Ninety years ago this month, one of the world’s most famous buildings opened: the Empire State Building in New York City. The 1,250-foot skyscraper was the planet’s tallest building until 1970.
The Empire State Building was built during the Great Depression, when record numbers of Americans were out of work. Its construction employed more than 3,000 people a day, including many immigrants from Europe. Members of Mohawk Native communities, long known for their tradition of ironworking, also played a key role.
Much of the construction was very dangerous. To create the building’s skeleton, workers had to stand on beams only inches wide while hundreds of feet in the air. Their daring was captured in photos, like this one of a steel worker waving during structural work on the 88th floor.
The building, now a National Historic Landmark, attracts millions of visitors annually.