longislandrailroad

And to think that this beautiful building was torn down and replaced by ugly Madison Square Garden. And now they want to replace MSG! Thanks so much to the LOC for sharing these great archival photos. Please add lots more.

Well said chocolatepoint!

I've seen the PBS history on this. It was the NYcity's biggest and well know tragedies in architectural history.

The only traces left of this great station are some of the stairways to the station platforms and the platforms themselves. The destruction of the old Penn Station was a civic disgrace.

It was called "progress"... at least now the Madison must be turned down and a new station built in that place, similar to the old building.

This is what the site looks like now: www.visitingdc.com/images/madison-square-garden-address.jpg Pity.

I can see what you mean. It sure is a terrible pity indeed. Why did they destroy such a magnificent work of architecture?

Oh, they thought it was progress, I guess. Cf. the relevant speech in "Mad Men." One good thing about it, though, is that the whole movement of historic landmark preservation was apparently much strengthened by the destruction of Penn Station: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_City_Landmarks_Preservatio...

It was a travesty. I'm 22 years old and a New Yorker. It breaks my heart to see the Penn Station that was.

They didn't think it was progress, even at the time everyone realized what a tragedy it was. However, the station was privately owned, by the Pennsylvania Rail Company, which was bleeding red ink thanks the Robert Moses and the Interstate Highway Act. The destroyed the station to get money, specifically a 25% stake in Madison Square Garden. It was a business decision by a company that was failing and desperate to do anything to try to bring in revenue.

H.W. Thronton
Typo in LOC title (caption) – s/b Thornton

Henry Worth Thornton (1871-1933), with his wife, Virginia D. Thornton (nèe Blair) and their two children, James Worth Thornton and Anna Blair Thornton, aboard the Cunard liner Lusitania on March 31, 1914. [1] [2]

An additional LOC/Flickr photograph of H. W. Thornton:

"H.W. Thornton (LOC)" by The Library of Congress

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Worth_Thornton

Richard Arthur Norton and Pixel Wrangler: Thank you for catching the typo and giving us more information about the Thornton family. We will add some of it to the description when we update.