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Lower Manhattan circa 1903. "Hanover National Bank Bldg., New York City." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Photographic Company. View full size.
To answer Timz's question, the building under construction on Broadway is the Manhattan Life Insurance Building, designed by Kimball and Thompson and built in 1893-1894. In 1904, the building was extended to the north (toward the right in this photo), ending up with the address 64-70 Broadway. This operation, shown in this photograph, involved "stretching" the dome of the original building, transforming it from a regular octagon in plan to a distended oval. At 348 feet, this building was actually the tallest in the world between its completion in 1894 and the completion of the Park Row Building (still standing!) in 1899. It was demolished in either 1963 or 1964 in order to make way for an expansion of the Irving Trust Building (1 Wall Street).
The Hanover National Bank building was new when this 1903 photograph was taken but Wikipedia says it was demolished in 1931. A very short life for such an impressive building.
I cannot embed a Google Earth map, so here is a current photo of the corner on which it sat. I don't think any of the buildings in the 1903 photograph exist today.
... to see how a building of that size and delightful architecture could be built before cars and trucks existed. I want to watch it being done -- and experience the marvel of watching hundreds of humans doing it.
What building is under construction just left of the top of the Gillender Bldg?
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