page_title: History of Grand Central Terminal
section_title: 1910s–1940s: Opening and heyday
hierarchical_section_title: History of Grand Central Terminal / 1910s–1940s: Opening and heyday
caption_attribution_description: Nederlands: Helmsley Building, Manhattan, New York - noordzijde vanaf Park Avenue
context_page_description: Grand Central Terminal is a major commuter rail terminal in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, serving the Metro-North Railroad's Harlem, Hudson and New Haven Lines. It is the most recent of three functionally similar buildings on the same site. The current structure was built by and named for the New York Central Railroad, though it also served New York Central's successors as well as the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad.
  Grand Central Terminal arose from a need to build a central station for all three terminals in present-day Midtown Manhattan. The magnate "Commodore" Cornelius Vanderbilt bought the Hudson River and New York Central Railroads in 1867, and created Grand Central Depot for the Hudson River, New York Central, and New Haven railroads in 1871. Due to rapid growth, the depot was reconstructed and renamed Grand Central Station by 1900. The current structure, designed by the firms Reed and Stem and Warren and Wetmore, was built after a 1902 crash between two steam trains had prompted a study of the feasibility of electric trains. The building's construction started in 1903 and it was opened on February 2, 1913.
context_section_description: On February 2, 1913, the new terminal was opened. Passengers boarded the first train at one minute past midnight. The opening was celebrated one day prior, February 1, at a private dinner at the Grand Central Terminal Restaurant, which had been arranged for Warren and Wetmore along with 100 guests. Within 16 hours of its opening, the railroads estimated that 150,000 people had passed through the new station. The building was nearly finished by this point, although some additions would take place later, including the installation of Glory of Commerce in 1914.
  The terminal spurred development in the surrounding area, particularly in Terminal City, a commercial and office district created above where the tracks were covered. Land values along Park Avenue and in Terminal City more than tripled from 1904 to 1926. Terminal City would eventually include office buildings such as the Chrysler Building; luxury apartment houses along Park Avenue; and an array of high-end hotels. The Commodore Hotel, built on the east side of Grand Central Terminal, was opened in 1919. Terminal City was mostly complete by the late 1920s with the completion of the Graybar Building in 1927 and the Helmsley Building in 1929. The development of Terminal City also included the construction of the Park Avenue Viaduct, surrounding the station; one leg of the viaduct opened in 1919, and another part of the viaduct opened in 1928.
  The electrification of the commuter lines and subsequent completion of Grand Central Terminal contributed to the development of affluent suburbs in the lower Hudson Valley and southwestern Connecticut. This trend had been observed as early as 1907, following the completion of electrification. Well-to-do passengers were likely to travel to destinations served by electric trains that ran directly from Grand Central, such as Greenwich or Larchmont, while less wealthy passengers were likely to get off at stops that were further away, such as Stamford or New Rochelle. New York Central promoted new private suburban developments through its “Four-Track Series" magazine. Following Grand Central Terminal's completion, traffic to and from the new terminal increased considerably. In the fiscal year ending June 30, 1913, Grand Central handled 22.4 million passengers. By 1920, a total of 37 million passengers used the station. However, Grand Central was not the most-used station in New York City after 1919, because Penn Station consistently saw more passengers than Grand Central. Even so, Grand Central's development led to the rapid growth of New York City's northern suburbs. The Bronx's population nearly quadrupled between 1900 and 1920, while Westchester's population more than doubled.
  In 1918, flags were hung in Grand Central Terminal, honoring railroad employees who were fighting in World War I. One flag read 4,976 for the number of New York Central employees serving, another read 1,412 for New York, New Haven & Hartford employees, and a third read 104 for Grand Central Terminal employees.
  In 1918, New York Central proposed expanding Grand Central Terminal. Three tracks would be built on the outside of the suburban level, new platforms would be built, and the ramps to the platforms would be widened. A power plant would also be constructed at 43rd Street. Passenger numbers continued to grow, and by 1927, the terminal saw 43 million annual passengers. Minor improvements were made to Grand Central Terminal during the 1920s and 1930s, such as the 1926 opening of the Graybar Passageway, as well as the 1937 opening of Grand Central's newsreel theater. In 1938, two lower-level platforms were extended to allow commuters to board more easily. By that year, the terminal was regularly accommodating 100,000 passengers and at least 300,000 visitors on an average weekday.
  The ridership of New York Central as a whole declined slightly during the Great Depression. Regulations from the Interstate Commerce Commission and competition from automobile traffic were cited as factors in this decline. The railroad's finances were also put in danger because of the l
caption: The Helmsley Building, in foreground, was built as part of Terminal City, a commercial and office district created above the tracks.
exif: {"Image Make": "NIKON CORPORATION", "Image Model": "NIKON D90", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "240", "Image YResolution": "240", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Adobe Photoshop CS6 (Windows)", "Image DateTime": "2016:03:04 16:16:59", "Image ExifOffset": "216", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "962", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "7499", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/1000", "EXIF FNumber": "24/5", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Unidentified", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "500", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0221", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2016:02:27 09:19:52", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2016:02:27 09:19:52", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "1245723/125000", "EXIF ApertureValue": "4526069/1000000", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "18/5", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF LightSource": "Unknown", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, auto mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "18", "EXIF SubSecTime": "00", "EXIF SubSecTimeOriginal": "00", "EXIF SubSecTimeDigitized": "00", "EXIF ColorSpace": "Uncalibrated", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "4085", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "3081", "EXIF SensingMethod": "One-chip color area", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF SceneType": "Directly Photographed", "EXIF CVAPattern": "[2, 0, 2, 0, 1, 2, 0, 1]", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF DigitalZoomRatio": "1", "EXIF FocalLengthIn35mmFilm": "27", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF GainControl": "Low gain up", "EXIF Contrast": "Normal", "EXIF Saturation": "Normal", "EXIF Sharpness": "Normal", "EXIF SubjectDistanceRange": "0", "EXIF BodySerialNumber": "6095410", "EXIF LensSpecification": "[18, 105, 7/2, 28/5]", "EXIF LensModel": "18.0-105.0 mm f/3.5-5.6"}