The Astor Building 3

More construction photos of the St. Regis Hotel under its temporary name “the Astor Building.” Keep in mind that this is the corner of Fifth Avenue and 55th Street, an area that had been partially developed in the fifteen years prior to these photos as a high-end residential neighborhood, with some mansions along Fifth and smaller individual houses and rowhouses on Fifth and on the side streets, particularly on the east side of the avenue, on the blocks towards Madison Avenue. Commerce got here after 1900, with the St. Regis being one of the early examples, but in the guise of high-end residences. The earliest superstructure construction photos in the collection are from September 15, 1901. Looking south at the 55th Street side: Looking east at the Fifth Avenue side, with the tower of the First Reformed Episcopal Church in the background: There are sone quite heavy built-up girders in there, presumably to transfer columns for the lobby layout. If we jump ahead a month, the steel…