When the Woolworth Building opened in April 1913, its 792-foot Gothic tower was the tallest in the world — a title it held until 1930 — and immediately became one of the most iconic and most-postcarded landmarks in America. This early view from Union Square looks north across City Hall Park, showing the full tower against a twilight sky, with the green-domed City Hall at lower left, Broadway streetcars below, and the surrounding lower Manhattan skyline still dwarfed by the new giant. Architect Cass Gilbert's neo-Gothic design — nicknamed "the Cathedral of Commerce" by a contemporary clergyman — was funded in cash by F. W. Woolworth, who famously refused to take out a mortgage. This card was never mailed.

• Caption: Woolworth Building, New York.
• Card no.: 1636
• Publisher: Photochrome G&S, New York / Union News Company, New York
• Status: Unposted