1909 Spofford View of New York City from the top of Singer Tower

This is a dramatic 1909 Edward W. Spofford view of New York City celebrating the opening of the Singer Tower. The Singer town was worthy of such a view, for this kind of high oblique perspective would have been a novelty to most New Yorkers as the newly finished Singer Tower was, at the time, the world's tallest skyscraper, New York's most innovative building, and a Beaux-Arts design wonder.

A Closer Look

The pen and line illustration looks north from the observation deck of Singer Tower. The view up Broadway extends well into Midtown, where the Metropolitan Life Insurance Tower, another contender for New York's tallest skyscraper completed in the same year, is recognizable. The otherwise low-rise cityscape underscores the extent to which 1908 was the dawn of New York's skyscraper age.

Singer Tower

The Singer Tower, completed in 1908 in New York City, was an iconic early skyscraper and a symbol of the rapid urbanization and architectural innovation of the early 20th century. Designed by renowned architect Ernest Flagg for the Singer Manufacturing Company, the building stood at 612 feet (187 meters) with 47 stories, making it the tallest building in the world at the time of its completion. The Singer Tower's Beaux-Arts design featured an elegant, slender profile, topped with a copper dome and lantern that became a defining feature of the New York City skyline. The building served as the corporate headquarters for Singer, a leading manufacturer of sewing machines, reflecting the company's global prestige. Despite its architectural significance, the tower was demolished in 1968 to make way for a modern office building, sparking widespread criticism and fueling the burgeoning preservation movement in New York. Today, the Singer Tower is remembered as a masterpiece of early skyscraper design and a lost treasure of New York City's architectural heritage.

Publication History and Census

This view was drawn by Spofford in 1909 and published in the same year for the Singer Manufacturing Company. This is one of four views Spofford completed for Singer, one for each of the cardinal directions. The views are extremely rare, with the New York Public Library owning the only complete set.