History and architecture
Liberty Tower, designed by Henry Ives Cobb and built in 1909-10, is one of the early group of romantic skyscrapers which changed the skyline of New York in the 20th century. Built shortly after the Singer Tower, contemporaneously with the Metropolitan Life Tower, and shortly before the Woolworth Building, the Liberty Tower, like them adapted an historic style to the newly emerging tall steel-cage structure, while partially breaking away from the tripartite formula of skyscraper design.
Although only half the height of the Woolworth Building, Liberty Tower anticipated much of the revolutionary character of its more famous counterpart by being almost entirely freestanding, clad largely in terra cotta, and designed in a Gothic style. Henry Ives Cobb, an architect trained in Boston who practiced for many years in Chicago, was particularly well-suited to the task of adapting traditional stern styles to Midwestern skyscraper technology, and his Liberty Tower remains one of the most distinctive skyscrapers in lower Manhattan.
Sources and further reading
This history comes from the Landmarks app’s historical catalog. Names and building uses may reflect the period described.