New York, NY - Urban Archive

South of Union Square

Story

Skyscrapers at the Turn of the 20th Century

In 1900, the consolidated Greater New York City was only two years old and it was growing, not just outward but skyward. These are the ten tallest buildings in New York City in 1900. They were constructed in the decade before the turn of the century. Today half of these structures remain standing, though now dwarfed by their neighbors.

This story is adapted from the Skyscraper Museum's "Ten & Taller."

By

The Skyscraper Museum

10 stops•1.5km•19 min

1

Standard Oil Building

Standard Oil Building

The original Standard Oil Building was only ten stories tall, but in 1895, Kimball & Thompson added six new skeleton frame floors and a north extension to the building, making it 280 feet tall.

2

64-70 Broadway

64-70 Broadway

Designed by Kimball & Thompson for the Manhattan Life Insurance Company, the Manhattan Life Building became NYC’s tallest skyscraper in 1893. It was also the first office building to use pneumatic caissons in its foundation.

3

Commercial Cable Building

Commercial Cable Building

The Commercial Cable Building, designed by Harding and Gooch, employed concrete-filled cast iron pipes for an innovative approach to foundation engineering used to stabilize the slender tower.

4

Empire Building

Empire Building

Speculatively built by the O.B. Potter estate and designed by Kimball & Thompson, the Empire Building housed Andrew Carnegie’s United States Steel Corporation offices, among many others.

5

Gillender Building

Gillender Building

Despite its tiny 25 ft. x 75 ft. lot, Berg & Clark’s Gillender Building was still one of NYC’s tallest edifices in 1900. The slender skyscraper’s lifespan was short; it was demolished in 1910 to make room for the even taller Bankers Trust Building.

6

American Surety Building

American Surety Building

At the time of its completion in 1895, Bruce Price’s American Surety Building was the second-tallest skyscraper in NYC. It had a steel-skeleton frame and curtain walls that were significantly thinner than heavy load-bearing walls, freeing up additional space in offices.

7

St. Paul Building

St. Paul Building

While many skyscrapers were made taller by pointed roofs or cupolas, George B. Post’s St. Paul Building reached its lofty height with a flat roof. Its neoclassical style, with its many-layered rows of columns, was consistent with older neighboring buildings.

8

Park Row Building

Park Row Building

R.H. Robertson’s Park Row Building was the tallest in the world until 1908. Financed by August Belmont, a pioneer of New York’s first subway, the building had 30 stories, nearly 1,000 offices, and cost $2,750,000 to build.

9

American Tract Society Building

American Tract Society Building

The American Tract Society rented out offices in their building, using the profits to spread Christianity and donate to charity. The structure, built by R.H. Robertson, is most notable for its six horizontal divisions and rooftop loggia.

10

New York World Building

New York World Building

In commissioning the controversial World Building, Joseph Pulitzer hoped to assert his paper’s dominance in American journalism. George B. Post’s design stood out not only for its imposing height (it was the tallest building in NYC to date), but also for its colorful facade and iconic dome.

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