Photos Show Extreme Inequality Between Rich and Poor During Gilded Age

Wealthy families like the Astors, the Goulds, and the Vanderbilts built enormous homes on “Millionaires’ Row” modeled after European palaces and chateaus to display their riches.

An 1865 report by the Council of Hygiene and Public Health of the Citizens’ Association of New York found that 65% of the population of New York City was living in “substandard housing conditions,” according to the New York Public Library.

Newport, Rhode Island, was a popular location for summer “cottages” like The Breakers, a 138,300-square-foot mansion built by Cornelius Vanderbilt II, and Marble House, a mansion with 140,000 square feet of living space built by William K. Vanderbilt and Alva Vanderbilt.

The term “homelessness” was used in the US for the first time during the Gilded Age in the 1870s, according to a 2018 study published by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. The rapid period of urbanization and industrialization made some business tycoons rich and spurred others from less fortunate circumstances to move to cities in search of work, where they slept in shelters or on the streets.

The Breakers mansion, which was completed in 1895, featured 70 rooms, including the Great Hall, Billiard Room, Music Room, Morning Room, and Library, as well as bedrooms for the Vanderbilts and their 40 staff members.

The poor hygiene, sanitation, and ventilation in tenement dwellings made disease outbreaks spread quickly.

Photographer Jacob Riis documented the squalid conditions in slums and tenements in New York City, which he published in a book titled “How the Other Half Lives” in 1890.

Gould refused to ride the railroad tracks near his Lyndhurst Mansion estate in Tarrytown, New York, because they were owned by his archrivals, the Vanderbilts. Instead, he commuted into New York City via the Hudson River on his steam yacht, the Atalanta, with his 100-pound Wooton desk in tow.

In addition to photographing tenements and slums, Riis took photos of sweatshops to show the difficult conditions workers endured.

The Hotel Astor was built in Times Square in 1905 after the neighboring Waldorf and Astoria hotels merged into the Waldorf Astoria in 1897.

Workers were photographed buffing and polishing silver tableware in the kitchens of the Hotel Astor in 1905.

Consuelo Vanderbilt, daughter of William K. Vanderbilt and Alva Vanderbilt, grew up in the height of luxury, but was largely dominated by her mother. In 1895, Alva Vanderbilt forced her daughter to marry the Duke of Marlborough despite her love for another man.

Around 18% of children aged between 10 and 15 in the US were employed between 1890 and 1910, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, often in factory and mining jobs.

The Progressive Era ushered in changes such as women’s suffrage, labor unions, and laws such as the Clayton Antitrust Act designed to prevent a select few companies from amassing monopolies. The age of the “robber baron” began to fade, and their mansions on “Millionaires’ Row” were torn down to make room for New York City’s continuing expansion.