Buildings on Broadway, Singer and Woolworth

Broadway looking north, showing Singer and Woolworth buildings. Photo taken from 120 Broadway (Equitable Life Building) by Irving Underhill, copyright 1916. Enlargement of the top floors of the Singer Building can be seen in other page. Source: Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.

The old Singer Building was a 47-story office building at 149 Broadway, on the northwest corner of Liberty Street and Broadway, in Lower Manhattan. It was built from 1906 to May 1908 to be the headquarters of the Singer Manufacturing Company. It was the tallest building in the world until 1909, when it was surpassed by the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company Tower in Madison Avenue. Singer Building was demolished in 1968.

The Woolworth Building is in the distance, near City Hall Park. It was completed in 1913 and was the tallest building in the world until 1930, when it was surpassed by 40 Wall Street.

The City Investment Building, at 165 Broadway, behind Singer Building, was completed in 1909 and demolished about 1968. The site is now occupied by the One Liberty Plaza, completed in 1972.