designed by architect richard morris hunt and opened in 1875 the new york tribune building
also known as the tall tower certainly comes to mind as a candidate for one of new york's
first ever skyscrapers originally 10 stories of brick and masonry it was later expanded to be
19 stories and was primarily inspired by french architecture and upon completion the tribune
building was the tallest in new york city and it was also the first to offer high-rise elevator
service but sadly this building's silhouette is no longer visible on the new york skyline
you see it fell to the wrecking ball in 1966 and its legacy has been forgotten
by most but that stops today join me as we uncover the hidden history
of new york's lost tribune building i'm your host ryan socas and you're watching it's history
though nowadays we have shifted more towards getting our news online it is essential to
remember that the publishing and printing industry served as one of the country's most vital arteries
in its time it was also crucial to the development of some of new york city's most incredible
architectural structures in the late 19th century the daily newspaper industry thrived at new york
city's park row thanks to its proximity to city hall the courts and the main post office in fact
park row was such a big part of the newspaper business that as various newspaper firms began to
populate the area it earned the nickname newspaper row at the time it was primarily dominated by the
new york times the new york world the new york sun and of course the new york tribune the new
york tribune was founded as a wig party pen paper on april the 10th 1841 by horace greeley greeley
was an american newspaper editor most well known for his strong abolitionist stances which he
communicated through his columns originally a printer's apprentice in east pulsene vermont
greeley moved to new york city in 1831 to work as a founding editor at the new yorker in 1834.
through his position he first caught the attention of new york politician thurlow weed greely issued
political campaign weeklies during the elections of 1838 and 1840 which not only helped further
the whig cause but kicked off strong political partnerships with both weed and the new york
governor william h seward empowered by this newfound success greely decided to take on the
most ambitious project yet founding the new york tribune which he would then edit until his death
from the start the new york tribune was a trendsetter in standards for the city's newspapers
as a result and due to its rising popularity it quickly became one of the most important
newspapers in the entire country elevating greely's career as an editor along with it it was
distinguishable by its strong moralistic themes additionally according to chronicling america it
took great care to present information regarding crime and similar topics as quote cautionary tales
the staff of editors and feature writers behind it were just as impressive including names such
as henry j raymond george ripley and margaret fuller karl marx served as a london correspondent
for time through his editorial columns greeley promoted his anti-slavery stance he also opposed
liquor tobacco gambling and capital punishment due to his strictly puritanical upbringing he
also encouraged educational reforms though he opposed women's suffrage the new york tribune
itself was less circulated than its biggest rivals the new york sun and the herald though it made up
for that in its weekly edition which was virtually unmatched for its lifespan its first edition was
published on september the 2nd 1841 and its weekly edition was exceedingly popular in smaller cities
and towns by 1860 it had reached an incredible circulation of around 200 000 it was renamed
the new york daily tribune in 1842 and then back to the new york tribune in 1866
in 1924 it merged with the new york herald to form the new york herald tribune which ran until 1966.
after greeley died in 1872 he was replaced by the american politician and newspaper editor white
law reid who brought incredibly lofty ambitions with him to the point that the skyline of new
york city was about to change forever you see reid who intended to meet the growing need for
space by building a quote printing palace that would tower over the rest of its rivals it was
only natural that such an ambitious project needed a skilled and experienced architect and hence reid
personally oversaw the hiring of the man who would bring his marvel to life with the groundwork set
let's take a moment to learn about richard morris hunt the designer who made reed's ambitious vision
a reality hunt was born on october the 31st 1827 and was a true visionary throughout his
decades-long career he helped establish the french bow arts in america and significantly contributed
to standards for professional architecture and design he was also instrumental in the founding
of the american institute of architects at which he served from 1888 to 1891 his illustrious career
started in europe where he studied beau arts in paris and became the first american to be trained
there then in 1854 he became the inspector of works for the building that connected the
tulares and the louvre he designed the pavilion d-la bibliotheque under hector la fuel and a
year later returned to new york to work on the extension to the capitol in washington dc he
later designed the lennox library and was hired to work on the tribune building not long thereafter
initially hunt's design called for an eight-story tall structure costing around four hundred
thousand dollars or around eight million dollars in today's money yet by the time it was completed
in april of 1875 it stood at 10 stories tall and frankly speaking the structure's construction
had been far from smooth in march of 1874 the new york sun newspaper sued to quote recover a
large amount of damages for encroaching 25 inches on the property of the sun in erecting their new
building then that same year a construction worker named john murray fell to his death from the fifth
floor the structure of the tribune building was made up of load-bearing masonry as was customary
for the 1870s and the mechanical systems it used were surprisingly modern an exterior
combined red and black brick with light stone to create 10 stories of striking architecture
by the time it was complete in 1875 it was the first tall building on park road not to mention
it was also one of the tallest in all the city its total height including the clock tower which was
12 feet in diameter came to 260 feet the building was designed to be as fireproof as possible due
to concerns raised over the recent large-scale fires in chicago and boston instead of using wood
in its construction brick was laid in cement and dressed with stone and granite its flooring was
made up of wooden planks laid over solid concrete its foundations were incredibly solid and sturdy
a series of walls that ranged from five feet and two inches to six feet thick carried most of the
structure's weight so from its clock tower to its subseller let's have a tour to see what was
inside of this fantastic and iconic building the composing room was fitted for up to 100
composers at a time and its numerous offices were designed with both comfort and convenience in mind
speaking tubes helped different areas communicate with one another at ease additionally pneumatic
tubes transferred documents and other important papers between the editors room the composing
room and the counting room as stated before the new york tribune building was also among the
first to offer elevator service the interior climate was said to be extremely comfortable
as it was protected by heating in the winter and ventilation in the summer its main lobby was
decorated lavishly in various black red and gray marble along with wood trimmings of ash cherry
and apple bronze chandeliers hung from the ceiling electrical lighting illuminated the various spaces
and electric enunciators were also included in the building's long list of amenities and yet despite
this long list of advancements the building was not as well received as you might expect
let me explain after opening to the public in 1875 opinions of the new york tribune building
were quite divided scientific america referred glowingly to its design stating that its floors
were ingeniously constructed and spoke highly of its accommodations many praised its innovation
but others had less positive things to say one architectural critic described
it in a column for the new york world as quote a glaring collection of red and white and black
which time can never mellow expressing what he described as the wariness the fever and the
threat of modern life especially of modern french life another significant point of criticism came
from one of the many tenants it hosted upon its opening in stark contrast to greeley's views who
readily advocated temperance the tribune rented out space on its ground floor to coaster and
bail for a basement saloon which stirred up some pretty intense criticism the norwich bulletin of
connecticut referred to the new building as a gorgeous grogery and just to place
a little emphasis the dictionary definition of a grogery is a low-class bar room or a liquor store
at the same time the new york sun stated that it was the most famous drinking shop in the country
comparing the tower that topped it to a sugar refinery still they had some rather impressive
tenants such as a businessman and inventor charles a cheever who had over 100 patents and was widely
associated with the likes of alexander graham bell and thomas edison as he made many improvements
to their inventions he also built the first telephone line in new york city and formed the
telephone company of new york the city's second ever phone line was installed in 1877 and ran
from chevro's office in the tribune building to the law telegraph exchange at fulton street
the office of a oakley hall the former mayor of new york was spoken of quite positively quote
the offices of mr hall comprise a suit of rooms handsomely furnished and decorated with pictures
statues and other works of art many of which have some interesting incidences connected to their
history all these comments turned out to be rather trivial as a decade later tragedy would strike
although this building was said to be fireproof a fire broke out on april the 1st 1888 in the homer
lee banknote company offices on the 8th floor it then spread to the tribune editorial rooms
on the ninth floor as a crowd gathered below to watch the blazing flames well no lives had
been lost the entire ninth floor was destroyed by the time the fire was extinguished though it cost
less than two thousand dollars in damages or fifty five thousand five hundred dollars in
today's economy dayton in manhattan remarks that the total loss of important documents paperwork
and library made the cost immeasurably tragic in 1881 an annex for the tribune building was
constructed at frankfurt street though it could not meet the ever expanding need for more space
and so a plan was devised to rise the building's height from 10 to 19 stories tall turning the
new york tribune building into a skyscraper all in its own the architects died yost and thuvard
were hired to carry out the renovations costing hundreds of thousands of dollars they took care
to preserve the architectural features of the building while reinforcing it so much so that
amazingly even the clock tower was preserved entirely this was done by removing and relaying
every single stone at the top of the structure in the same exact spot the tribune later stated that
the only difference between the tower of the past and the renovated tower was that the weather vane
and the finial of the present were made of copper in contrast those of the former were made of iron
though this was not the only renovation it underwent in 1915 the tribune leased space on
the ground floor to a drugstore though one glaring issue quickly revealed itself the storefront had
to be renovated but the massive 20-foot tall statue of horus greeley which had been on the
site since being unveiled in september of 1890 was completely blocking off the show window
it was moved across the street into city hall park where it can still be viewed to this very day and
yet these new renovations were still not enough to keep the building from falling into obscurity
and eventual demolition after world war one the newspaper industry began to migrate northward
and it was only a matter of time before the new york tribune did the same on christmas eve of 1921
it announced that they had sold the building and instead purchased a property on west 40th street
to prepare to move elsewhere the building's new owners intended to renovate it and rent it
out to various corporations that wanted to expand their reach downtown so in october of 1922 it was
leased out for 21 years for a total of 5 million dollars by former merchant victor weichmann from
this point on the building housed various legal firms as well as banking and contracting companies
for the next few decades starting in 1944 it was sold and resold three more times with its
final buyer hoping to modernize and revitalize it however as noble as intentions may have been
nothing could seem to have saved one of the last standing relics of newspaper row and in 1966
it fell to the wrecking ball so that pace college campus could be built in its place so
indeed as it seems to be the case with many lost masterpieces of the past the new york
tribune building was doomed to live a tragically short life christopher gray one of the new york
times columnist stated that the tribune vanished quote almost without a trace and barely a whimper