Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-8bhkd Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-09T01:51:45.109Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Depth to Bedrock and the Formation of the Manhattan Skyline, 1890–1915

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 November 2011

JASON BARR ,
TROY TASSIER  and
ROSSEN TRENDAFILOV
JASON BARR*
Affiliation:
Associate Professor, Department of Economics, Rutgers University, Newark, NJ 07102. E-mail: jmbarr@rutgers.edu.
TROY TASSIER*
Affiliation:
Associate Professor, Department of Economics, Fordham University, Bronx, NY 10458. E-mail: tassier@fordham.edu.
ROSSEN TRENDAFILOV*
Affiliation:
Teaching Fellow, Department of Economics, Fordham University, Bronx, NY 10458. E-mail: trendafilov@fordham.edu.
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

New York City historiography holds that Manhattan developed two business centers—downtown and midtown—because the bedrock is close to the surface at these locations, with a bedrock “valley” in between. This article is the first effort to measure the effect of depth to bedrock on construction costs and the location of skyscrapers. We find that while depth to bedrock had a modest effect on costs (up to 7 percent), it had relatively little influence on the location of skyscrapers.

“Hour by hour the caissons reach down to the rock of the earth and hold the building to a turning planet.”

Carl Sandburg, Skyscraper

Type
ARTICLES
Information
The Journal of Economic History , Volume 71 , Issue 4 , December 2011 , pp. 1060 - 1077
Copyright
Copyright © The Economic History Association 2011

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Atlas of the City of New York, Borough of Manhattan. Philadelphia: G.W. Bromley & Co., 1921.Google Scholar
Baskerville, Charles A. “Bedrock and Engineering Geologic Maps of New York County and Parts of Kings and Queens Counties, New York, and Parts of Bergen and Hudson Counties, New Jersey.” United States Geological Survey, 1994.Google Scholar
Carter, Susan B. et al., eds. Historical Statistics of the United States: Millennial Edition Online. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2006.Google Scholar
Davis, Donald R., and David, E. Weinstein. “Bones, Bombs, and Break Points: the Geography of Economic Activity.” American Economic Review 92, no. 5 (2002): 1269–89.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Department of Taxes and Assessments, New York City. “Tentative Land Value Maps of the City of New York for 1909.” New York, 1908.Google Scholar
Ellison, Glenn, and Edward, L. Glaeser. “The Geographic Concentration of Industry: Does Natural Advantage Explain Agglomeration.” American Economic Review, Papers and Proceedings 80, no. 2 (1999): 311–16.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Emporis Corporation. New York City Building Database, http://www.emporis.com/city/101028. Accessed June 2008.Google Scholar
Glaeser, Edward L., Kallal, Hedi D., Scheinkman, Jose A. and Shleifer, Andrei. “Growth in Cities.” Journal of Political Economy 100, no. 6 (1992): 1126–52.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Johnston, Louis, and Williamson, Samuel H. “What Was the U.S. GDP Then?” MeasuringWorth, http://www.measuringworth.org/usgdp/. Accessed January 2009.Google Scholar
Kidder, Frank E. Building Construction and Superintendence, Part I. New York: The William T. Comstock Company, 1909.Google Scholar
Kim, Sukkoo. “Regions, Resources, and Economic Geography: Sources of U.S. Regional Comparative Advantage, 1880–1987.” Regional Science and Urban Economics 29 (1998): 1 32.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Krugman, Paul. Geography and Trade.Cambridge, MA: TheMIT Press, 1991.Google Scholar
Landau, Sara B., and Carl, W. Condit. Rise of the New York Skyscraper: 1865–1913.New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1996.Google Scholar
Landers, John J. Twelve Historical New York City Street and Transit Maps (Volume II: from 1847–1939). New York: H&M Publications, 2000.Google Scholar
Manhattan Borough President's Office. “Rock Data Map of Manhattan.” New York, circa 1940.Google Scholar
New York Times, various issues.Google Scholar
Office for Metropolitan History. The Building Permits Database, 1900–1986, New York, NY, http://metrohistory.com/searchfront.htm. Accessed January 2009.Google Scholar
Pratt, Edward E. Industrial Causes of Congestion of Population in New York City. New York: Columbia University Press, 1911.Google Scholar
Real Estate Record and Builders’ Guide, May 4, 1912.Google Scholar
Sandburg, Carl. “Skyscraper.” Chicago Poems. New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1916.Google Scholar
Schuberth, Christopher J. The Geology of New York City and Environs. Garden City, NY: The Natural History Press, 1968.Google Scholar
Skyscraper Source Media. New York City Building Database, http://skyscraperpage.com/cities/?cityID=8. Accessed June 2008.Google Scholar
Tamaro, George J., Kaufman, James L., and Abu, A. Azmi. “Design and Construction Constraints Imposed by Unique Geologic Conditions in New York City.” Unpublished Manuscript, 2000.Google Scholar
United States Census Bureau. Vital Statistics of New York and Brooklyn Covering a Period of Six Year Ending May 31, 1890. Washington, DC: GPO 1894.Google Scholar
Willis, Carol. Form Follows Finance: Skyscrapers and Skylines in New York and Chicago. New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 1995.Google Scholar
Zonum Solutions. ZMaps: DigiPoint 3, http://www.zonums.com/gmaps/digipoint.php. Accessed June 2008.Google Scholar