Friday, January 7, 2011

Welcome to a small website
about an early and long gone
New York City skycraper


The Manhattan Life Insurance Building
(1894 - 1963)

Gallery 1
The Early Years 1894 - 1903

Gallery 2



Gallery 3

Gallery 4

Gallery 4 - The Rooftop Mystery of the Manhattan Life Insurance Building


There is still one question to solve: I want to know more about the mysterious construction on the roof of the Manhattan Life Insurance Building. I mean the strange framework and box on the backside behind the tower.

My first thought was: it must be one of these roof water tanks, typical for New York City. But after watching so many pictures of the MLIB, I am not sure anymore.

Here are some more pictures of the roof mystery:














It's possible to find the construction on pictures until the early 1910s, it was still on the roof after the 1904's building changes.

If you know more about this strange thing on the roof and it's function, please write or leave a comment at the bottom of this post. schaedeliof@yahoo.com

Michal Juroška wrote the following explanation:

"I was probably wrong about the water tower on top of MLIB. Few days ago I found a different photo with a similar device on top of a building close to Singer and City Investing buildings. I attached the photo.


What bothered me even before was the fact that for a water tower the structure on top of MLIB is simply too tall and the water tower on top too small. Very inconvenient structure for a water tower. So I had my doubts even then. But after seeing almost identical structure again I believe it´s more like a radio booth and not a water barrel. That would explain why it´s so high up (better area coverage), relatively small and why you don´t see the structure anymore in later photos probably because taller buildings were built quickly after so you could have a better coverage from a building twice as high.


It´s more plausible that the structure had something to do with radio transmitting. But the final word should come from an expert or a radio fan geek - they usually know their stuff extremely well and may recognize the structure easily and without any doubt."



It seems, that the Mystery is solved.

Michal Juroška wrote again:

As I started suspected few days ago, the thing on top of MLIB could also be a meteorological equipment.



I just found a proof that it was indeed exactly that!

In the RISE OF THE NEW YORK SKYSCRAPER book, page 218:


"...its height was said to have been exceeded only by the spires of St. Patrick´s Cathedral. Taking advantage of the situation, a weather forecaster stationed his meteorological equipment high up in the building."

Thursday, January 6, 2011

Gallery 1 - The Early Years: 1894 -1903

The Manhattan Life Insurance Building opened on the 1st of May 1894, been the "Tallest Building in the world" for a couple of months, until the "Philadelphia City Hall" opened on the 30th of November 1894. It hold the title "Tallest (office) Building in New York" for a longer time until 1899, when the construction of the "Park Row Building" ended.

Lots of pictures have been taken in the first two years, understandable, because skyscrapers were still rare in the city at this time and the MLIB was the city's tallest one. I don't know the date of every picture, but with a look on the other buildings around they must have been taken in the early years.

Watch out for the dome / copula on the top. The early years are showing the first / old look of the building with a half bowl structure. Later in 1904 the look changed with another dome and a wider front.

1895


First picture shows the 1895 South Broadway look. On the total left side you see Trinity Church and the light highrise in construction is the American Surety Building. Between TC and ASB down on the ground the old Equitable Building (only a small stripe). The dark building on the right side of the ASB was the "United Bank Building", next building on the right, the lighter and higher one, was the "Union Trust Building". Highest building on the picture is the Manhattan Life Insurance Building, one year old, and the dark structure with the small tower on the right the "Consolidated Exchange".

Here is an old map from 1891 (George Bromley), showing the area three years before for your orientation. Source: http://www.davidrumsey.com/


A more detailed view in two parts:



A more detailed view focussed on the direct environment of the Manhattan Life Insurance Building, adress 64-66 Broadway. No problem to identify the lot, were the MLIB was build only 3 years later.


Same year and a similar Broadway view:


The next picture shows another 1895 Broadway view, taken from a more southern point, maybe Bowling Green. On the total left a part of the "Columbia Building" front, the higher building in the left background is the Aldrich Court. On the right side the first higher maybe can be the "Commercial Building". The dark building with the pyramide roof and the white annex was the "Tower Building", the first real skyscraper in New York City. The fourth floor structure behind with the triangle on the roof was the "Exchange Court Building", then the building under the small tower the "Consolidated Exchange" again. Then the "king" of the neighbourhood, the Manhattan Life Insurance Building, and inbetween other buildings it's also possible to identify the American Surety Building and the old Equitable Building.

an old Stereo Card with the wellknown view, I think from the same time:

This 1895 photo was shot from another place, so you get a new perspective here. In the middle left part it's easy to identify the MLIB and the American Surety Building. You can also see the old Equitable Building behind and behind that a building with a silhuette like the "Western Union Building". But this building burned down in 1890, maybe it was rebuilded again with a similar silhuette. In the right middle background it's possible to find the dome of the World Building (1890), another early skycraper and the one before the MLIB with the title "Tallest Building of the World". Just have another view on the left side of the picture, there is a long white building with some smoke above and (harder to see) a dark tower with pyramid roof near the left border of the picture. This building was the whole "Tower Building", the first skyscaper, build with iron-frame-technique in New York.

Back again on Bowling Green and another 1895 picture from the south Broadway. The Aldrich Court and the Trinity Church on the left side, and some more structures behind that, the one next to TC may be the first Trinity Building, the building behind the "Boreel Building". On the right side the Commercial Building in the foreground, then the Tower Building and the Manhattan Life Insurance Building with a mega-flag on it's top.


Another 1895 picture from the southern end of Manhattan: On the left side the Columbia Building, then Aldrich Court, then in the middle of the picture Trinity Church. On the right side the Welles Building, then the old Standard Oil Building, while an addition of more floors on it's roof. And in the right background the tower of the MLIB.

Two more undated pictures (maybe the same) from the middle 1890s.


1890s

I also don't know the date of this picture, showing the broadway front of the building and it's slenderness.


1898

This 1898 picture shows another Broadway view, now from a place north from the MLIB. Trinity Church in the left foreground and Union Trust Building in the background.


1899

The next picture is part of the famous 1899's "Broadway Street Views". With the MLIB on the right side.



Next picture was taken 1899 from a photograph standing on Bowling Green and looking uptown along Broadway. On the total left (white) the Bowling Green Offices, then the Columbia Building, then maybe the Empire Building. On the right side the Wells Building, then the old Standard Oil Building (with more floors now), then the Tower Building with a new and higher structure behind, then the MLIB and then the American Surety Building.

1900

The MLIB as part of the 1900 Manhattan skyline. On the right side a new structure between New Street and Broad Street with two markable strange globes on it's roof. The dark building on the right is "1 Broadway", also known as "Washington Building".

Another view on the 1900 Manhattan skyline, this time from a place maybe on the Brooklyn side.

On the right side you can see the Park Row Building, the "Tallest Building on Earth" at this time. The MLIB is hidden here on the left side of the picture. Watch out for the strange globes, they are now before the MLIB. 

One more look on the 1900 Manhattan skyline, now from south, maybe with the photograph on Bedloe's Island (now Liberty Island).


And the last picture in this gallery, also from 1900, a look on the Broadway front again. On the total left the Gillender Building (Corner Wall Street/ Nassau Street), then Trinity Church, then the Union Trust Building and on the right side the MLIB.


And the real last pic is an inside view of the first version of the MLIB. I think, the Broadway front is on the left side.


 
NEXT GALLERY
Gallery 2

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Gallery 2 - The late years: 1904 - 1930

The look of the Manhattan Life Insurance Building changed in the early 20th century. The building got an annex on the left side of its Broadway front, so the front became wider. The cupola was renewed to keep the symmetry of the building.

Following the description the first picture was taken in 1908. If the work for the new look of the building really started in 1904, this picture must have been taken in 1904 too and not in 1908.


I don't know the dates, when the next three pictures were taken, but they are all showing the new look of the building in an awesome way. I think the third picture is the oldest, because the old structures can still be seen on the right side of the MLIB.




1900s

The following two pictures are dated to be taken in 1900, but correct would be 1900s, because with a look on the copula of the MLIB they must have been shot in or after 1904.

Here is the MLIB on the total right of the picture. We see the longer copular, but by using only a short view it seems that the old round copula was pictured here.


I like this picture with the Pennsylvania Railroad Ferry in the foreground. In the background you can see a lot of the great old buildings from the first generation of skycrapers and the "new" MLIB in the middle.


(1903)
This picture was taken in 1903, when the new copula wasn't finally finished. With two old and long gone skyscrapers (Gillender Building and Hanover Bank Building) in the foreground and the MLIB on the left side of the Gillender Building.


1905

A Broadway street view from 1905 showing the Trinity Church in the foreground and the MLIB in the right background.


1906

An old aerial photo from Lower Manhattan, taken in 1906 with a special dusty atmosphere. The MLIB is hidden in the dust here.



1908

And another Broadway view, now from the year 1908, similar to the last one:


The next picture shows the frontpage of the "New York Tribune", it's hard to read, but I think, it's the one from the 1st of December 1907. Watch out for the Singer Building Tower on the left side, the construction of the Singer Building seems to be nearly finished at this point of time.


A similar view is also shown on this old stereo card (without a date and without the Singer Building Tower, maybe taken earlier than the last one):


The next picture maybe was taken in 1908 too, but I am not sure. It seems to be shot from somewhere behind Trinity Place. On the left side the Trinity Building, down on the ground the old Equitable Building, that burned down in January 1912, next Building right the American Surety Building (Bank of Tokyo today), the Gillender Building in the middle background, Trinity Church in the middle foreground, the Empire Building on the right side and mostly hidden behind that the MLIB.


A Brooklyn view of the late 1900s Manhattan showing the Brooklyn Bridge in the foreground and the South Manhattan skyline in the background with the new dome of the MLIB in the right center of the picture.



1911

The Manhattan Skyline in 1911, shot from south east. The MLIB is mostly hidden behind another building, but it's possible to recognize the upper part of the copula and the strange construction on the non-Broadway-front part of the roof.



1912

We leave the 1900s and enter the 1910s now, with a picture of the scenery taken from the south. Watch out for the Hudson Terminal in the left background (today the eastern part of Ground Zero), the Singer Building Tower and the City Investing Tower (the white building behind), the Trinity Building (grey building on the ground before), the Empire Building (light building in the center), the MLIB on the right side and the Columbia Building in the right foreground.


Another 1912 Manhattan skyline picture with the photograph on a bridge, maybe Brooklyn Bridge. In the left middle the Bankers Trust Building, on the right side the Singer Building Tower and City Investing Tower. The MLIB can be found at the left side of the BTB, but it's hard to identify, because of the perspective of the photograph.



1913

One year later we see a similar scenery, pictured in April 1913:


Some interesting changes happened in the year between the two pictures. The MLIB got a new neighbour on the right side. The Bankers Trust Building appeared behind the MLIB. In the center background there is also a new tower behind the Singer Building: the Woolworth Building at the southwest end of the City Hall Park. And the Columbia Building in the right foreground lost it's lovely oldschool roof and got more floors and a flat roof now.

Another picture from 1912, showing nearly the same view.


1916

This picture was dated to be taken in 1914, but you see the new Equitable Building on the right side, finished in 1915, so it seems to be taken later, maybe in 1916. It's hard to find the MLIB here, it's mostly hidden behind another building at the left middle.
 


The second 1916 picture has the same problem. The MLIB is hidden behind some other structures.


1917

Next picture was taken while World War One in Februar 1917. It shows the Manhattan skyline seen from the west, maybe from New Jersey. Municipal Building and Woolworth Building on the left side, the Hudson Terminal darker on the ground on the right side, then the City Investing Tower and the Singer Building, the new Equitable Building, the pyramide of the Bankers Trust Building and right of it in the darkness on the ground the MLIB, 20 years before the highest building in Manhattan, now dwarfed by the surrounding structures.



1919

Here is another aerial view from the Lower Manhattan area, taken in 1919. And it's hard to find the MLIB again. You find the top of the building on the left side of the Bankers Trust Building.



Early 1920s

Leaving the 1910s and entering another decade we reach this early 1920s aerial view of Lower Manhattan, shot from south eastern. The MLIB is hidden in the upper right quadrant of the picture. I took a second partial view, showing the MLIB's copula in the center of the picture.




1922

The next aerial view was shot in 1922, the MLIB is hidden again on the left side of the Bankers Trust Building in the upper center of the picture.



1924

Another aerial view, straight down now and taken in 1924, similar to a satellite picture in present.



1926

Another year, a new perspective: Broad Street in 1926. Stock Exchange in the center foreground, Bankers Trust Building and Equitable Building on the right side. And the copula of the MLIB in the left background.


1927

A new aerial view taken in July 1927 from the south. The MLIB is hidden in the upper middle of the picture, only a few years later the Irving Trust Building appeared on the left side, here on this picture it would be behind the MLIB.



One more Manhattan aerial view, also taken in 1927. The MLIB is hardly hidden in the middle left of the picture. Watch out for the dome.



1929

One more aerial view of Lower Manhattan, the financial district shot in 1929, the Black Friday year. In this picture the MLIB can be found nearly in the center of the picture, only a little bit on the right side.



Another aerial view of the 1929 Manhattan, shot from the west, including a good picture of the MLIB's dome in the center of the picture.



1930

The year, when the Manhattan Life Insurance Building has been demolished. Really? Many sources tell so. But have a look at the next gallery.

Construction time for the Irving Trust Building. And on the right side the copula of the MLIB.


Between the shadows of the older or higher buildings, in dark gray on the right side, the MLIB in 1930 again.


Last picture of this gallery without a concrete date, made before the Irving Trust Building was build, the MLIB appears in the right top of the picture, a nice view on the backside of the building.


A special THANK YOU goes to Michal Juroška and Andy Frieder, who found and shared a lot of the pictures, shown in this gallery.

Next gallery here:
GALLERY 3