The Woolworth Building in lower Manhattan has a perfect nickname: The Cathedral of Commerce.
The nickname reflects the skyscraper's architecture, which in part resembles the Gothic cathedrals of Old Europe, and that it was built by Frank Woolworth, who became one of America’s wealthiest men after he originated a five- and ten-cents retail business and opened hundreds of stores nationwide and overseas.
The steel and terra-cotta building that rises 792 feet and 57 floors was built in 1913 and was the world’s tallest building until it was eclipsed it in height in 1930, briefly by 40 Wall Street and then by the Chrysler Building.
As to the accompanying photos, I took most of them last year, when the Skyscraper Museum in Manhattan held an exhibit on the Woolworth Building as part of a centennial celebration of the structure.
I snapped the photos at different times of day and at various vantage points: City Hall Park, Broadway (south and north of the building), Brooklyn Bridge Park, and the pedestrian approach to the Brooklyn Bridge in Manhattan.
Photos: Joseph Kellard