This view looks west on Market Street towards the Four Corners. A drawing based on this photograph appeared in “NEWARK and its Leading Businessmen” in 1891.

The eastbound and westbound streetcars, which are being drawn by horses, are passing H.C. Miners Newark theater where Little Lord Fauntleroy is playing. Of all the structures visible here only the theater still exists. Miner’s opened in October of 1886 featuring live shows and vaudeville . By the 1930’s the popularity of vaudeville was waning and the theater was renovated to accommodate motion pictures under the Paramount banner. The theater survived until April 1986 when rising insurance costs shuttered it for good. Major redevelopment plans are now afoot which will involve the demolition of the auditorium and the preservation of the Market Street entrance. A significant portion of the auditorium roof collapsed in the winter of 2020/2021 so there is little or nothing to preserve inside the actual theater.

On the northeast corner of Broad & Market Streets the Firemen’s Insurance Company’s 1870 headquarters. Founded in 1855, they occupied two successive buildings on this corner, the second opened in 1910. Their third and final Newark location was 10 Park Place.

The majority of buildings in the photo are three and four story walk-up commercial buildings. Today it was be hard to imagine walking up two or three fights of stairs to visit a business but before elevators became commonplace there really was not any choice. Again I invite the viewer to compare the 1891 streetscape to what they can observe today.