Pennsylvania Station (1910–1963)

The original Pennsylvania Station was a triumph of engineering and art that defined the arrival experience in New York City for over fifty years. Before it opened in 1910, travelers from the south were forced to disembark in New Jersey and complete their journey by ferry across the Hudson River. Railroad president Alexander Cassatt changed this by gambling on the monumental idea of tunneling directly under the riverbeds, a feat many experts at the time deemed impossible. When the station finally opened, it served as a grand temple to the age of rail, welcoming passengers into a massive, light-filled waiting room modeled after the ancient Roman Baths of Caracalla.