Electrification of the Long Island Railroad in Brooklyn

[Electrification of Long Island Rail Road at Washington Avenue], 1903, v1984.1463.3; Long Island Rail Road construction photographs, v1984.1463; Brooklyn Historical Society

For this post, I want to share an interesting image that I scanned last week. The image above shows construction by the Long Island Rail Road near Atlantic Terminal in 1903.

The Long Island Rail Road was incorporated in 1834, and used steam-powered trains until 1905, when they switched to an electric system. As part of the switch to electricity, the LIRR constructed a number of both elevated and subterranean sections of railway in Brooklyn to replace street-level railways.  Clearly, the image above is showing work on one of the subterranean sections. The layers of people are also interesting. The well-dressed, fashionable pedestrians on top with the more humbly-dressed workers below is a telling visual, hinting at class dynamics in Brooklyn in this period. While interesting from a historical perspective, this is also just a cool picture. I love the blur at the edges of the image, and the contrast of the white snow with the people all dressed in black…

To learn more about the Long Island Rail Road in Brooklyn, see the Long Island Rail Road construction photographs (v1984.1463), the Atlantic Avenue railroad project photographs (v1992.015), and the Brooklyn commuter railroad and subway collection (ARC.152).

Interested in seeing more photos from BHS’s collection? Visit our online image gallery, which includes a selection of our images. Interested in seeing even more historic Brooklyn images? Visit our new website here.  To search BHS’s entire collection of images, archives, maps, and special collections visit BHS’s Othmer Library Wed-Sat, 1:00-5:00 p.m.

Author: Halley Choiniere