wnp37.00682

View from Market & 3rd

January 1, 1867

[559. View from the Nucleus Hotel, corner Market and Third Streets, looking North-west.] Every building on the west side of Kearny (foreground), from Market to Broadway, was demolished or had the front sliced off during 1866-1868 to allow for the widening of Kearny Street.

from: Bill Kostura email: wkostura328@gmail.com message: This is a very rare photo. Every building on the west side of Kearny, from Market to Broadway, was demolished or had the front sliced off during 1866-1868 to allow for the widening of Kearny Street. The idea was that this would encourage property owners to replace crummy buildings on both sides of the street with grander edifices, and it worked like a charm. Kearny became the city's main shopping thoroughfare. Only problem, from a historian's viewpoint, is that I've never seen photos showing what the pre-1866 buildings looked like. Now I can see. They were pretty plain!