Photo by Tony Hisgett. Wikimedia Commons.

Top 10 Outstanding Facts about Woolworth Building


 

Woolworth Building is an American skyscraper located at 233 Broadway in Manhattan, New York City. After it’s construction, Woolworth Building was the tallest building in the world. This was between the years 1913 and 1930. It stands at the height of 241 meters.

Woolworth Building remains one of the 100 tallest buildings in the United States of America. The building is owned by Witkoff Group, Cammeby’s International and KC properties. Cammeby’s International owns the bottom 30 floors while KC properties own the top most 30 floors of the building. Here are the Top 10 Outstanding  Facts about Woolworth Building.

1. It was designed by Cass Gilbert

Photo by Ludovic Bertron. Wikimedia Commons.

Woolworth Building was designed by Cass Gilbert. He used the neo-Gothic architectural style on the building. This is the reason why Woolworth Building resembles cathedrals which are more often than not gothic.

One S. Parker Cadman called the building ‘The Cathedral of Commerce’. This is because of the gothic architecture used on a commercial buildings. Originally, Woolworth Building was designed to be 130 meters high. Eventually, the height was increased to 241 meters.

Check out American gothic Architecture: 10 Beautiful Buildings to See.

2. On construction, it was the tallest building in the world

At 241 meters tall, Woolworth Building was the tallest building in the world. Woolworth Building remained the tallest building in the world until the construction of 40 Wall Street and the Chrysler Building in 1930.

Currently, Woolworth Building is among the 100 tallest buildings in the United States of America. The building has 35 floors in total. While its construction began in 1910, Woolworth Building took 2 years to complete and was officially opened on April 24th 1913.

3. The building’s basement has unused bank vaults

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Woolworth’s basement contains unused bank vaults, restaurant and barbershops. The bank vault was intended to be used as safe deposit boxes.

In 1931, Irving National Bank moved 3 billion dollars of deposits to a vault in its new headquarters at 1 Wall Street. The Woolworth Building’s vault was thereby converted into a storage area for maintenance workers.

Have a look at the 10 Oldest Buildings to visit in New York. 

4. The basement also has a private pool

During its construction, a private pool intended for F.W. Woolworth was constructed in the basement. The pool measures 4.6 by 16.8 meters. The pool was at some point drained. Later in mid-2010s, the pool was restored as part of the conversion of the Woolworth Building’s upper floors into residential units.

5. The building has over 2000 offices

Woolworth Building is well endowed with over 2000 offices. On construction, each office had ceilings ranging from 3.4 to 6.1 meters high. Woolworth’s private office on the 24th floor utilizes the French Empire style with green marble.

This office had a mahogany desk whose leather top measured 2.29 by 1.14 meters. Woolworth’s reception room had objects that had been inspired by a visit to Chateau de Campiegne shortly after its opening.

6. It is a National Historic Landmark

In 1966, Woolworth Building was made a National Historic Landmark. It is also a New York City designated landmark since 1983.

Click here to see the 20 Most Famous Buildings in New York. 

7. The building’s construction was planned by F. W. Woolworth

F. W. Woolworth was a successful entrepreneur after running his store ‘Five-and-Dime’. He began planning to get a new headquarters for the F. W. Woolworth Company in 1910.

Woolworth therefore offered to acquire shares in New York Exchange Bank. This was in order to convince Lewis Pierson of Irving National Bank to move the bank’s headquarters to a new building he was planning to be F. W. Woolworth company’s headquarters.

8. The building has been a home to higher learning institutions

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Woolworth Building has housed a number of Fordham University schools. In 1916, Fordham created ‘Fordham Downtown’ at Woolworth Building. This was done by moving the School of Sociology and Social Service and the School of Law to the building.

Fordham university graduate school was founded in the building’s 28th floor in 1916. By 1929, the school’s combined programs at the Woolworth Building had over 3000 enrolled students. The American Institute of Graphic Arts also moved its headquarters to the Woolworth Building.

9. Woolworth Building has been featured in many films

Woolworth Building has featured in many works of popular culture. These include photographs prints, films and literature. One of the earliest film that featured Woolworth’s Building is the1921 film Manhatta. This was a short documentary film that was directed by painter Charles Sheeler and photographer Paul Strand. The building has also made cameo appearances in films like Applause (1929), Enchanted (2007) and the television show Ugly Betty.

Check out the Tallest Buildings in United States. 

10. It is named after F.W. Woolworth

Photo by Kidfly 182. Wikimedia Commons.

Woolworth Building is named after F. W. Woolworth. F. W. Woolworth was an American entrepreneur and founder of the F. W. Woolworth Company.

He was also the operator of the variety stores called ‘Five-and-Dime’. He built the Woolworth Building in 1913 at a cost of 13.5 million dollars. Woolworth wanted the building to be of similar design to the Palace of Westminster in London.