Tower Building (New York City)

Tower Building
Entrance to the Tower Building

General information
Architectural style	Gothic Revival architecture
Location	Manhattan, New York City
Construction started	1888
Completed	1889
Demolished	1913
Design and construction
Architect(s)	Bradford Gilbert

The Tower Building was a structure in the Financial District of Manhattan, New York City, located at 50-52 Broadway on a lot that extended east to New Street.^[1]^[2] It was arguably New York City's first skyscraper,^[3] and the first building with a steel skeleton structure.^[1]

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History

Architect Bradford Gilbert filed plans for its construction on April 17, 1888, it was completed on September 27, 1889 and demolished beginning in 1913.^[1]^[2]

Though it was 108 ft (33 m) deep, the building had just 21.5 ft (6.6 m) of frontage on Broadway, necessitating its novel design.^[1] Chicago's Home Insurance Building (completed 1884) was the first to use structural steel, but that building did not fully support its masonry elements on the steel frame.^[4]^[5] On the narrow lot, a conventional design with load-bearing masonry walls would have left little room on the ground floor, but architect Gilbert asked, "Why can't I run my foundation far up in the air and then begin my building?"^[5] Gilbert's design came from a railroad bridge turned on its end.^[6] Cast iron columns about 20 feet (6.1 m) apart formed the skeleton, and the walls of each floor hung on a "shoe" instead of transmitting the load to the wall of the floor below.^[7] The resulting structure was 128 feet (39 m) in height, and 11 stories high.^[8] Gilbert made models to convince the city to permit the construction of his unusual design.^[9] It was quickly followed by taller steel-skeleton buildings, including the Columbia Building in 1890.^[7]

The Tower Building was sold by John N. Stearns in 1905, along with two adjacent buildings, for a reported price of about $1.5 million.^[10] In 1909, Morris Building Company, a holding company of Standard Oil Company, purchased it in foreclosure for $1.68 million.^[8] No longer profitable by 1913 due to its lack of tenants, it was vacated in December of that year and demolition began.^[8] Demolition was complete in 1914; at this point the tallest building in New York, the Woolworth Building, was 792 feet (241 m).^[7]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d "Bronze Tablet Placed on the Tower Building, New York" (PDF). The New York Times. September 3, 1899. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved January 29, 2014.
^ ^a ^b Warren, Charles Peck (May 2, 1915). "Excessive Height a Trying Problem" (PDF). The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved January 29, 2014.
^ Gray, Christopher (May 5, 1996). "Streetscapes/The Tower Building;The Idea That Led to New York's First Skyscraper". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved September 21, 2017.
^ "Home Insurance Building". Retrieved January 29, 2014.
^ ^a ^b Birkmire, William H.; Gilbert, Bradford Lee; Barrett, James (August 19, 1899). "Disputes of Architects" (PDF). The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved January 29, 2014.
^ Gray, Christopher (July 1, 2007). "The Architect Who Turned a Railroad Bridge on Its Head". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved August 2, 2020.
^ ^a ^b ^c "City's First Skyscraper Now Being Razed While New Giant 800 Feet High is Planned" (PDF). New York Sun. January 4, 1914. Retrieved January 29, 2014.
^ ^a ^b ^c "First Skyscraper to Be Torn Down" (PDF). The New York Times. October 29, 1913. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved January 29, 2014.
^ "The Tower Building". New York Architecture. Retrieved January 29, 2014.
^ "First Skyscraper Sold" (PDF). The New York Times. May 12, 1905. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved January 29, 2014.

External links

"The Tower Building: The First Skyscraper of New York City"
Mars, Roman (June 3, 2011). "Episode 27: Bridge to the Sky". 99% Invisible. Retrieved October 15, 2015. An episode of the 99% Invisible podcast on the design of the Tower Building.

40°42′24″N 74°00′44″W / 40.7067°N 74.0123°W / 40.7067; -74.0123

Structures on Broadway in Manhattan and the Bronx

Buildings (The Battery – Houston Street)

Buildings (Houston Street – Times Square)
611 (Cable) 640 721 (Tisch School) 770 800 (Grace Church) 828 (Strand Bookstore) 889 (Gorham) 900 (Goelet) 935–939 Flatiron Building Madison Green 1181 (Baudouine) 1200 (Gilsey) 1232 (Grand Hotel) 1260 (Martinique Hotel) 1300 (Hotel McAlpin) 1313 Macy's 1328 (Marbridge) 1352 (Greenwich Savings Bank) Holy Innocents Church Times Square Tower 1466 (Knickerbocker Hotel)

Buildings (Times Square – Columbus Circle)

Buildings (Columbus Circle – The Bronx)

Parks and plazas
Bowling Green Zuccotti Park City Hall Park Union Square Madison Square Greeley Square Herald Square Times Square Columbus Circle Verdi Square Van Cortlandt Park

Subway stations

Former

Financial District

Manhattan, New York City

Buildings

West of Broadway/ State Street	1 Broadway 21 West Street 65 Broadway 90 West Street 88 Greenwich Street 94 Greenwich Street 125 Greenwich Street 130 Cedar Street 195 Broadway American Stock Exchange Building Barclay–Vesey Building Bowling Green Offices Building Castle Clinton City Pier A Cunard Building Downtown Athletic Club Empire Building James Watson House New York County Lawyers' Association Building Old New York Evening Post Building Robert and Anne Dickey House St. George's Syrian Catholic Church St. Paul's Chapel St. Peter's Roman Catholic Church Transportation Building Trinity and United States Realty Buildings Trinity Church Trinity Court Building Whitehall Building World Trade Center One 2 3 4 7 Perelman Performing Arts Center St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church Vehicular Security Center Westfield Mall
East of Broadway/ State Street	1 Hanover Square 1 New York Plaza 1 Wall Street 1 Wall Street Court 1 William Street 2 Broadway 2 New York Plaza 5 Beekman Street 14 Wall Street 15 Broad Street 15 William 17 State Street 20 Exchange Place 23 Wall Street 25 Water Street 26 Broadway 28 Liberty Street 32 Old Slip 37 Wall Street 40 Wall Street 45 Broad Street 48 Wall Street 52 Broadway 55 Wall Street 55 Water Street 56 Beaver Street (Delmonico's) 56 Pine Street 60 Wall Street 63 Wall Street 63 Nassau Street 70 Pine Street 75 Wall Street 90–94 Maiden Lane 116 John Street 120 Wall Street 130 William 140 Broadway 150 Nassau Street 161 Maiden Lane 170–176 John Street 250 Water Street Alexander Hamilton U.S. Custom House American Bank Note Company Building American Surety Building Bennett Building Broad Exchange Building Chamber of Commerce Building Continental Bank Building Continental Center Corbin Building Down Town Association Equitable Building Excelsior Power Company Building Federal Hall National Memorial Federal Reserve Bank of New York Building Fraunces Tavern Home Insurance Plaza John Street Methodist Church Keuffel & Esser Company Building Lee, Higginson & Company Bank Building Liberty Tower Morse Building New York City Police Museum New York Stock Exchange Building New York Times Building Park Row Building Potter Building
Former buildings	7 WTC Alexander Macomb House Astor House Barnum's American Museum Blair Building City Hotel City Investing Building Equitable Life Building Gillender Building Government House Hanover National Building Howard Hotel Kemble Building Knickerbocker Trust Company Building Manhattan Life Insurance Building Mills Building Mortimer Building New York Produce Exchange New York Tribune Building New York World Building Pearl Street Station St. Paul Building Singer Building Stadt Huys Tontine Coffee House Tower Building Western Union Telegraph Building World Trade Center

Other points of interest

Arts and culture	Charging Bull China Chalet Fearless Girl Four Continents The Sphere Titanic Memorial
Parks and plazas	The Battery Bowling Green Elizabeth H. Berger Plaza Hudson River Park Liberty Park Queen Elizabeth II September 11th Garden Vietnam Veterans Plaza Zuccotti Park
Food and drink	Brasserie Les Halles China Chalet Crown Shy Delmonico's Fraunces Tavern Rolfe's Chop House Saga The Dead Rabbit

Education

Schools	High School of Economics and Finance Leadership and Public Service High School Léman Manhattan Preparatory School Millennium High School New York Film Academy Pace University Pine Street School New York
Museums	China Institute Federal Hall National Memorial Fraunces Tavern George Gustav Heye Center Mmuseumm Museum of American Finance Museum of Jewish Heritage New York City Police Museum Skyscraper Museum South Street Seaport

Transportation

Public transport	Subway Bowling Green Broad Street Fulton Street Rector St/Greenwich St Rector St/Trinity Pl South Ferry/Whitehall St Wall St/William St Wall St/Broadway WTC Cortlandt PATH World Trade Center Ferries Battery Maritime Building Pier 11/Wall Street Whitehall Terminal
Other transport	Downtown Manhattan Heliport Wall Street Skyport
Streets	Albany Beaver Bridge Broad Broadway Church/Trinity Place Cortlandt Dey Exchange Fulton Greenwich John Liberty Maiden Lane Marketfield Nassau Pearl South Spruce State Stone Theatre Alley Vesey/Ann Wall Washington West Whitehall William

See also: Manhattan Community Board 1

This page was last edited on 21 April 2022, at 18:30

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Transcription

History

References

External links