Episode 1 of 4

Construction Start

Name: Construction Start
Start: 1896-10-20
Location: Park Row

When: October 20, 1896
Where: Park Row
Part of: Park Row Building completed as world's tallest building

Work on the Park Row Building began on October 20, 1896, following the purchase of lots by William Mills Ivins Sr. in 1896.

The Park Row Construction Company developed the building as a speculative office project. Ivins was asked to retire from the company in 1896 or 1897. The building was mortgaged for $2.25 million to the Equitable Life Assurance Society in mid-1897.

Sources

Park Row Building Wikipedia, revision of 2026-09-10

Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.