Collection of plans and drawings of the Jenkins Arcade and the Empire Building, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and the Empire Hotel, New York, New York, 1897-1953.

ArchivalResource

Topp, O. M. Collection of plans and drawings of the Jenkins Arcade and the Empire Building, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and the Empire Hotel, New York, New York, 1897-1953.

Collection of plans and drawings of the Jenkins Arcade and the Empire Building, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and the Empire Hotel, New York, New York, 1897-1953.

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/32887171

The drawings and plans included in this collection are incomplete. They were discovered by workmen in the course of the razing of the buildings. There are 459 items, including india ink drawings on vellum, blueprints, as well as pencil and ink drawings on paper. The drawings and plans are arranged in three series relating to the content of the materials, then subarranged according to size, medium, architectural subject, and building. There is also a set of architectural drawings of the Jenkins Arcade and the Empire Building. The largest group of material consists of mechanical engineering plans and blueprints by architects O. M. Topp and Edward B. Lee, which mostly include structural steel shop drawings of reconstruction after the fire of 1897 and the construction of the Arcade in 1910. A few of the drawings contain exterior and interior details. Construction cost estimates and a list of the building contractors are also written on the drawings. Blueprints by Frederic I. Merrick show the plans for the alterations and additions to the Empire Building. There is also a set of drawings on linen and other interior details of the Empire Hotel, New York, New York done by Frederic I. Merrick in 1922 and 1923.

459 items.

University of Pittsburgh