Western Union Telegraph Building

The Western Union Telegraph Building was a building at Dey Street and Broadway in the Financial District of Manhattan, New York City. It was designed by the architect George B. Post, and completed in 1875.[1][2] The building served as headquarters for the Western Union telegraph company from 1875 until its destruction by fire in 1890, and was subsequently rebuilt in 1892 to designs by Henry Janeway Hardenbergh.[3] The building was ten stories tall, rising to a height of 230 feet (70 m).[4] It provided workspace for 100 telegraph operators and was staffed 24 hours a day.

This article is about the former telegraph headquarters. For the telegraph building in Missouri, see Western Union Telegraph Building, Kansas City, Missouri. For the current Western Union headquarters, see 60 Hudson Street. For the current building on the site, see 195 Broadway.
Western Union Building
General information
StatusDestroyed
TypeOffice
Address195 Broadway
Town or cityNew York City
Coordinates40.7108°N 74.0095°W / 40.7108; -74.0095
Completed1875
Demolished1914
Height
Roof230 feet (70 m)
Technical details
Floor count10
Design and construction
ArchitectGeorge B. Post

The building was topped by a clock tower, and some claim that this building was the first skyscraper in New York City.[5] Beginning in 1877, a time ball was dropped from the top of the building at exactly noon, triggered by a telegraph from the National Observatory in Washington, D.C. This system, invented by George May Phelps, was later used as the initial reference for Standard railway time in 1883, and would stay in use until 1912.[6] The building's time ball would serve as an inspiration for One Times Square's New Year's Eve "ball drop", first held on December 31, 1907.[7][8]

The building was demolished from 1912 through 1914. It was replaced with the taller AT&T Headquarters at 195 Broadway. The Western Union Building annex at 14-18 Dey Street was demolished in 1912,[9] and Western Union employees moved out of the old building to a new structure at 32 Avenue of the Americas in June 1914.[10] The new AT&T headquarters was completed in 1916.[9]

References
  1. http://www.picturehistory.com/product/id/1843 Archived 2014-05-29 at the Wayback Machine. Picture History -- Western Union Building.
  2. Balmori, Diana (December 1987). "George B. Post: The Process of Design and the New American Architectural Office (1868-1913)". Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians. 46 (4): 348. doi:10.2307/990273.
  3. "Western Union Building" (PDF). New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission. October 1, 1991. p. 2. Retrieved March 13, 2020.
  4. http://www.westernunionalumni.com/wuhq.htm Archived 2011-09-13 at the Wayback Machine. Western Union Headquarters Buildings History.
  5. Weisman, Winston (1953). "New York and the Problem of the First Skyscraper". Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians. 12 (1): 13–21. doi:10.2307/987622. JSTOR 987622.
  6. http://www.telegraph-history.org/george-m-phelps/. George M. Phelps.
  7. McFadden, Robert D. (December 31, 1987). "'88 Countdown: 3, 2, 1, Leap Second, 0". The New York Times. Retrieved January 2, 2009.
  8. "NYC ball drop goes 'green' on 100th anniversary". CNN. December 31, 2007. Retrieved December 31, 2007.
  9. "American Telephone and Telegraph Building" (PDF). New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission. July 25, 2006. p. 3.
  10. "STATE FUND INSURANCE.; Big Employers Taking Out Policies -- 4,000 Already Written". The New York Times. June 29, 1914. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved February 9, 2020.

Media related to Old Western Union Telegraph Building (Manhattan) at Wikimedia Commons


This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.