Victorian Era portrait studios in New York

[TheFlyingCamera]

I got this bug to start mapping the locations of the Victorian era portrait studios whose cartes-de-visite and cased images I had collected. I think what got me interested was noticing the proximity of Mathew Brady's studio to one of his New York competitors. I've compiled a very short list of the ones I've been able to get addresses for between my own collection and casual ebay searches. Any assistance in filling in this list you all can provide would be much appreciated. I've got the Google Map of it posted on my blog for anyone who wants to see it. My goal is to keep doing this for New York, and fill in Washington DC and Philadelphia as well when I can get more data.

STUDIO NAME ADDRESS DATES OF OPERATION
R.A. Lewis 152 Chatham Street * unknown
K.W. Beniczky #2 New Chambers Street, corner of Chatham * unknown
R.A. Lord 164 Chatham Street * unknown
Bogardus 363 Broadway unknown
Mathew Brady 359 Broadway (1853-1859)
Mathew Brady 643 Bleeker Street (1859-1860)
Mathew Brady 785 Broadway (1860-)
Chas. K. Bill 603 Broadway unknown
J. Gurney & Sons 707 Broadway unknown – early
J. Gurney & Sons 5th Avenue & 16th Street unknown – late
Glosser 827 Broadway unknown
Vaughan’s Gallery 228 Bowery unknown
Bailey’s Photograph Gallery 371 Canal Street unknown
Loud’s Celebrated Album Cards unknown unknown
Fernando Dessaur 145 8th Avenue unknown

* - address no longer exists. For New York, these sites are all approximately where the Civic Center and Police Headquarters are now located in Lower Manhattan.

 

[Ian C]

I you haven’t already done so, I suggest contacting the New York Public Library. It’s possible the staff might point you in the right direction for archived business addresses.

They can likely tell you if it’s available in computer form or if a tedious manual search is required. You might find things more efficiently with their help rather than doing it strictly on your own.

 

[TheFlyingCamera]

I now have my Philadelphia map up - I'll be working on it tonight to get the studio names (and dates where possible) attached to the addresses captured on the map.

Philadelphia Victorian Photography Studios