Hi guys, does anyone have pictures of the site before the old wtc was built, id love to have known what the place looked like

Yes! There's lots of shots of the area, mostly from before WW2. For some reason, few photos taken later have been hosted online...




Why don't I move this to the WTC subforum? ;)

Imagine owning a radio shop in this area in the early 60's...hearing they want to tear the whole place down to build a huge development way bigger than anything anywhere the world had seen..true ! Not a thought would have been given about the fate of this spectacular project let alone the people who would be there on two specific days and times............They would just want their shop to keep selling radios.....transistors will rule the world one day ! I post this then see Desertpunks subforum comment...........oh well, it's all wrapped up in those futuristic transistors anyway ?

so does anyone have any pictures? im dying to see what it looked like!

so does anyone have any pictures? im dying to see what it looked like!

there are quite a few in the Mega WTC thread, If I'm not mistaken.
http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=56090

^^^The Mega WTC thread is probably your best bet. It pops up all over the internet on other discussion forums when people are looking for WTC pictures. And my photobucket gets weird hits from all over the place.

From the WTC construction thread:

"Radio Row" and the WTC site in early photographs

The neighborhood bounded by Vesey, Church, Liberty, and West Streets was no dead zone. It was a lively, if shabby mix of small shops, cafes, and old mercantile rowhouses along the SE corner of Lower Manhattan. And although Wall St. was close by, the area known as "Radio Row" was a world onto itself.


all photos below: http://www.flickr.com/photos/nypl/
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2108/2290168378_2e380c010c_z_d.jpg?zz=1
Standing at the corner of Liberty St. and Chuech St., The Singer Tower was torn down in 1967 and replaced by the US Steel Building now known as 1 Liberty Plaza.

http://estb.msn.com/i/45/B314CC1218EA360C64EC5CC0F583.jpg
Radio Row in 1936 on Cortlandt St. ( http://news.za.msn.com/gallery.aspx?cp-documentid=158925444&page=2 )

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3156/3109780665_716fb82607_o_d.jpg
Dey St. between West St. and Washington St. 1936

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3012/3110613216_7f2188fd15_o_d.jpg
1936 West St. north of the WTC site, also demolished as part of the redevelopment of Lower Manhattan.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3110/3109780983_3b30e44fe5_o_d.jpg
1936 Reade St. between west St. and Washington St.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3138/3109780867_8e41f00528_o_d.jpg
West St. row. 1936

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3192/3110606800_ff3e371255_o_d.jpg
Jersey Central RR head house at the foot of Liberty St. 1936

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3045/3109774689_670a7bd384_o_d.jpg
Truck traffic along West St. facing east toward the Hudson Terminal. 1936




The WTC site as it appeared in the mid 1960s. Known as "Radio Row" the low rise buildings dating to the 1850s were, by 1960, a disheveled lot of derelict and low rent repair and radio shops. The two higher buildings at 30 and 50 Church St. were the Hudson Terminal Buildings that stood above the PATH/subway tracks. And they stood squarely in the sights of Robert Moses and the Port Authority.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3239/2927900056_0a19fe5b22_o_d.jpg
http://www.flickr.com/photos/rainbo8/

West Street, West Side Highway and abandoned 19th century warehouses at World Trade Center site before construction started on the WTC. 1966. New York
http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2649/4083899395_0e2a761d2f_o.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/wavz13/4083899395/)
West Street, West Side Highway and abandoned 19th century warehouses at World Trade Center site before construction started on the WTC. 1966. New York (http://www.flickr.com/photos/wavz13/4083899395/) by wavz13 (http://www.flickr.com/people/wavz13/), on Flickr

Washington St and Chambers St toward Hudson and West Side Highway. Not far from the future World Trade Center. 1967. New York
http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2502/4083898627_7c91077260_o.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/wavz13/4083898627/)
Washington St and Chambers St toward Hudson and West Side Highway. Not far from the future World Trade Center. 1967. New York (http://www.flickr.com/photos/wavz13/4083898627/) by wavz13 (http://www.flickr.com/people/wavz13/), on Flickr

West St. at Jay and Caroline vacated prior to demolition 1967
http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2627/4084658364_1c53eb0fec_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/wavz13/4084658364/)
West Street, West Side Highway, at end of Jay St by Caroline St. 1967. New York (http://www.flickr.com/photos/wavz13/4084658364/) by wavz13 (http://www.flickr.com/people/wavz13/), on Flickr

West St. between Duane and Reade 1967
http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2517/4084658466_566d25ee2f_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/wavz13/4084658466/)
West Street between Duane and Reade Sts. Right by the new World Trade Center. 1967. New York (http://www.flickr.com/photos/wavz13/4084658466/) by wavz13 (http://www.flickr.com/people/wavz13/), on Flickr

West Street between Jay St and Duane Street. Right by the new World Trade Center. New York. 1967
http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3508/4083899357_eacd71fcf8_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/wavz13/4083899357/)
West Street between Jay St and Duane Street. Right by the new World Trade Center. New York. 1967 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/wavz13/4083899357/) by wavz13 (http://www.flickr.com/people/wavz13/), on Flickr

West St. and Warren 1967
http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2447/4084658420_a397ea073f_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/wavz13/4084658420/)
West Street and Warren St. 1967. New York. Just a few blocks north of the new World Trade Center. (http://www.flickr.com/photos/wavz13/4084658420/) by wavz13 (http://www.flickr.com/people/wavz13/), on Flickr

West St. and Chambers 1967
http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2798/4084658394_765f8c4de0_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/wavz13/4084658394/)
West Street and Chambers St. 1967. Just a few blocks from the new World Trade Center. New York (http://www.flickr.com/photos/wavz13/4084658394/) by wavz13 (http://www.flickr.com/people/wavz13/), on Flickr


Washington Market, demolished in 1967 to make way for the WTC.
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_mlPoGU4VqSk/TGlYVVGz6vI/AAAAAAAAHu8/_R_U87nxF_c/s1600/washington.jpg
The Bowery Boys http://theboweryboys.blogspot.com/2010/08/mad-men-notes-swanky-steaks-and.html

The Site
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2702/4352233254_9d24ccb0e2_b.jpg

1966-67 The site looking north towards the NY Telephone Building.
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4010/4258830687_aab6be4c74_o_d.jpg
http://www.flickr.com/photos/wavz13/

Very nice! I often wonder how the site would have turned out if instead of creating a superblock, they'd only built the Twins on the western plot and left the street grid and other buildings around the site intact. It would have made a better scaled urban plaza at the base of the Twins, and encouraged more street presence, something the original lacked in many ways.