Tour Carnegie Hall + More Exclusive Member-Only December Events
Learn about the crime-riddled history of Red Hook, see how a Gilded Age mansion gets decorated for the holidays, and more!
“N.Y. Post Office Pneumatic Tube” c. 1912. Photo via Library of Congress
We’ve been so pleased with the fact that the Hyperloop plan has brought our favorite forgotten technology to light: the pneumatic tube system in NYC. Gizmodo and Curbed gave Untapped some great shoutouts to our pieces on the tube system and where to find the remnants today. The pneumatic tube system was used for a covert, secret construction of a subway in 1870 by fantastical inventor Alfred Ely Beach. It worked, but was shut down by Boss Tweed three years later. Pneumatic technology is also used in the New York Public Library stacks and for trash under Roosevelt Island.
But one of our favorite things about the pneumatic tubes are the stories from when it was used as part of the United States Postal system in NYC.
Read more about where to find pneumatic tubes in NYC today and how the mail system worked.
Subscribe to our newsletter