195 Broadway
- Architect
- William W. Bosworth
- Year
- 1916
- Style
- Neoclassical
- City
- Manhattan, NY
195 Broadway, also known as the Telephone Building, Telegraph Building, or Western Union Building, was the longtime headquarters of AT&T Corp. and Western Union, occupying the entire western side of Broadway from Dey to Fulton Streets. The current 29-story, 422-foot skyscraper was commissioned after AT&T's 1909 acquisition of Western Union and built from 1912 to 1916 under Theodore Newton Vail to designs by William W. Bosworth, with one section not finished until 1922. It was the site of one end of the first transcontinental telephone call, the first intercity Picturephone call, and the first transatlantic telephone call. AT&T moved its headquarters out in 1984, and the building remains in office use as of 2024. It is a New York City Landmark.
the building
Greek-influenced facade. Bosworth clad the building in white Vermont granite with layers of gray granite columns in Doric and Ionic orders and Greek-inspired ornament, a heavily classical treatment for an early skyscraper.
the style
Bosworth designed the building in a Greek-influenced Neoclassical style, applying Doric and Ionic columns in gray granite over a white Vermont granite facade.
More on Neoclassicalthe architect
William W. Bosworth designed 195 Broadway, completed under the direction of AT&T president Theodore Newton Vail between 1912 and 1916, with one section finished in 1922.
significance
Designated a New York City Landmark. The building was the site of the first transcontinental telephone call, the first intercity Picturephone call, and the first transatlantic telephone call.
nearby
- Western Union Telegraph Building
- Corbin Building
- Saint Paul's Chapel and Graveyard
- New York Evening Post Building
- Park Row Building
- Saint Peter's Roman Catholic Church