MIDTOWN, Manhattan (PIX11) — On this day in 1913, the doors to Grand Central Terminal officially opened to the public.
The project took roughly 10 years and cost more than $2 billion when factoring in inflation. The new terminal replaced the previous Grand Central Station, swapping steam locomotives with electric trains and allowing everything to go underground.
To make way for the magnificent entryway into the Big Apple, 120 houses, three churches, two hospitals, and an orphan asylum were destroyed along with some stables, warehouses and other structures.
The new building allowed for more commuters to access Midtown and soon became one of NYC’s greatest attractions.
Last month, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority celebrated a major milestone at the station with the grand opening of Grand Central Madison, which connects the Long Island Rail Road to the East Side of Manhattan for the first time in history.
Correction: A previous version of this story misstated how many years Grand Central Terminal has been open.
