Western Union Telegraph Building

Western Union Building
Location within New York
General information
Status Destroyed
Type Office
Address 195 Broadway
Town or city New York City
Coordinates 40°42′39″N 74°00′34″W / 40.7108°N 74.0095°W / 40.7108; -74.0095Coordinates: 40°42′39″N 74°00′34″W / 40.7108°N 74.0095°W / 40.7108; -74.0095
Completed 1875
Demolished 1914
Height
Roof 230 feet
Technical details
Floor count 10
Design and construction
Architect George B. Post

The Western Union Telegraph Building in New York City was built by George B. Post, and was completed in 1875.[1] This building was located at the intersection of Broadway and Dey Street, and served as a headquarters for the Western Union telegraph company from 1875 until its destruction in 1890. It was 230 feet high, and had ten floors[2] to provide workspace for 100 telegraph operators. The facility was staffed and operated 24 hours a day.

The building was topped by a clock tower, and some claim that this building was the first skyscraper in New York.[3]

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.[4]

The building was destroyed by a fire, and later demolished from 1912 through 1914. It was replaced with the taller AT&T Headquarters at 195 Broadway.

References

  1. ↑ http://www.picturehistory.com/product/id/1843 Archived 2014-05-29 at the Wayback Machine.. Picture History -- Western Union Building.
  2. ↑ http://www.westernunionalumni.com/wuhq.htm Archived 2011-09-13 at the Wayback Machine.. Western Union Headquarters Buildings History.
  3. ↑ 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.
  4. ↑ http://www.telegraph-history.org/george-m-phelps/. George M. Phelps.

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


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