Financial District in Manhattan in New York County, New York — The American Northeast (Mid-Atlantic)
Equitable Building
120 Broadway,
Graham, Anderson, Probst and White Architects, 1912-15
— Exploring Lower Manhattan —
Photographed By Bill Coughlin, September 10, 2011
1. Equitable Building Marker
Vast, looming and dark by comparison to all previous skyscrapers, on completion the Equitable Building could claim the title of, if not the tallest, then certainly the largest office building in the world.
Successful life insurance companies like Equitable, with large amounts of capital at their disposal, emerged as among the first and most important builders of skyscrapers. The first Equitable headquarters, also built on this site (1868-70), has been reckoned the first American skyscraper.
Its successor, in its day both the largest office building and the heaviest structure on earth, could accommodate over 12,000 people, far more than could fit in the surrounding streets. Builder Louis Horowitz wrote that, on completion, its 1,200,000 square feet of space “seemed almost like a new continent, so vast and vacant were its many floors.”
Erected by The Alliance for Downtown New York, Inc.
Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Architecture • Industry & Commerce • Notable Buildings.
Location. 40° 42.486′ N, 74° 0.588′ W. Marker is in Manhattan, New York, in New York County. It is in the Financial District. Marker is at the intersection of
this page online
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker. 28 Liberty (here, next to this marker); Federal Reserve Bank of New York (within shouting distance of this marker); a different marker also named Federal Reserve Bank of New York (within shouting distance of this marker); Chamber of Commerce / Liberty Tower (within shouting distance of this marker); The Liberty Tower (within shouting distance of this marker); November 5, 1953 (about 400 feet away, measured in a direct line); October 26, 1953 (about 400 feet away); 33 Liberty Street (about 400 feet away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Manhattan.
More about this marker. A contemporary photograph of the Equitable building appears at the upper left of the marker. Another picture of the building at the lower right has a caption of “Besides concerns about the loss of light and air, the size of the Equitable prompted worries about how its thousands of occupants could possibly escape a fire. Even as Mayor John Purroy Mitchel officiated at the cornerstone laying in 1914, he hinted that the Equitable might be the last of the city’s mammoth skyscrapers.
It wasn’t, but the furor over the Equitable’s immense size
Photographed By Bill Coughlin, September 10, 2011
2. Equitable Building Marker
This rendering by architectural illustrator Hugh Ferriss, in response to the new codes, suggested the regulated shape of skyscrapers to come.”
A picture of an insurance policy is at the lower left of the marker with the caption “For over 140 years, the Equitable has counted among its millions of insured American presidents Garfield, Harrison, McKinley, Theodore Roosevelt and Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Hard-hearted businessmen like Walter Chrysler, Pierre DuPont and Cecil B. DeMille entrusted their lives to the Equitable, and so did such artists and entertainers as John Philip Sousa, Buffalo Bill Cody, Rudyard Kipling, George M. Cohan, Will Rogers, George Gershwin, Fanny Brice, Clark Gable, Gary Cooper and Babe Ruth – not to mention George Armstrong Custer, who must have enjoyed the peace of mind of the adequately insured at his fateful Last Stand.”
Below this is a picture of “The Goddess of Protection, J.Q.A. Ward’s statue of Life insurance as the protector of widows and orphans, [which] presided over the Broadway entrance of the first Equitable Building.”
Regarding Equitable Building. The
Photographed By Bill Coughlin, September 10, 2011
3. Marker on Nassau Street
Also see . . . The Lost Equitable Building -- Broadway and Pine St. "Daytonian in Manhattan" entry on the original building on the site. (Submitted on April 5, 2020, by Larry Gertner of New York, New York.)
Photographed By Bill Coughlin, September 10, 2011
4. Equitable Building and Marker
The Equitable Building can be seen here across the street from the marker.
Photographed By Bill Coughlin, September 10, 2011
5. Equitable Building
Photographed By Larry Gertner, February 15, 2015
6. Equitable Building Marker, 2002
The previous "Exploring Downtown" version.
Credits. This page was last revised on January 31, 2023. It was originally submitted on September 16, 2011, by Bill Coughlin of Woodland Park, New Jersey. This page has been viewed 715 times since then and 40 times this year. Last updated on April 5, 2020, by Larry Gertner of New York, New York. Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. submitted on September 16, 2011, by Bill Coughlin of Woodland Park, New Jersey. 6. submitted on January 7, 2019, by Larry Gertner of New York, New York. • Michael Herrick was the editor who published this page.
