American Icons

Grand Central Terminal is located at 42nd Street and Park Avenue in Midtown Manhattan.  It is the largest train station in the world with 44 platforms and 67 tracks on two different levels.  Construction began in 1903 and the terminal opened on February 2, 1903.  It was the first train station to feature ramps to ease traffic through the station instead of the traditional staircases.  In 1976 Grand Central Terminal was listed on The National Register of Historic Places.  The Metropolitan Transportation Authority has begun a project that would bring the Long Island rail road trains through grand central station instead of Penn Station.  The tunnel is being excavated more than 90 feet below Park Avenue.  The project is expected to be finished in 2012.  Grand Central Terminal is often incorrectly referred to as Grand Central Station which is the name of a nearby post office. Today there are over 125,000 commuters a day and 123 retail businesses.

Golden Gate Bridge

The Golden Gate Bridge connects the city of San Francisco and the Marin county.  As a part of both Route 101 and State Route 1 it was the largest suspension bridge span in world when it was completed in 1937.  The bridge crosses over the Golden Gate a 400 foot strait that serves as the mouth of the San Francisco bay, hence the name Golden Gate Bridge.  Before the bride was built the only way across the bay was by ferry which was very inefficient for a growing city.  An engineer named Joseph Strauss was given the task of designing and overseeing the construction of the bridge.  After many years of opposition, construction finally began on January 5th 1933.  A total of eleven people were killed during the construction which ended in April of 1937.   The cost of building the bridge was 1.3 million under budget costing only 35 million.  The bridge contains 1,200,000 rivets and to date has raised over39 million dollars in tolls.  The bride is considered to be the most common place to commit suicide with 1,200 people jumping to there deaths.  There have been only 26 people known to have survived the fall all with broken bones and internal bleeding.

White House

The White House has been the official residence of every United States President since John Adams.  Construction began on October 13^th 1792 what at the time was known as the president’s palace.  Most of the manual labor that was needed was done by largely by enslaved African Americans as well as immigrants many of which didn’t have citizenship.  After nearly 8 years of work and at a cost of 232,371.83 dollars the palace was ready for occupancy.  Originally the presidential palace was supposed to five times larger but shortages in supplies, money, and labor forced the plans to be changed.  In 1814 during the war of 1812 the presidential palace was set ablaze by the British army destroying the exterior and charring the interior walls. Reconstruction began immediately to repair the damage.  During the reconstruction it is believed that white paint was used to hide the damage done; the name White House was used shortly after and has been used since.  The west and east Wings and Oval office were also added.  Today the White one of the most recognized icon in America.

Space Needle

The space Needle located in Seattle, Washington is 605 feet high and 138 feet wide.  The idea originally came from Edward Carlson who wanted to create a tower with a restaurant on top for the 1962 World Fair.  The idea was almost scraped because there wasn’t any land to build it on.  A small plot of land was purchased for 75,000 at the last minute and the project began.  The project was privately financed by the Pentagram Corporation.  The Space Needle was designed to withstand a 9.0 earthquake and in 1965 it was tested by a 6.8 earthquake that sloshed water out of toilets but it suffered no severe structural damage.  It was also designed to be able to withstand a category five hurricane.  At the top of the Space needle is a restaurant called the SkyCity that features Pacific Northwest cuisine.  The restraint rotates 360 degrees in exactly 47 minutes.  A light known as the legacy light was unveiled on December 31, 1999 in time for New Years Eve.  The light is used only for national holidays and special occasions in Seattle.