On This Day

Empire State Building is dedicated on May 1st, 1931. When completed it stood 102 stories and 1,250 feet high (1,454 feet to the top of the lightning rod), and was the world’s tallest skyscraper. The Art-Deco design (said to look like a pencil), was builder-friendly. The entire building went up in just over a year, under budget (at $40 million) and well ahead of schedule. During certain periods of building, the frame grew an astonishing four-and-a-half stories a week. Built during the Depression-era, the buildings construction employed as many as 3,400 workers on any single day.

Content is from: Rare Historical Photos