Here are scenes of the Five Points neighborhood where John Mackay grew up. Clicking on the images enlarges them for more detailed examination.

First, a drawing of the intersection of Baxter and Worth streets. (New York Public Library Digital Collections)

And then check out this stereo pair—it clearly shows the exact same buildings. (Also from the NYPL Digital Collections) This combination gave me much more confidence in the accuracy of 19th century illustrations.

Remarkably, this drawing from Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper, July 1, 1865, almost certainly shows the same tall building brick building and the adjacent one-story hovel. (Library of Congress)

Next comes what strikes me as a typical street scene. (NYPL Digital Collections)

And an illustration of an alley gang. (Library of Congress)

A Mulberry Street tenement, this time from Harper’s Weekly (and the Library of Congress)

And among the poor in Five Points from Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper (LoC)

John Mackay, THE BONANZA KING, lived on Frankfort Street in the Five Points for 11 years, from his arrival in 1840 (at aged 9) until he went to California in late 1851.

San Francisco as it was when John Mackay arrived in 1851.

“New Map Reveals Ships Buried Below San Francisco” by Greg Miller for National Geographic, including an incredible photo of Yerba Buena Cove at the height of the Gold Rush.

Here’s “Why we need government to safeguard against the new robber barons,” my perspective piece for the Washington Post’s “Made by History” series, about  what we can learn about the modern media landscape from John Mackay’s “Cable War” with robber baron Jay Gould, and about the dangers of monopolies and cartels.

THE BONANZA KING in the New Yorker, July 23, 2018!

(Click on the images to enlarge)