warren & Wetmore. The 22 story hotel was demolished in 1930 to clear the way for a skyscraper which was never built. In 1940 the Airlines Building was erected on the site. It was razed in 1977 to make way for the present Phillip Morris Building.

Dr. Townsend’s Residence. Built: 1853-1855. Razed: 1864. Northwest corner of Fifth Avenue and 34th Street.

Originally built by Samuel P. Townsend, the patentee of sarsaparilla. The house was sold to Dr. G. Abbott in 1862 who conducted seminary for young ladies. The Townsend home was eventually replaced by the A.T. Stewart Mansion which was then razed to make way for the Knickerbocker Trust Building.

Lower level of the Morgan Library, 2009.

Lower level of the Morgan Library’s renovated campus. Built: 2006. Architect: Renzo Piano. The expansion project integrated the three existing buildings on the Morgan’s campus and added additional exhibition space.

J.P. Morgan’s library. One of a suite of three rooms in the original Morgan Library building, 33 East 36th Street. Built 1903-1906 ; Architect: Charles McKim of McKim, Meade & White.

The library opens off of the east side of the rotunda. This photograph shows the room’s east wall, which is lined with wooden bookshelves holding volumes from Morgan’s collection. The ceiling-high tiered shelving is broken by a massive Italian Renaissance fireplace. Above the fireplace hangs a 16th century Flemish tapestry depicting the Triumph of Avarice. Henry Siddons Mowbray created the murals which decorate the room’s ceiling. Visible in this image are the lunettes and spandrels formed by the ceiling’s groin vaults. The design of the spandrels was inspired by ornamentation Mowbray saw at the Villa Farnesina in Rome. The lunettes alternate between female muses and portraits of historical leaders.

Marble Hall, Morgan Library, 2009.

Following J.P. Morgan’s death his home on the corner of Madison Avenue and E. 36th Street was razed and an addition to his library built on the site. Though the two buildings appeared to be separate they connected through a back corridor. Built: 1928; Architect: Benjamin W. Morris. The Marble Hall connects the East and West Galleries in Benjamin Morris’s addition to the original Morgan Library building. Morris’s Italian Renaissance-inspired building complements the classicism of the Morgan Library’s original 1906 building. Key decorative features of the Marble Hall include the inlaid marble floor and the metalwork ceiling panels.

View of the old entrance to the Morgan library, 33 East 36th Street. Built 1903-1906 ; Architect: Charles McKim of McKim, Meade & White. The rotunda connected the building’s three main rooms: J.P. Morgan’s study, J.P. Morgan’s library, and the librarian’s office. Visitors now enter through a side door which connects the McKim building to the Renzo Piano atrium.

The rotunda’s dome rises above the composite capitals of the hall’s white marble pilasters and green marble columns. The dome’s murals are by Henry Siddons Mowbray who looked to Italian Renaissance prototypes when designing his decorative scheme. Pictured is the lunette on the west wall of the rotunda. Mowbray’s mural depicts the muse of Lyrical Poetry flanked by poets Tasso and Petrarch.

Old entrance to the Morgan library, 33 East 36th Street. Built 1903-1906 ; Architect: Charles McKim of McKim, Meade & White. The rotunda connected the building’s three main rooms: J.P. Morgan’s study, J.P. Morgan’s library, and the librarian’s office. Visitors now enter through a side door which connects the McKim building to the Renzo Piano atrium.

The main entrance to the Morgan Library is on the south side of the rotunda, or entrance hall. To the east is the entrance to Morgan’s personal library, to the west is the entrance to his study, and to the north, across from the main doors, is the entrance to the Librarian’s office. This entrance is framed in an apse which terminates in a semi-dome. Above the white marble door frame is a lunette holding sculpture by Della Robbia. Other notable features of the rotunda include the colored-marble floor, marble pilasters with Composite capitals, and free-standing marble columns which act as lamps. The Italian Renaissance inspired decorative scheme for the rotunda’s dome, partially visible in this photograph, was designed and executed by Henry Siddons Mowbray.

Corridor, Morgan Library, 2009.

Following J.P. Morgan’s death his home on the corner of Madison Avenue and E. 36th Street was razed and an addition to his library built on the site. Though the two buildings appeared to be separate they connected through a back corridor. Built: 1928; Architect: Benjamin W. Morris. Morris’s Italian Renaissance-inspired building complements the classicism of the Morgan Library’s original 1906 building. This corridor is a showcase of Neo-Italian Renaissance design. The floors are inlaid with marble

J.P. Morgan’s study. One of a suite of three rooms in the original Morgan Library building, 33 East 36th Street. Built 1903-1906 ; Architect: Charles McKim of McKim, Meade & White.

Morgan’s study opens off the west side of the library’s rotunda. The room’s original furnishings remain intact and they are supplemented with additional works of art from the Morgan collection. The red silk wall coverings copy hangings from the Chigi Palace in Rome. Architect Charles McKim purchased the antique Italian wooden ceiling in 1905 but its exact origins remain unknown. The studio of Desiderio da Settignano is traditionally credited with creating the room’s marble fireplace. Hanging above the fireplace is a portrait of Pierpont Morgan by painter Frank Holl.