Grand Central Terminal is one of the most beautiful train stations in the world. Its aesthetics still amaze many people today. Also, the ceiling in the main concourse is the most famous part of the terminal; nevertheless, many of us do not know a lot about it. Thousands of commuters walked through the main concourse in Grand Central Terminal everyday since it was built; however, they were always rushing from places to places. The constellation ceiling is a sign to remind people to look up, and take a break. It was a way to slow down their paces and look around for beautiful things. In the early 1800s, trading business, especially the grain industry was in full swing in New York City. People were coming from all over the world to get …show more content…
Wilgus, Grand Central Terminal’s chief engineer, was born in Buffalo, New York in 1865. He not only made the reconstruction of Grand Central Terminal possible, but also significantly improved it in all ways. In 1902, there was a serious train accident that happened in the Park Avenue Tunnel, which belonged to The Grand Central Depot. Fifteen passengers died in the accident. It was a severe tragedy; Therefore, William J. Wilgus wrote a letter to the Railroad’s President W. H. Newman. In his message, he came up with a bold idea: to tear down the old terminal and replace it with a whole new station for electric trains. Despite the radical conditions of this proposal, the president approved his idea, and the reconstruction began in 1903. Rebuilding the terminal was not just about replacing the trains and the facilities, but also intended to create a landmark in New York City. As we all know, New York City was already a well-known city in the world back then. The architect’s selection was through competition, which was a popular method at the time. While many architects and firms participated in the contest, only two won----Reed & Stern and Warren & Wetmore. While Reed & Stern were taking care of the overall design, Warren & Wetmore cared for the details. It took ten years to build the new terminal; however, the new one was much better than the old one, and other train stations in the city. The design was delicate; the building material was the best at that …show more content…
Most people came to Grand Central Terminal just to take a look at it. I encountered a group of tourists when doing the research in the main concourse. They were looking up at the ceiling and taking pictures as I approached. They told me the painting on the ceiling was so astonished that they would stay there and gazed at it rather than continue their trip. The arch shape ceiling’s highlights are the constellations. These constellations were composed by the French artist Paul César Helleu. There are Aquarius (the Water Carrier), Pisces (the Fish), Aries (the Ram), Taurus (the Bull), Gemini (the Twins) and Cancer (the Crab) in the painting. They were painted with gold colors and the background is dark cyan blue. The ceiling also includes the Milky Way and thousands of stars. Additionally, according to the article Ceiling of Grand Central Terminal's Main Concourse on the Place Matters website: “two broad bands of gold arching from east to west are the Ecliptic (the plane of the earth’s orbit around the sun) and the Equator (the imaginary dividing line between the earth’s northern and southern hemispheres.)” One interesting thing is when you look up on the ceiling, especially at night, you can see some tiny little lights glowing, which were later replaced with LED lights. It is to amplify the painting and to make them more like the sky of Greece and Southern Italy from
In the middle of the nineteenth century, several factors contributed to the growth and expansion of cities in the United States. The 1850s saw a fantastic peak in the immigration of Europeans to America, and they quickly flocked to cities where they could form communities and hopefully find work1. The rushing industrialization of the entire country also helped to rapidly convert America from a primarily agrarian nation to an urban society. The transition, however, was not so smooth. Men and women were attracted to the new cities because of the culture and conveniences that were unavailable to rural communities.
In the early eighteenth century consumer goods flooded American markets, the colonists needed to sell what they produced in order to purchase British goods that were beyond their ability to manufacture and therefore made them feel more a part of the British "empire of goods".
In the late nineteenth century known as the Gilded Age (or the Reconstruction period) and the early twentieth century known as the Progressive era, the nation went through great economic growth and social change. Beginning in the 1870s, there was rapid growth in innovations and big businesses. This could be because there was population growth and when there is population growth, there is a high demand for products and other necessities in order to strive in society. Many immigrants from Europe, mostly from the eastern and southern Europe, and Asia moved to American cities. Additionally, farmers from rural America desired to increase economic growth and since corporations ruled and political problems occurred, they decided to move into the cities.
In the years from 1860 through 1890, the prospect of a better life attracted nearly ten million immigrants who settled in cities around the United States. The growing number of industries produced demands for thousands of new workers and immigrants were seeking more economic opportunities. Most immigrants settled near each other’s own nationality and/or original village when in America.
The late 1800's saw the beginning of the industrial revolution. Railroads were sweeping across our country and it took steel to make it run. The steel industry became very much in demand.
Railroads opened new areas as settlement and stimulated the mining and manufacture. At the same time, the telegraph appeared. It brought uniform price of the country. Because of these improvements, many people migrated to west. The market revolution and westward expansion heightened the nation’s sectional divisions. The most dynamic feature of the American economy in the beginning of the nineteenth century was the rise of the Cotton Kingdom. But the increasing demand of cotton lead to larger number of slaves. For white people, westward expansion was a chance to get more freedom, but for black people, it means that they would have less freedom and their families will be broken. In the north, Market Revolution turned it to commercial system. Farmers focus on producing crops and livestocks. In some industries, the factory superseded traditional craft production. Both men and women could earn money by taking jobs from factories. Market Revolution changed the time concept of Americans. In cities, time of work and relax is divided clearly. Early New England textile mills largely relied on female and child labor.
Entering an era of mechanization and large scale production by the second half of the nineteenth century due to the expansion of railroads, mining, factories etc.
One of the most evident symbols in this piece is the green light. The distant and faint light is a symbol of Gatsby’s hopes and dreams for the future, but also the past. Gatsby sees the green light from the edge of his dock and presumes that it is
The New York City Subway is one of the oldest public transit systems in the world, and Manhattan has its fair share of it, especially in the form of abandoned subway stations.Subways are great mean of transportation, with great historical and geographical value. Interborough Rapid Transit company built the first subway in 1904. The subway consisted of what is today the IRT Lexington Avenue Line south of 42nd Street, the 42nd Street Shuttle and the IRT Broadway - Seventh Avenue Line between 42nd and 145th Streets. 28th Street is a part of the first IRT line of NewYork city. It a local station on the Lexington Avenue Line of the New York City Subway, located at the intersection of Park
variety of reasons; primarily the railroad boom of the period. The railroad had a dramatic impact upon the citizens of the nation and left a legacy of positive impacts.
On December 31, 1890 a transition in history occured. New York City would start a new era in the history of the United States starting with the opening of Ellis Island as an immigration depo. This attracted many immigrants to the United Stated because of more job opportunities and as means to start a new life. As more immigrants came to America, it began to be known as the "land of opportunities". Immigrants coming in filled work spaces in industries with the hopes of someday becoming successful. These immigrants helped prove to other future immigrants that if you moved to America then you could start a better life for yourself and your families. On the other hand with positives come negatives and there were many involving immigration.
The United States experienced major waves of immigration during the colonial era, the first part of the 19th century and from the 1880s to 1920. Many people immigrated to America for
The issue of recovering the extremely destroyed and chaotic state of New York became the prime concern. Luckily, with the genius minds of people from all over the globe, different inventions and advancements came to life. After the war, even more immigrants came to the area while the French gift – The Statue of Liberty – became the symbol of freedom and hope for many prospective immigrants. By the late 1700s the population was back up to 20,000. During the 1800s, the population of New York had increased to over 60,000 people and that was only the start. Further along the line, in the late 1800s many more immigrants arrived to New York and they were mostly from southern and eastern Europe and China which made the population consistently increase (Jackson and Dunbar 362). Along with the different immigrants came different religions that in result built more churches and religious buildings that enhanced New York’s cultural diversity. The different immigrant groups attracted by the free New York also increased the amounts of different divergent business and restaurants present in the area that helped boost the
One of the pull factors, or issues that caused Germans to want to leave Germany that originated from outside the country, of the German immigration to New York was the many advertisements in foreign countries promoting cheap land in New York. This was due to an abundance of land for small fees under the Homestead Act. This was an ideal solution for the farmers who lost their jobs. They could migrate to New York and start farming here. Also, industrial jobs important role in the promoting of New...
An outburst in growth of America’s big city population, places of 100,000 people or more jumped from about 6 million to 14 million between 1880 and 1900, cities had become a world of newcomers (551). America evolved into a land of factories, corporate enterprise, and industrial worker and, the surge in immigration supplied their workers. In the latter half of the 19th century, continued industrialization and urbanization sparked an increasing demand for a larger and cheaper labor force. The country's transformation from a rural agricultural society into an urban industrial nation attracted immigrants worldwide. As free land and free labor disappeared and as capitalists dominated the economy, dramatic social, political, and economic tensions were created. Religion, labor, and race relations were questioned; populist and progressive thoughts were developed; social Darwinism and nativism movements were launched.