1865 Sept 2 Castle Garden Immigrants, Housatonic Railroad Disaster, Wall Street
$47.77
Skip to product information
1865 Harper's Weekly Sept 2 — Castle Garden Immigrants, Housatonic Railroad Disaster, Wall Street, William Cullen Bryant
📜 ABOUT THIS PIECE OF HISTORY 📜
This September 2, 1865 issue of Harper's Weekly offers a remarkable cross-section of American life in the immediate postwar moment — immigrant arrivals reshaping New York, financial life returning to Wall Street, a deadly railroad disaster in Connecticut, and dispatches from the wider world. For collectors of immigration history, Gilded Age Americana, railroad history, and 19th-century New York, this issue is a richly illustrated primary source unlike any other.
🚂 FRONT PAGE — HOUSATONIC RAILROAD DISASTER
The cover presents two gripping prints documenting a dramatic railroad collision near Bridgeport, Connecticut: "Collision on the Housatonic Railroad near Bridgeport, Connecticut" and "Housatonic Railroad Slaughter-House to Which the Wounded Were Conveyed." A vivid firsthand record of the era's deadliest and most feared form of industrial tragedy.
🗽 DOUBLE-PAGE CENTERFOLD — CASTLE GARDEN IMMIGRANTS
The centerpiece of this issue is the stunning double-page centerfold: "Newly-Arrived Emigrants at Castle Garden, New York City" — a sweeping multi-vignette panorama capturing the bustle, hope, and uncertainty of newly arrived immigrants at America's first official immigrant processing center, the predecessor to Ellis Island. An exceptional displayable piece and one of the most sought-after immigration images in 19th-century American illustrated press.
💰 WALL STREET & BROADWAY
A captivating full-page spread — "Wall Street & Broadway — Ways of Getting & Spending Money" — presents a lively series of vignettes portraying New York's financial and commercial life as the postwar economy roared back to life. A fascinating document of Gilded Age wealth and ambition.
🏛️ ADDITIONAL ILLUSTRATIONS & REPORTING
Large portrait of William Cullen Bryant — poet, editor, and one of the most celebrated American literary figures of the 19th century
"Francois Jean Joseph, the Rebel President of Hayti" and "Fabre Geffrard, President of Hayti" — rare portraits documenting Caribbean political upheaval
"Votaries of the God Vaudoux (Snake Worshipers) Executed for the Crime of Cannibalism at Hayti" — one of the most sensational foreign dispatches of the year
"Rear-Admiral Francis H. Gregory"
"Hon. Preston King"
"Monument to General Buford at West Point"
"Accident on Mount Cervin, Among the Italian Alps" — early Alpine disaster reportage
🎭 BACK PAGE CARTOON
"How the Cable Was Broken" — a satirical take on the era's most ambitious technological endeavor, the transatlantic telegraph cable, which captured the imagination of the entire Western world.
🔍 CONDITION & TRANSPARENCY 🔍
Completeness: Full 16-page issue, including the Castle Garden double-page centerfold.
Authenticity: Guaranteed original woodblock printing from September 2, 1865 — not a modern reproduction.
Condition Report: Presents well for its 161-year age. Small binding holes along the centerfold spine are entirely typical for this issue and do not affect the image. The Castle Garden centerfold and front page prints are clear and displayable.
📦 SHIPPING & PRESERVATION 📦
Housed in an acid-free archival folder with Mylar overlay to protect the 161-year-old newsprint
Flat-shipped with heavy-duty reinforcement to ensure safe arrival of the centerfold
Fully tracked for your peace of mind
🏷️ TAGS
1865 Harpers Weekly, Castle Garden Immigrants New York, Immigration History 1865, Housatonic Railroad Disaster, Wall Street Broadway 1865, William Cullen Bryant Portrait, Ellis Island Predecessor, New York Immigration Primary Source, Antique Newspaper 1865, Civil War Aftermath, 19th Century Americana, Gilded Age New York, Transatlantic Cable Cartoon, Hayti 1865 Sonnet 4.6
1865 Sept 2 Castle Garden Immigrants, Housatonic Railroad Disaster, Wall Street
$47.77