Story
The Woolworth Building
Once the tallest building in the world, the Woolworth Building remains one of Cass Gilbert's Masterpieces.
Woolworth Building
Frank Woolworth opened his first store in 1879. By 1910, he owned more than 600 Woolworth five-and-dime stores nationwide.
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Woolworth Building
On the prestigious site he acquired on Broadway across from City Hall Park, Woolworth envisioned a Gothic building soaring taller than the Metropolitan Life Insurance Building at the time the world's tallest skyscraper.
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Woolworth Building
Architect Cass Gilbert, knowing that an authentic Gothic building of this scale would be impractical, built a modern steel skeleton clad in masonry and terra cotta with Gothic details.
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Woolworth Building
From the 30-story base rose a 25-story tower, for a combined height of 792 feet.
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Woolworth Building
Mr. Woolworth financed the skyscraper in cash, which was unusual for a project of this size and cost, and for most of its history, it remained without a mortgage.
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Woolworth Building
Nicknamed the Cathedral of Commerce, it reigned as the world's tallest skyscraper from its completion in 1913 until William Van Alen's Chrysler Building surpassed it in 1929.
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Woolworth Building
A 1980s restoration of the exterior cost more than the original construction.
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