Status Destroyed Completed May 1, 1870 Roof 40 m (130 ft) Opened 1 May 1870 Structural engineer George B. Post | Type Commercial offices Destroyed January 9, 1912 Height 43 m Floors 7 Construction started 1868 | |
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Location 120 Broadway
New York City
United States Architects Edward H. Kendall, Arthur D. Gilman Similar Equitable Building, American Surety Building, Singer Building, Manhattan Life Insurance, Adams Express Building | ||
The Equitable Life Assurance Building was the headquarters of The Equitable Life Assurance Society of the United States. Construction was completed on May 1, 1870 at 120 Broadway in New York City and under the leadership of Henry Baldwin Hyde was the first office building to feature passenger elevators. At a then-record 130 feet (40 m), it is considered by some the world's first skyscraper. The architects were Arthur Gilman and Edward H. Kendall, with George B. Post as a consulting engineer and hydraulic elevators made by the Elisha Otis company.
Contents
- Map of Equitable Life Building 120 Broadway New York NY 10271 USA
- Destroyed by fire
- New building
- References
Map of Equitable Life Building, 120 Broadway, New York, NY 10271, USA
Destroyed by fire
The building, described as fireproof, was destroyed by a massive fire on January 9, 1912. Extremely cold weather caused the water from the fire trucks to freeze on the building. Six people died.
New building
The present Equitable Building was completed in 1915 on the same plot, and was designed by Ernest R. Graham & Associates. The massive bulk of the newer building was a major impetus behind the city's 1916 Zoning Resolution.