61 Broadway - Adams Express Building Architect: Francis H. Kimball Completed: 1916

Rising 33-stories without setbacks, the Adams Express Building once dominated the view from ships entering New York Bay by virtue of its height and white glazed southern façade. For its construction, architect Francis H. Kimball took advantage of new developments in steel frame construction, foundation engineering and wind bracing. The building originally served as the headquarters of the Adams Express Company, founded in 1840 by Alvin Adams, who began his business delivering packages using a wheelbarrow. The company grew rapidly to become a major competitor in the express delivery business before being consolidated in 1918 with the other major express companies to form the behemoth American Railway Express Company, later the Railway Express Agency.