The 1870 Beach Pneumatic Transit Tunnel Showing the Conjunction of Iron and Brick Work, 1899
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Artifact Overview
Alfred Ely Beach (1826-1896), American inventor and publisher, constructed New York City’s first subway. The 312-foot-long experiment, constructed in 1870, ran under Broadway, with a single station near city hall. Beach also devised a cylindrical tunneling shield to protect workers as they dug the tunnel. Pneumatic power propelled the subway’s cars. The line was abandoned in 1873.
Artifact Details
Artifact
Photographic print
Subject Date
1899
Location
Not on exhibit to the public.
Object ID
29.323.2
Credit
From the Collections of The Henry Ford.
Material
Paper (Fiber product)
Paperboard
Technique
Gelatin silver process
Color
Gray (Color)
Dimensions
Height: 10.875 in
Width: 13.875 in
Inscriptions
on labels:
THE BEACH TUNNEL SHOWING CONJUNCTION OF IRON AND BRICK WORK
CURVED SECTION OF THE TUNNEL, AS IT RAN OUT FROM BASEMENT OF DEVLIN & CO. STORE (NOW ROGERS, PEET & CO.), 258 BROADWAY (S.W. CORNER B'WAY & MURRAY ST.) WAS OF CAST IRON PLATES (SAME AS USED TO-DAY BENEATH THE RIVERS), WHILE STRAIGHT PORTION ONE BLOCK SOUTH WAS OF BRICK. LATTER WAS AT ONE TIME USED AS A SHOOTING GALLERY. TUNNEL WAS DRIVEN SECRETLY, EARTH BEING CARTED AWAY AT NIGHT. NO ONE KNEW THERE WAS A TUNNEL TILL IT WAS OPENED IN FEBRUARY, 1870.
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