The Three Towers

Joseph Pennell

This view of Lower Manhattan shows the Singer Tower on the left. It was an office building and early skyscraper that was designed and built in various phases beginning in 1897. The building was commissioned by Frederick Gilbert Bourne and designed by the architect Ernest Flagg. The final building phase, between 1906 and 1908, added the Singer Tower and it owned the rights to being the tallest building in the world from 1908 to 1909.

The central tower is the Equitable Building at 120 Broadway designed by Ernest R. Graham in the neoclassical style. It was built between 1913 and 1915, and its completion brought controversary due to the lack of setbacks. The building blocked sunlight from reaching the ground and new zoning regulations were passed in 1916. This building is 555 feet tall, consisting of 38 stories, and was the largest office building in the world by floor area. In the 1920s it was considered the most valuable building in New York.

The tower at left with its pyramidal roof was originally the Bankers Trust Company Building at 14 Wall Street. The building boasts a 540-foot tower and was designed by Trowbridge and Livingston and built between 1910 and 1912. The seven-story pyramidal roof was inspired by the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus.

This image has 'The Print Rooms' gallery label, #3514.