Notable Architecture

40 Wall Street (The Trump Building)

New York, New York, 10005
40 Wall Street is a 70-story skyscraper originally known as The Bank of the Manhattan Company building. It was completed in 1930 after only 11 months of construction, and was the tallest building in the world for less than 2 months.

American Gothic House

Eldon, Wapello County, Iowa, 52554
The American Gothic House, also known as the Dibble House, is a house designed in the Gothic Revival style with a distinctive upper window. It was the backdrop of the 1930 painting American Gothic by Grant Wood.

Arlington Memorial Bridge

Washington, District of Columbia
The bridge's construction was authorized by Congress on February 24, 1925 and formally opened on January 16, 1932. Designed by architectural firm McKim, Mead and White, the neo-classical bridge is 2,163 feet (660 m) long.

Aztec Theater

San Antonio, Bexar County, Texas
Built in 1926, the Aztec Theater is a exotic-themed movie palace. It is decorated with vibrantly-colored columns, sculptures, furnishings and murals, many of which are authentic reproductions of Meso-American artifacts.

Berkeley Castle

Berkely Springs (Bath), Morgan County, West Virginia, 25411
The 13 room cottage was built by Samuel Taylor Suit, the manufacturer of a popular whiskey. Begun in 1885, the "castle" became the local venue for galas and other events of the social elite.

Beth Sholom Synagogue

Elkins Park, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania
The only synagogue ever designed by famed architect, Frank Lloyd Wright, Beth Sholom is Hebrew for House of Peace. Its steeply inclined walls of translucent wire glass and plastic are meant to represent both a mountain and a tent.

Biltmore House

Asheville, Buncombe County, North Carolina, 28803
Built between 1888 and 1895 for George Washington Vanderbilt II, this French Renaissance-inspired chateau is the largest privately-owned home in the United States at 175,000 square feet.

Bishop's Palace (Gresham's Castle)

Galveston, Galveston County, Texas
This ornate Victorian house has been listed by the Library of Congress as one of the fourteen most representative Victorian structures in the nation. The Roman Catholic Diocese of Galveston owns the house and offers tours.

Chrysler Building

New York, New York
Standing at 1,047 feet high (319 m), the Chrysler Building was briefly the world's tallest building before it was surpassed by the Empire State Building in 1931. It is still the world's tallest brick building.

El Centro Espanol of West Tampa

Tampa, Hillsborough County, Florida, 33605
El Centro Espanol was a organization of cigar workers in Ybor City and West Tampa. Built in 1912, members could use the building as a sort of club house or for amenities such as a gym, casino (game room), cafe, etc.

Empire State Building

New York, New York
It stood as the world's tallest building for more than forty years, from its completion in 1931 until the construction of the World Trade Center North Tower in 1972. It is now once again the tallest building in New York.

Episcopal Church of the Nativity

Huntsville, Madison County, Alabama, 35801
This church was built in the Gothic Revival style in 1859. It is noted as one of the most pristine examples of Ecclesiological Gothic architecture in the South. It is also one of the least-altered structures by architect Frank Wills.

Fallingwater (Edgar J. Kaufmann Sr. Residence)

Mill Run, Fayette County, Pennsylvania
One of Frank Lloyd Wright's most famous buildings, Falling Water is a home build over a waterfall. Long horizontal and vertical lines and overhangs were features of Wright's style.

Fonthill

Doylestown, Bucks County, Pennsylvania
Home of the American archeologist and tile maker Henry Chapman Mercer, Fonthill was Built between 1908 and 1912. It is an early example of poured-in-place concrete and features 42 rooms, 200 windows, 18 fireplaces and 10 bathrooms.

Free Library of Philadelphia (Central Library)

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 19103
The Central Branch of the Free Library is one of two buildings that are replicas of those in the Place de la Concorde in Paris. This was done in part to help establish the Benjamin Franklin Parkway as Philadelphia's Champ Elysees.

French Quarter

New Orleans, Louisiana
Most of the French Quarter's architecture was built during the late 18th century and the period of Spanish rule over the city, which is reflected in the architecture of the neighborhood.

Gaineswood

Demopolis, Marengo County, Alabama, 36732
Gaineswood is one of the most significant remaining examples of Greek Revival architecture in Alabama. The house and grounds are currently operated by the Alabama Historical Commission as a historic house museum.

Galveston Seawall

Galveston, Galveston County, Texas, 77550
Constructed in 1902, the Galveston Seawall was built after the Galveston Hurricane of 1900 for protection from future hurricanes. The seawall is 10 miles (16 km) long. It is approximately 17 feet (5.2 m) high, and 16 feet (4.9 m) thick at its base.

Gamble House

Pasadena, Los Angeles County, California, 91103
Built for one of the owners of the Proctor and Gamble Company, the house is a notable example of the Arts and Crafts style of architecture. It played the part of Dr. Emmett Brown's home in the movie "Back To The Future."

Government Street Presbyterian Church

Mobile, Mobile County, Alabama, 36602
Government Street Presbyterian Church is one of the oldest Greek Revival church buildings in the United States. The interior is notable because the original Greek Revival design is fully intact with very little alteration.

Grove Arcade

Asheville, Buncombe County, North Carolina, 28801
Built by Dr. Edwin Wiley Grove between 1926 and 1929, the elaborate, Tudoresque building occupies a full city block with glazed terra cotta covering its reinforced concrete and steel structure.

Kenworthy Hall a.k.a. Carlisle-Martin House

Perry County, Alabama
It is the only surviving residential example of Richard Upjohn's Italian villa style that was especially designed to suit the Southern climate and the plantation lifestyle. The building was designed and constructed for Edward Kenworthy Carlisle.

Las Vegas Eiffel Tower

Las Vegas, Clark County, Nevada, 89109
This replica of the Eiffel Tower is 5/8ths of the original and is 540 feel tall (164.6 m). It includes glass elevators, a restaurant and an observation deck.

Las Vegas Strip

Clark County, Nevada
The Las Vegas Strip is a stretch of Las Vegas Boulevard South known for its concentration of resort hotels and casinos. Fifteen of the world's 25 largest hotels by room count are on the Strip, with a total of over 62,000 rooms.

Merchants' Exchange Building

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 19106
Upon its completion in 1834, the building became the financial center for Philadelphia, housing commercial houses, marine insurance companies, the Philadelphia Board of Trade, and the Philadelphia Stock Exchange.

New Mexico State Capitol

Santa Fe, Santa Fe County, New Mexico, 87501
Often called the Roundhouse the New Mexico capitol building is the only round state capitol in the United States. The building was designed to resemble the Zia Sun Symbol when viewed from above.

New York State Capitol

Albany, New York, 12224
The Capitol was constructed between 1867 and 1899 and inspired by the City Hall in Paris, France. The building is constructed in both the Romanesque and Renaissance revival styles.

Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts was founded in 1805 by painter and scientist Charles Willson Peale, sculptor William Rush, and other artists and business leaders. It is the oldest art museum and school in the nation.

Philadelphia City Hall

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 19107
The world's tallest masonry building, Philadelphia's City Hall is 548 feet (167 m) tall including the statue of William Penn. The statue is the tallest atop any building in the world.

Pioneer Courthouse (Custom House and Post Office)

Portland, Multnomah County, Oregon, 97204
The Pioneer Courthouse is a federal courthouse in Portland, Oregon, United States. Built beginning in 1869, the structure is the oldest federal building in the Pacific Northwest, and the second oldest west of the Mississippi River.

Space Needle

Seattle, Washington
Built for the 1962 World's Fair, the Space Needle features an observation deck at 520 feet (160 m), the SkyCity restaurant at 500 feet (152 m), and a gift shop.

Terrace Hill

Des Moines, Polk County, Iowa, 50312
Terrace Hill, also known as Hubbell Mansion, Benjamin F. Allen House, and Iowa Governor's Mansion, is the official residence of the Governor of Iowa. It is an example of Second Empire architecture.

The Breakers

Newport, Newport County, Rhode Island, 02840
Designed by Richard Morris Hunt for Cornelius Vanderbelt II, The Breakers is an Italian Renaissance mansion that would cost over 150 million dollars if it were built today. The four story building has 70 rooms built around a central Great Hall.

The Witch House

Salem, Essex County, Massachusetts, 01970
The Witch House was the home of Judge Jonathan Corwin and is the only structure still standing in Salem, Massachusetts with direct ties to the Salem witch trials of 1692.

Tower of the Americas

San Antonio, Bexar County, Texas, 78205
Tower of the Americas is a 750 feet (229 meter) high observation tower with a restaurant. Designed by San Antonio architect O'Neil Ford, the tower was built as the theme structure of the 1968 World's Fair, HemisFair '68.