| What makes it historical? |
On March 17, 1930, Empire State, Inc. started construction on a new corporate headquarters where Fifth Avenue met 33rd Street! Building at a pace of 4.5 stories a week, by the time President Hoover formally turned on the building lights on May 1, 1931, the construction team had created a skyscraper, stretching 1,250 feet into the sky!
At the top, it got a spire meant to be a port for dirigibles (and also a way to outdo the nearby Chrysler Building as the tallest building in the world)! It lasted as tallest manmade structure until 1954, tallest freestanding manmade structure until 1967, and world’s tallest building until 1970! |
