On September 16, 1920, only a minute after noon, a horse-drawn wagon carrying iron scraps blew up in front of the headquarters of the J.P. Morgan Bank. The blast killed 30 people, and injured another 140. The marks left by the bomb can still be seen on the architecture, with the largest being the size of a grapefruit.
Though investigated for three years, no one was ever prosecuted for the infamous event.
The topic may seem a little morbid, but even the city has a 3x4' placard, complete with photos of the incident, just outside the building.
After this spot, I walked east to Pearl Street, and headed north to see the South Street Seaport Museum's Titanic Memorial; a 60' (18 m) lighthouse, which was built, at the request of socialite, philanthropist, and activist, Margaret Brown, and dedicated to the lives lost in the 1912 sinking of the RMS Titanic.
The lighthouse was originally built on, and stood atop, the roof of the old Seamen's Church Institute, on the corner of South Street, and Coenties Slip, in 1913. From its construction, up until 1968, the globe at the top of the lighthouse would descend the pole, at noon, everyday. The mechanism was controlled by telegraph from the Naval Observatory in Washington D.C.
In the summer of 1968, the Church Institute moved, and donated the lighthouse to the South Street Seaport, who had it installed where it is now in 1976.
After seeing this landmark, head over one block to 40 Fulton Street, and see a plaque dedicated to the first underground central station, built by Thomas Edison.
From this area, the station ran power to thousands starting in 1882, until it was dismantled (as other newer stations made it obsolete) in 1917.
