Why the Ruins of this N.Y. tower were moved to Indiana - IT'S HISTORY

The lost St Paul building, Designed by George B. Post, constructed from 1895 to 1898, and named for the St. Paul Chapel across Broadway. This masterpiece once towered over lower Manhattan's Financial District as one of the first—and tallest—skyscrapers in New York City at 26 stories and 315 feet tall. Its Ionic-style colonnades stood out from the other superstructures of its time. But it was also this very same unique style that made it one of the most critically received buildings in the city's history. In the modern-day, the story of the St. Paul Building has long been lost to time but today we will bring it back to life

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IT’S HISTORY - Weekly tales of American Urban Decay as presented by your host Ryan Socash.

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» CREDIT
Scriptwriter - Imana Schoch
Editor - Rishi Mittal
Host - Ryan Socash

Chapters

New York’s Economics in the 19th Century - 1:19
The Rise of New York City’s Skyscrapers - 3:40
19th century insurance towers around the world - 4:01
Improvements in Construction for the St. Paul building - 4:25
Where were skyscrapers built? - 5:48
Who designed the St. Paul Tower? - 6:33
How did George B. Post win the commission for the Pulitzer Building? - 8:59
What made the St. Paul Building’s design so unique? - 9:38
Constructing the St. Paul Building - 12:36
Construction accidents at the St. Paul Building? - 13:45
The life of the St. Paul Building - 14:16
A word from SquareSpace - 15:28
The many criticisms of the St. Paul Building - 16:47
The fate of the St. Paul Building - 17:30
What remains of the St. Paul Building today? - 18:37
Where are the ruins of the St. Paul building? - 20:56

» SOURCES

» NOTICE
Some images may be used for illustrative purposes only - always reflecting the accurate time frame and content. Events of factual error / mispronounced word/spelling mistakes - retractions will be published in this section.

[KabukeeJo]

Sad that so many of these buildings are long gone and replaced by glass towers.

[TurtleDude]

I've seen those statues in person quite a few times, as they're not far from my home. So it's neat to see some local history talked about on here.
Thanks. 👍

[OuterGalaxyLounge]

I feel like I can walk right into this era of New York with these videos. The earliest skyscrapers or lower-rise architecture in my town that were built during this same era are all gone. I witnessed the disgusting demolition of the red-marble Louisville Board of Trade building in 1975 and the majestic carved stones were just thrown in a weedy junkyard despite the city's broken promises to reuse them respectfully.

[barclayjb]

I have enjoyed the remains of St. Paul's since the late 70's as a subject for my photography as a teenager in Indianapolis. Thanks for telling much more of the story. My mom even posed for art paintings for Elmer Taftlinger. History is sometimes closer than you think.

[taylord]

I love your content! it's hard to find things that keep my attention these days, but this channel keeps my attention from beginning to end every time. I appreciate your work, good sir.

[douglasmclean]

Thanks for the detailed background on the Holliday Park ruins! I've seen these a few times, living near Indy. I had heard they were from a building in NYC, but had no idea about the specifics behind them. Well done as always!

[arduous]

It’s so nice to learn about old forgotten skyscrapers!!!

[hollidaypark-indianapolis]

The Ruins at Holliday Park were refurbished in 2016 thanks to a $3.2 million dollar capital campaign led by the nonprofit organization, Friends of Holliday Park. Over 2, 000 donors contributed to the project, and upon completion The Ruins at Holliday Park received the highest honor at the Indy Chamber’s 2018 Monumental Awards ceremony. This award honors the most significant achievements by individuals and businesses that contribute to excellence in architecture, interior design, landscape architecture, construction, real estate development, neighborhood revitalization, engineering, innovative reuse and public art throughout the Indianapolis region. Over 350, 000 people visit Holliday Park each year to enjoy this piece of history.

[smallberries]

Watching this I realize that I used to work in the building that now occupies this exact location on Broadway between Ann and Fulton streets. So cool! Great video.

[dwi]

9:55-11:02 really stood out to me. Seems Post was a man of both principle and healthy ambition.

Imo he was right. Especially in the modern era with our truly hideous modern architecture.

[Wanamaker]

This was excellent. To think, all these (beaux art) buildings were all machine carved and hand chased for the details. Those three male statues were totally hand carved. The columns were turned on an huge lath for their antithesis, (that very slight belch curve an true Greek and Roman column has. Then the fluting vertical fluting was done last using a gigantic router. In this case, Indiana limestone was employed. Here are all the standard North American stone used to create these buildings.
-Amherst Variegated Buff
-Holmsburg Granite-Pennsylvania
-Vermont Marble
-Indiana Limestone
-Kentucky Limestone
-Montana Sandstone
- Cane Stone from France
-variegated and striae marbles from Italy and France.
-

[RobertoLopezstudyis]

I read about this historic skyscraper and the part that was saved from a book that I bought and read in the summer of 2003 about the history of the financial district of New York City! Your videos are very educational and informative. Thank you.

[stanleyrucci]

You must be the hardest working YouTuber in the world! Quality everytime! Thank You

[Mike-tgdj]

The structures they are throwing up here in my city are horrendous. The Saint Paul is sort of scary to think that it wasn't on bedrock. Can you imagine what would have happened if an earthquake hit NYC? That sand would have liquified.

[luciusvorenus]

Indiana has a history with NYC skyscrapers. The Empire State Building's exterior is covered with Indiana limestone. (As is the Pentagon).

[ridleyscurry]

Mr. George B. Post's mustache has it's own engineering degree

[HobbyOrganist]

And those 3 limestone statues which were protected under a cornice on the building facade are slowly being destroyed by direct exposure to rain water, freezing/ice and acid rain, plus all that ivy growing up all over further damages brick and stone.
Reminds me of the Collins school in Colorado that had a carved sandstone keystone over the door, it was carved using one of the students as the sitting model said to be the prettiest girl in the school, upon demolition, the keystone which was formerly protected by a large projecting cornice over it was "saved" and dumped into a public park where it sported it's nose broken off, within a very few years the soft stone literally rotted and spalled from the weather until the whole girl's face was gone.
They hired a sculptor to carve a a smaller "replica" and the face of the girl that was carved was so poorly and amateurely carved it looked like crap

[DaveSCameron]

This is a wonderful upload and it looks like I've discovered another jewel here? 🙏 Thank you so much from Dave, Liverpool (Links with NYC 🗽 is eternal :-))

[garyjones]

Ryan could you do a video on the most beautiful bldgs in America that have been destroyed for one reason or another.. Thx for taking us along on another great video...

[johnhillside]

Yes, we have this statuary at Holliday Park, Indianapolis, Indiana. The structures are there today. I read that these landscape furnishings came from New York City, ... but I had not read the details until now.

Let me add, I'm a lifelong resident of Indianapolis and the Holliday Park is less than a mile from my 🏡 home.

I think that the park is noteworthy because of, 1. White River flowing by on the Holliday Park grounds and the place we know as Broad Ripple. 2. At the river, sits a tall, tall bluff and a grist mill, Spring Mill was a part of history of this, a new city in the mid-west. You know a good flowing river is everything to the settlement's prosperity. So too then, a grain mill, a high bluff, and a small burg alongside a swift current, would be something great in the memory of few who came north from the Ohio River to establish a new State Capitol.

Today, there's a place there, nearby Holliday Park, a place of good, well meaning residents, a location at the top of the bluff, which we call Crow's Nest. I think this place was Crow's Nest back when Frontiersman Conner made his way from Fall Creek, heading north, finding the Crow's Nest and then resting at Wellington, soon to be Broad Ripple in the distant future.

So, you see why Holliday Park is such a beautiful place for the many here who live here in Indianapolis, Marion County, USA.