I’ve found some more photographers to add to the map of New York. Again, you’ve got to love some of these self-descriptions of their businesses. Also interesting is the case of C.D. Fredericks, who ran studios in New York, Paris and Havana. Makes you wonder how he managed three studios in such far-flung cities at a time where steam-powered trans-atlantic crossings were just coming in to being, there was no telephone, and the airplane was still an opium-smoker’s dream.
I’ve reorganized the list in geographic order, with the assorted Lower Manhattan addresses first, then the ascent of Broadway, followed by the odds and outliers, including one in Brooklyn.
| STUDIO NAME | ADDRESS | DATES OF OPERATION |
| R.A. Lewis | 152 Chatham Street * | unknown |
| R.A. Lord | 164 Chatham Street * | unknown |
| K.W. Beniczky | #2 New Chambers Street, corner of Chatham * | unknown |
| Vaughan’s Gallery | 228 Bowery | unknown |
| H. Merz | E. Houston & Essex Streets | unknown |
| Bailey’s Photograph Gallery | 371 Canal Street | unknown |
| O.O. Roorbach, Publisher of Dramatic Photographs | 122 Nassau Street | unknown |
| Mathew Brady | 643 Bleeker Street | (1859-1860) |
| Jaquith, Daguerrian Parlor | 98 Broadway | unknown |
| S.A. Holmes, Daguerreotype Studio | 289 Broadway | unknown |
| Josiah Thompson, Daguerreotypist | 315 Broadway | 1849-1853 |
| J. Gurney & Sons, Daguerreotype Studio | 349 Broadway | unknown – early |
| Mathew Brady | 359 Broadway | (1853-1859) |
| Bogardus | 363 Broadway | 1860s |
| E. Anthony, Publisher, Brady’s National Portrait Gallery | 501 Broadway | unknown |
| W.C. Wemyss, Dealer in Photographs, Books, &c. | 575 Broadway | unknown |
| C.D. Fredericks & Co 587 Broadway, New York 31 Passage du Havre, Paris 108 Calle de la Habana, Havana |
587 Broadway | unknown |
| Anson’s Daguerreotype Gallery | 589 Broadway | unknown – 1850s |
| Chas. K. Bill | 603 Broadway | unknown |
| J. Gurney & Sons | 707 Broadway | unknown – mid |
| Mathew Brady | 785 Broadway | (1860-) |
| Glosser | 827 Broadway | unknown |
| Bogardus | 872 Broadway | late 1870s |
| T.J. Maujer, Passepartout & Carved Walnut frame manufacturer, Dealer in Photographs, Artist’s Materials, &c. | 953 Broadway & 183 5th Avenue | unknown |
| J. Gurney & Sons | 5th Avenue & 16th Street | unknown – late |
| Loud’s Celebrated Album Cards | unknown | unknown |
| Fernando Dessaur | 145 8th Avenue | unknown |
| Estabrook’s Ferrotypes | 379 Fulton Street, Brooklyn | unknown |
* addresses no longer exist. New Chambers Street & Chatham Street are now approximately where New York City Civic Center and Police Headquarters are now located.
Cool map.
Some that come to mind right now:
-Andrew Jordan (Jordan & Co. Studio) – 229 Greenwich Street.
-Napoleon Sarony – 680 Broadway (1866-1870)
37 Union Square (1871-1884)
256 Fifth Avenue (1885)
-J. Gurney – Fifth Ave. 16th St.
Sorry for hijacking your blog comments area!
Thanks for the additional studios – there’s so much out there and I can’t find them all!
Looking for a studio run by a Mattie Guerry Brent prior to 1910. Anything you know about her? All of her children except one were sent on an orphan train to Nebraska. Would any of the chemicals have made photographers ill, she died young. Thanks
Some of the early photo chemistry could have made her ill, but the really nasty stuff had fallen out of use by the time she died, so that is unlikely.
I have an old family photo that has this imprint on the back,
R.A. Lord
164
Chatham Street
(158 Old Number)
New York
Is it possible he moved next door, or the number had changed? Or maybe the photo isn’t even by Lord, but by someone that took over his business and used his name?
I’m trying to date the picture to determine how this individual falls in my family tree.
The street number thing is from a re-numbering scheme in Manhattan. It is hard to say when the re-numbering took place because it was an ongoing event in Manhattan throughout the 19th century. What size is the photo you have? Is it the size of a business card or is it roughly a 5×7? If it is the smaller size, it is most likely taken between 1855-ish and 1875-ish. If it is the larger size, it is most likely between the mid-1860s and the 1890s, with the peak of popularity being the 1880s. You can look online for guides to 19th century fashions to help date it more precisely.