Urban development is a crucial element of any thriving society. As populations continue to grow, cities have to adapt by providing their residents with new infrastructural, governmental, and entertainment facilities. Unfortunately, more often than we’d like to admit, this results in the destruction of historic buildings and landmarks.
After the US population boomed post-World War II, society had to quickly evolve to keep up with the rapidly changing times. Urban centers changed shape, spreading out and giving rise to suburbia. With that shift came the need for additional transportation options.
Many cities established efficient public transportation systems but others leaned heavily on car travel to fulfill their needs. Since the economy was fairly robust at the time, the majority of US families were able to afford their own vehicles.
In 1956, the funding of the Interstate Highway System only further fueled the need for cars and places to park them. To make room for new roads, functional architecture such as transportation hubs, and parking garages, older buildings had to be torn down. At the same time, many historic and aesthetically-pleasing businesses and homes were leveled to appease American’s love for massive, modern skyscrapers.
From the Old Cincinnati Library to the Chicago Federal Building, countless historical landmarks throughout the United States have been demolished to make room for parking garages, office buildings, and more modern structures. Join as as we take a look at a few of the landmarks that were destroyed in the name of “progress”.
Viewcation Presents: American Landmarks That Have Been Destroyed
Garrick Theater
Many of Louis Sullivan’s Chicago buildings have been preserved, but we did lose one of his most fetching designs. The renowned architect built Garrick Theater with Dankmar Adler in 1891. Today, a parking garage sits where the enchanting theater once stood. Sullivan’s beautiful creation was torn down in 1961, but before it was gone photographer Richard Nickel was able to document the space. So, at least we can still see what the theater was once like in it’s heyday. With intricately carved arches and beautiful marble work, it’s a wonder why the Windy City didn’t try harder to save it from the chopping block.
The Original Penn Station
When discussing destroyed landmarks, New York’s Penn Station is usually one of the first leveled structures to come to mind. Today, Pennsylvania Station is housed below Madison Square Garden in Midtown Manhattan and serves more than half a million passengers daily, but before it was moved underground in the 60s, Penn Station was a gorgeous Beaux-Arts Fortress that was considered to be one of the Big Apple’s crown jewels.
Featuring 22 eagle sculptures, 84 enormous Doric Columns, and a 138-foot high ceiling, the original Penn Station was an architectural wonder. By the mid-20th century, however, passenger volume had begun to decline sharply, and the building’s maintenance became increasingly expensive to keep up with. Because of this, the Pennsylvania Railroad company eventually made the difficult decision to demolish the main headhouse and train shed while keeping the tracks underground in service.
In 1961, plans to build Madison Square Garden on top of Penn Station were unveiled, but the plan quickly faced public outcry. The renowned art historian Vincent Scully once summed up the controversy by calling the old structure ‘one that entered the city like a god’ and the new one as one that ‘scuttles in…like a rat’.
Despite these concerns, the Original Penn Station was demolished in 1963, and Madison Square Garden opened half a decade later.
Mark Hopkins Mansion
Railroad Magnate Mark Hopkins unfortunately never got to see the mansion that he commissioned a duo of architects to build for him and his beloved wife high atop San Francisco’s Nob Hill. Shortly before the mansion’s completion in 1878, Hopkins passed away.
Even sadder is the fact that we’ll never get to see the mansion either, as the opulent Victorian home burned to the ground following the devastating 1906 San Francisco Earthquake. Mark’s widow, Mary, did however get a chance to appreciate the decadently majestic home for a spell. She lived there for several years before marrying one of the interior designers that she hired to furnish the place.
Old Cincinnati Library
For just about eight decades, the Old Cincinnati Public Library in Cincinnati, Ohio, looked like something straight out of an old movie. It featured towering bookshelves packed full of boundless knowledge, lavish marble floors, spiraling staircases, and enormous skylights. The building, which was located on Vine Street in the heart of downtown, housed one of the most impressively beautiful libraries in the country and perhaps even the world.
The Old library opened it’s doors in 1874, and it’s stunning interior was designed by the famed J.W. McLaughlin. Initially, the building was meant to be used as an opera house, but it was converted into a library after the original project lost it’s funding.
During the Library’s grand opening, the local paper The Cincinnati Enquirer praised it’s unique structure saying that they were impressed not only by it’s magnitude and beauty but also by it’s adaptation to the purpose it served.
By the 1920s, however, the library was quickly running out of room to house all of it’s books. Then in 1955, a new Main library was opened right down the street. As such, the once-celebrated building was demolished, and today a drab parking garage sits in it’s place.
Really though, why is it always a parking lot?
The Chicago Federal Building
Chicago’s Federal Building was once a place of grandiose proportions featuring a rotunda that was larger than the one seen at Washington, DC’s Capital Building. During it’s day, it was considered to be a Beaux Arts masterpiece. The building stood for six decades after being completed in 1905 before being demolished in 1965. It was later replaced by Miles van Der Rohe’s comparatively prosaic modernist Kluczynski Federal Building.
Beacon Towers
While we can’t say so for certain, it’s believed by some that this fabulous Gilded Age mansion on Long Island was the inspiration for F. Scott Fitzgerald’s classic novel The Great Gatsby. The Beacon Towers was a Gothic Gold Coast landmark from 1917 to 1945. The house was lived in by Alva Belmont, the widow of Oliver Belmont and an ex-Vanderbilt, and William Randolph Hearst.
The Cliff House
While the Cliff House of San Francisco still exists, it only does so in name only. The latest incarnation is a dramatic stylistic departure from the original 7-story chateau that sat at the site from 1896 to 1907 when it burned to rubble. The landmark was later rebuilt and received a series of makeovers, but the majestic home that once stood atop the rocky coastal terrain exists only in pictures.
The Beach Hotel
This Galveston, Texas landmark was one of many grandiloquent hotels that once occupied the area affectionately known as the ‘Playground of the Southwest’. While it had it’s fair share of competition, The Beach Hotel was arguably the prettiest. This red-and-white striped Victorian-style structure was constructed in 1882. It was designed by Nicholas Clayton, who also designed Galveston’s treasured Bishop’s Palace. Sadly, it only stood for a few years before being demolished following a mysterious fire that resulted in significant structural damage.
Marlborough-Blenheim Hotel
In 1902, Josiah White III started building a Queen Anne-Style hotel in New Jersey’s Atlantic City, which he called the Marlborough. Not long after initial construction had been completed, White decided to expand the resort. With the help of architect Will Price, he designed a separate tower which was named after Winston Churchill’s birthplace in Blenheim, England.
At the time, the Blenheim tower was the largest reinforced concrete building on the planet. It featured Moorish and Spanish themes and a giant glistening dome. The two buildings that White had commissioned ended up forming what was known as the Marlborough-Blenheim Hotel, and they were considered to be a staple of the Atlantic City skyline for years. Winston Churchill himself even made it a point to stay there in 1916.
After changing hands, the hotel was eventually demolished in October 1978. Bally’s Park Place casino now stands at the hotel’s former location.
Richfield Tower
The Richfield Tower in Los Angeles was completed in 1929. Also known as the Richfield Oil Company Building, the structure was designed by Stiles O. Clements and boasted a bold gold and black Art Deco facade. This design made it stand out among all of the other buildings that surrounded it at the time.
The black and gold color scheme was meant to symbolize the “black gold” nickname for oil. Additionally, the 130-feet-tall beacon at the top of the building was meant to be reminiscent of an oil derrick.
Including this beacon, the Richfield Tower stood 372 feet high and was adorned with the nsme Richfield on ait’s side. By the ’60s, the Richfield Oil Company had effectively outgrown the tower leading to it’s demolition in 1969. In it’s place was built the Arco Plaza Skyscraper Complex, which has since been renamed City National National Plaza.
Keith’s New Theatre
Producer Benjamin F. Keith had this theater built on Philadelphia’s Chestnut Street in 1901. The stunning building hosted vaudeville shows and featured iconic columns, a triumphal arch, and a striking recessed entrance.
Keith’s New Theatre quickly became a popular destination where stars like Charlie Chaplin and the Marx Brothers would regularly perform, but as Vaudeville began to die out, the theater struggled to maintain attendance.
In 1943, one William Goldman purchased the building and converted it into a movie theater, renaming it the Randolph Theatre after his deceased son. In 1971, the theater was permanently closed, and the building was demolished. Today, of course, the site is home to several office buildings and retail stores.
The Singer Building
From 1908 to 1909 New York’s Singer Building was the tallest building in the world. It was also the tallest building ever to be demolished by it’s owner when it came down in 1968.
The Singer Building was more than just a skyscraper, however, as the Big Apple has plenty of those. It was also an architectural marvel! The Singer Building’s lobby was adorned with elaborate columns that were capped with large bronze medallions that prominently featured the company’s logo. To fit the theme of their business, these medallions also depicted items like needles, thread, and bobbins.
It’s a shame that so many of these once-great buildings have been lost to the sands of time. As Robert Frost once famously said, “nothing gold can stay”, but it’s still a bit depressing whenever architectural masterpieces like the ones we’ve just covered are turned into something as trivial as parking lots and office buildings. It makes you wonder what modern landmarks are destined for the rubbish bin in the near future!
Anyway, that about wraps up this video, but before you go, take a moment to show us a little support by hopping in the comments and sharing a few of your thoughts on this topic. Did you know that New York’s original Penn Station was torn down to make room for Madison Square Garden and that Atlantic City’s Marlborough-Blenheim Hotel was once visited by Winston Churchill? Let us know, and feel free to tell us about any other historical landmarks that have since been leveled.
As always, thanks for watching, and Happy Travels!