Grand Central, 1913 11

1 clue in this photo

1Below-grade windows

Grand Central: arched windows at the debris line

In the 1913 photo, the arched windows at the base of Grand Central sit at or partly below the debris and grade line, with lumber and steel piled against them.

The questionWhy does a brand-new terminal have arched openings at or below the working grade?

Photo: Forbes & Company · Public domain · via Wikimedia Commons

Grand Central Terminal

Same kind of clue, elsewhere

Below-grade windows · Paris 1889A raised terrace at the baseWas the terrace built up for the fair, or was the surrounding ground lowered?

Below-grade windows · St. Louis 1904The Fine Arts Palace on a graded bankWhat was under the graded bank, and is there a lower floor?

Below-grade windows · St. Louis 1904The plinth meets the lawnIs the original ground line higher than it was in 1904?

Below-grade windows · Seattle 1909Brick arches from rubble, 1889Twenty years before the fair, did Seattle's streets bury lower floors, and what is under the raised streets?

Below-grade windows · Grand Central TerminalGrand Central corner: same buried archesWas the street level raised around an older lower storey?

Below-grade windows · Northern Michigan AsylumTraverse City: basement windows at gradeWere these lower windows always meant to sit at grade?

All clues others missed →