The Third Avenue Railroad Depot, (painting)

Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1975.

Black, Mary, "What is American in American Art," New York: M. Knoedler, 1971.

Spassky, Natalie, "American Paintings in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Volume II: A Catalogue of Works by Artists Born between 1816 and 1845," New York, NY: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1985, pg. 29.

The busy depot, which was built in 1859 on third Avenue between 65th and 66th Street, is shown in much detail, with a group of men, probably railroad company officials, standing on a balcony over the entrance. The name of the depot is visible on the portico beneath the balcony, and on the American flag flying from a rooftop flagpole adorned with an elaborate weather vane. Hovering in the sky to the right is a hot air balloon inscribed with "Atlantic / J. Wise" referring to the inauguration of the trans-Atlantic balloon company, and the flight of balloonist John Wise (1808-1879) on July 1, 1859, which was forced to land in a storm on July 2nd. The street in front of the depot is busy with figures walking on the sidewalks, others working on the rails, a horse-drawn streetcar emerging from the depot, and another standing on the street. The awning across the street reads "Conrad's Dining Saloon" referring to Ernst or Ernest Conrades eating house.