25 Facts About Woolworth Building

1.

Woolworth Building is bounded by Broadway and City Hall Park to its east, Park Place to its north, and Barclay Street to its south.

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2.

The Woolworth Building had originally been planned as a 12- to 16-story commercial building but underwent several revisions during its planning process.

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3.

The Woolworth Building has been a National Historic Landmark since 1966, and a New York City designated landmark since 1983.

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4.

Woolworth, who had devised the idea for the Woolworth Building, had proposed to Gilbert that the Victoria Tower could be a model for the building.

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5.

Woolworth Building was designed to be 420 feet high but was eventually raised to 792 feet .

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6.

The Woolworth Building was 60 stories tall when completed in 1913, though this consisted of 53 usable floors topped by several mechanical floors.

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7.

Above that, the exterior of the Woolworth Building was cast in limestone-colored, glazed architectural terracotta panels.

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8.

Wind bracing, the entire Woolworth Building was considered as a vertical cantilever, and correspondingly large girders and columns were used in the construction.

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9.

Basement of the Woolworth Building contains an unused bank vault, restaurant, and barbershop.

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10.

Woolworth Building's office included a mahogany desk with a leather top measuring 7.

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11.

Woolworth Building contains a system of high-speed elevators capable of traveling 650 feet or 700 feet per minute.

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12.

Woolworth Building decided against it because of the prestige that a Broadway address provided .

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13.

Woolworth Building wanted his new structure to be of similar design to the Palace of Westminster in London, which was designed in the Gothic style.

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14.

However, Woolworth then wanted to surpass the nearby New York World Building, which sat on the other side of City Hall Park and stood 20 stories and 350 feet .

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15.

Woolworth Building then ordered Gilbert to revise the building's design to reach 710 or 712 feet, despite ongoing worries over whether the additional height would be worth the increased cost.

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16.

Woolworth Building purchased two lots to the west, one on Park Place and one on Barclay Street; these lots would not be developed, but would retain their low-rise buildings and preserve the proposed tower's views.

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17.

On completion, the Woolworth Building topped the record set by the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company Tower as the world's tallest building, a distinction it held until 1930.

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18.

Woolworth Building removed some decorative flying buttresses near the tower's crown and refaced four tourelles in aluminum because of damage.

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19.

The lobby reopened to public tours in 2014, when Woolworth Building Tours started accommodating groups for 30- to 90-minute tours.

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20.

The Woolworth Building was almost always fully occupied because of its central location in Lower Manhattan, as well as its direct connections to two subway stations.

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21.

Inventor Nikola Tesla occupied an office in the Woolworth Building beginning in 1914; he was evicted after a year because he could not pay his rent.

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22.

Woolworth Building's office took up the entire fourteenth floor and was heavily guarded.

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23.

In 1916, Fordham created "Fordham Downtown" at the Woolworth Building by moving the School of Sociology and Social Service and the School of Law to the building.

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24.

Woolworth Building has had a large impact in architectural spheres, and has been featured in many works of popular culture, including photographs, prints, films, and literature.

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25.

The Woolworth Building has appeared in works of literature, such as Langston Hughes's 1926 poem "Negro" and the 2007 novel Peak.

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