Panorama of Flatiron Building 1902

Photographed October 8, 1902. American Mutoscope and Biograph Co. Camera: Robert K. Bonine When it was completed, the Fuller (Flatiron) Building (1901-1903) was the tallest skyscraper north of the financial district. The building stands twenty-one stories tall including the attic story measuring 307 feet. The Broadway front is 190 feet wide, The Fifth Avenue front is 173 feet wide, and its nearly 87 feet wide on the 22nd Street side. Its north end is one-bay point, prompting a description as the slenderest building in New York. - A Wonderful Building, New York Tribune Illustrated Supplement, June 29, 1902 Designed by D.H. Burnham and Company (Chicago), the Fuller Building is an important early skyscraper and a New York City landmark. Known as the first great steel-framed building, the exterior of the lower three stories is stone, with the remainder clad in terra cotta. Its completion in 1902 marked the beginning of New York City's first skyscraper era. The Flatiron joined Hardenbergh's Western Union Building across Fifth Avenue and the Metropolitan Life Building and Madison Square Garden on the east and north sides of Madison Square. ''With the trees of Madison Square covered with fresh snow, the Flat Iron impressed me as never before. It appeared to be moving toward me like the bow of a monster ocean steamer, a picture of new America still in the making. The Flat Iron is to the United States what the Parthenon was to Greece.'' - Alfred Stieglitz Related films and information: At the Foot of the Flatiron http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xp9_i45b7LM What Happened on Twenty Third Street http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wna2a7Mk1i8 New York City in 1902: January 8 Collision in the tunnel of the Grand Central, in Manhattan, in the morning, results in death of 40 persons, and injuries to 40 / January 24 Denmark sells Virgin Islands to U.S. / January 27 Dynamite in the Rapid Transit tunnel at Park Ave. and 41st St. in Manhattan, exploded, killing five men and damaging houses for blocks / February 6 Young Women's Hebrew Association organizes in New York City / March 18 Enrico Caruso becomes first well-known performer to make a record / May 2nd George Méliès releases 'A Trip To The Moon,' the first science fiction movie (available online) / May 5 Buffalo Bill in town with his 'Wild West' show (A film of his advertising parade is part of this collection) Recommended reading: Madison Square / The Park and Its Celebrated Landmarks - Miriam Berman