New York’s Transit History Unfolds in a Literal Underground Museum

, 2 Comments on New York’s Transit History Unfolds in a Literal Underground Museum

New York City is known as a place that loves its public transportation, especially its subway system, the history of which is on display at the New York Transit Museum in Brooklyn. Located in a decommissioned subway station from 1936, the museum showcases the creation of the subway tunnels, features numerous vintage subway cars that you can walk through, models, vintage signs, and much more.

Entrance to the New York Transit Museum.

Overview of trains on the tracks.

A collection of vintage subway signs.

Close-up of a drum with the transit logo on it.

Inside an old subway car.

Elegant tile that was done at early subway stations.

Overview of some of the exhibits.

Close-up of an old subway light, with green glass panels and white panels that read "Subway" in black letters.

An ad for a Brownie camera inside an old subway car.

A collection of vintage subway signs.

Exterior of a blue, white, and orange subway car from the 1960s.

A framed collection of "slugs" that people used to avoid fair payment.

Inside of a 1900s subway car.

Close-up of the plunger payment system on a turnstile.

Close-up of an old subway car.

Signage for the areas the car was headed.

A collection of vintage subway signs.

Illustration of a man running on a train for the Long Island Rail Road.

Inside of a vintage subway car.

A collection of vintage subway signs.

An ad for the 1964 New York World's Fair inside a 60s era subway car.

Orange and yellow seats of a 1970s subway car.

Various maps showing the routes of the subway.

Interior of a 60s era subway car.

A Subway Sun showcasing the history of subway travel.

A sign requesting riders refrain from various annoying activities.

Public transportation in New York City via rail started in the 1870s with elevated trains. The shift to underground began at the turn of the century, with the first underground line opening in 1904. It was really neat seeing the subway cars through the years and how things have stayed relatively the same with only minor changes.

While a bulk of the museum is incredibly hands on, it also had an exhibit dedicated to The Subway Sun. While these images may appear to be from a newspaper, they were instead a creative, attention grabbing way of informing riders of events, places they could go on the subway, subway manners, and more. Most of the images were created by Fred G. Cooper and his protégé Amelia Opdyke Jones.

A "Subway Sun" illustrated ad for the Coney Island Aquarium.

Collection of Subway Sun adverts.

Close-up of a Subway Sun drawing attention to auxiliary fire, police, and air raid services.

Founded in 1976, the New York Transit Museum is located at 99 Schermerhorn Street in Brooklyn. For more information you can visit their website.

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2 comments on “New York’s Transit History Unfolds in a Literal Underground Museum”

  1. Thrilling post! Growing up in the western United States where mass transit is not so much A Thing, it’s exciting and intriguing to see a vision of history where reliable and communal transit is a part of life and has been for generations. Great words, phenomenal photos.

    Also seems possible that the whole post is an elaborate justification to get to use the word “Schermerhorn”, but, hey, whatever works.
    )

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  2. There’s something a little eerie about seeing public transport completely empty! But I really like the idea of museums being ‘on site’ — whether in the houses of former residents or in government buildings where the events actually took place. It makes the history feel so much more immediate and alive!

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