19th Century Transportation

1890s San Francisco. EQUINE Ink.

Prior to 1894, the majority of Americans depended upon equine transportation.  By the late 1880s, horse populations in large cities like New York and London had grown substantially in order to move people and goods. " Before the manure crisis, horse manure generated income since manure was a valued fertilizer. With the introduction of phosphate fertilizers, there were diminished incentives to clean stables and streets.  The manure piled up as supply exceeded demand."
         -Interview with Dr. Clay McShane, The Horse in the City

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"Deprived of their human servitors, the horses would quickly perish; deprived of their equine servitors, the human population in cities - dependent upon their daily food from the outside, and upon the regular flow and reflow of traffic - would soon be in straits of distress."
    -The New York Times, 24 July 1881

"The Horse in Cities." New York Times. 1881.*

"A census of the horses in the Metropolitan district would show numbers enough to make a large city; they live and work in all sorts of places, from cellars to attics."
 -The New York Times, 24 July 1881

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Fire brigade in New York City. British Pathe. 1893.  YouTube.

"In those days, there were no motor cars on the streets of New York and firemen went to blazes on horse-drawn engines."  -British Pathe

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GROWTH OF URBAN CENTERS
At the turn of the century, the number of people living in cities doubled, while the population of horses more than tripled.  So many horses in a concentrated area required more hay and more space for stabling, while increasing the amount of manure produced.  Conditions peaked in 1894 with the Great Horse Manure Crisis.

"New York City Demographics." Fordham University.

"New York City Demographics." Fordham University.

*click on documents to enlarge