Grand Central Terminal History

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Grand Central Terminal is one of the most beautiful train stations in the world. Its aesthetics still amaze many people today. Also, the ceiling in the main concourse is the most famous part of the terminal; nevertheless, many of us do not know a lot about it. Thousands of commuters walked through the main concourse in Grand Central Terminal everyday since it was built; however, they were always rushing from places to places. The constellation ceiling is a sign to remind people to look up, and take a break. It was a way to slow down their paces and look around for beautiful things. In the early 1800s, trading business, especially the grain industry was in full swing in New York City. People were coming from all over the world to get …show more content…

Wilgus, Grand Central Terminal’s chief engineer, was born in Buffalo, New York in 1865. He not only made the reconstruction of Grand Central Terminal possible, but also significantly improved it in all ways. In 1902, there was a serious train accident that happened in the Park Avenue Tunnel, which belonged to The Grand Central Depot. Fifteen passengers died in the accident. It was a severe tragedy; Therefore, William J. Wilgus wrote a letter to the Railroad’s President W. H. Newman. In his message, he came up with a bold idea: to tear down the old terminal and replace it with a whole new station for electric trains. Despite the radical conditions of this proposal, the president approved his idea, and the reconstruction began in 1903. Rebuilding the terminal was not just about replacing the trains and the facilities, but also intended to create a landmark in New York City. As we all know, New York City was already a well-known city in the world back then. The architect’s selection was through competition, which was a popular method at the time. While many architects and firms participated in the contest, only two won----Reed & Stern and Warren & Wetmore. While Reed & Stern were taking care of the overall design, Warren & Wetmore cared for the details. It took ten years to build the new terminal; however, the new one was much better than the old one, and other train stations in the city. The design was delicate; the building material was the best at that …show more content…

Most people came to Grand Central Terminal just to take a look at it. I encountered a group of tourists when doing the research in the main concourse. They were looking up at the ceiling and taking pictures as I approached. They told me the painting on the ceiling was so astonished that they would stay there and gazed at it rather than continue their trip. The arch shape ceiling’s highlights are the constellations. These constellations were composed by the French artist Paul César Helleu. There are Aquarius (the Water Carrier), Pisces (the Fish), Aries (the Ram), Taurus (the Bull), Gemini (the Twins) and Cancer (the Crab) in the painting. They were painted with gold colors and the background is dark cyan blue. The ceiling also includes the Milky Way and thousands of stars. Additionally, according to the article Ceiling of Grand Central Terminal's Main Concourse on the Place Matters website: “two broad bands of gold arching from east to west are the Ecliptic (the plane of the earth’s orbit around the sun) and the Equator (the imaginary dividing line between the earth’s northern and southern hemispheres.)” One interesting thing is when you look up on the ceiling, especially at night, you can see some tiny little lights glowing, which were later replaced with LED lights. It is to amplify the painting and to make them more like the sky of Greece and Southern Italy from

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