American Tract Society

The American Tract Society rented out offices in their building, using the profits to spread Christianity and donate to charity. The structure, built by R.H. Robertson, is most notable for its six horizontal divisions and rooftop loggia.^[1] Built in 1894-95 as an office building for the American Tract Society, the building was designed by noted architect R.H. Robertson, who was best known for designing churches, institutional and office buildings in New York. At twenty full stories in height, this rusticated granite, brick, and terra cotta building was one of the earliest steel skeletal-frame skyscrapers in New York, as well as one of the tallest and largest skyscrapers in the city upon its completion. Combining elements of the Romanesque and Renaissance Revival styles, the design features a three-story arcade of Romanesque arches resting on Corinthian columns at the upper stories, combining to create a picturesque feature in the skyline of lower Manhattan. The American Tract Society was one of the largest American publishers prior to the Civil War, located in an area that was the center of newspaper publishing in New York City from the 1830s through the 1920s.