Rare photographs of the world's most famous landmarks when they were still under construction.
The Eiffel Tower
The Empire State Building
The Empire State Building
Mount Rushmore
Location unspecified. Circa 1936.Library of Congress
Mount Rushmore
The Statue of Liberty
New York, New York. 1885.Wikimedia Commons
The Statue of Liberty
The Statue of Liberty
The Berlin Wall
The Berlin Wall
Berlin, Germany. 1961.Wikimedia Commons
Times Square
New York, New York. 1903.Wikimedia Commons
Disneyland
Anaheim, California. 1955.Tom Simpson/Flickr
Neuschwanstein
Hohenschwangau, Germany. 1886.Wikimedia Commons
Neuschwanstein
The Brooklyn Bridge
Christ the Redeemer
Hoover Dam
Hoover Dam
The Louvre Pyramid
Paris, France. 1985.Wikimedia Commons
The U.S. Capitol Building
The Lincoln Memorial
The Sydney Opera House
The Sydney Opera House
Tower Bridge
Tower Bridge
The Golden Gate Bridge
The World Trade Center
The Burj Khalifa
Sydney Harbour Bridge
Sydney Harbour Bridge
The Freedom Tower
There are some landmarks that it’s hard to imagine the world without. These are buildings and monuments so iconic that, today, it's easier to think of them as an eternal part of our world rather than anything that was made by mere human beings.
There was a time, though, when these famous landmarks were nothing more than an idea in their creators' minds, nothing more than plans and scaffolds created by people who had no way of knowing whether their work would last forever or whether it would be forgotten tomorrow.
After the plans were set, then came construction, which called for strength, creativity, and incredibly hard work. Teams of workers climbed up scaffolding and girders hundreds, if not thousands, of feet into the air, putting together what would soon become the Empire State Building or Mount Rushmore.
Aside from their construction alone, some of these famous landmarks went through incredible journeys. The Statue of Liberty was built in Paris, where its head was put on exhibition as a work of art on its own before making the long journey across the ocean to America. Other landmarks saw horrible tragedies, like the Hoover Dam, the perilous construction of which took the lives of more than 100 workers.
Here, in tribute to the architects and laborers who created the famous landmarks that would be permanently etched onto the face of the world, are some incredible photographs of these landmarks under construction. These photos provide a glimpse of these landmarks as they once were, before completion; when human mind and muscle were put to the task of creating something that would far outlive the people who made it.
Next, check out some fascinating Eiffel Tower facts and see the famous landmark under construction. Then, have a look at the abandoned communist monuments of the USSR.
