Adapted from Wikipedia:
Broadway1 is the oldest north–south main thoroughfare in New York City, dating to the first New Amsterdam settlement. Broadway was originally the Wickquasgeck Trail, carved into the brush of Manhattan by its Native American inhabitants. This trail originally snaked through swamps and rocks along the length of Manhattan Island. By 1885 the sky over the street was crisscrossed with telegraph, telephone and power lines.

Broadway from 18th Street, 1880

Looking south on Broadway was taken from the Old Post Office in 1880