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. It was arguably New York City's first

skyscraper A skyscraper is a tall continuously habitable building having multiple floors. Modern sources currently define skyscrapers as being at least or in height, though there is no universally accepted definition. Skyscrapers are very tall high-ris ...

, and the first building with a steel skeleton structure.

History

Architect

Bradford Gilbert Bradford Lee Gilbert (March 24, 1853 – September 1, 1911) was a nationally active American architect based in New York City. He is known for designing the Tower Building in 1889, the first steel-framed building anywhere and the first skysc ...

filed plans for its construction on April 17, 1888, it was completed on September 27, 1889 and demolished beginning in 1913. Though it was deep, the building had just of

frontage Frontage is the boundary between a plot of land or a building and the road onto which the plot or building fronts. Frontage may also refer to the full length of this boundary. This length is considered especially important for certain types of ...

on Broadway, necessitating its novel design. 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. 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?" Gilbert's design came from a railroad bridge turned on its end. Cast iron columns about 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. The resulting structure was in height, and 11 stories high. Gilbert made models to convince the city to permit the construction of his unusual design. It was quickly followed by taller steel-skeleton buildings, including the Columbia Building in 1890. 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. In 1909, Morris Building Company, a holding company of

Standard Oil Company Standard Oil Company, Inc., was an American oil production, transportation, refining, and marketing company that operated from 1870 to 1911. At its height, Standard Oil was the largest petroleum company in the world, and its success made its co-f ...

, purchased it in foreclosure for $1.68 million. No longer profitable by 1913 due to its lack of tenants, it was vacated in December of that year and demolition began. Demolition was complete in 1914; at this point the tallest building in New York, the Woolworth Building, was .

References

External links

"The Tower Building: The First Skyscraper of New York City"
* An episode of the ''99% Invisible'' podcast on the design of the Tower Building. {{Financial District, Manhattan 1889 establishments in New York (state) 1913 disestablishments in New York (state) Office buildings completed in 1889 Buildings and structures demolished in 1913 Skyscraper office buildings in Manhattan Financial District, Manhattan Broadway (Manhattan) Demolished buildings and structures in Manhattan