Guide to the
Records of HRH Construction
1929-1958
(Bulk
1929-1938)
ACC. # 1997.02
The Skyscraper Museum
39 Battery Place
New York, NY 10280
Phone: (212) 968-1961
URL: https://old.skyscraper.org
© 2002 The Skyscraper Museum
. All rights reserved.
The Skyscraper Museum,
Publisher
Machine-readable finding aid created by Brian Stevens, 2002. Description is in English.
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| Creator: | HRH
Construction |
| Title: | The Records of HRH Construction |
| Dates: | 1929-1938 |
| Abstract: | HRH Construction, which began as Starrett Brothers and Eken, Inc, in 1925 has
been an industry leader for its construction expertise and achievements. The collection includes
various company papers from 1929-1958, relating to their various projects from 1897 to 1958
including the Empire State Building. |
| Quantity: | 1 linear ft. (1 box and 2 oversize volumes) |
| Identification: | The Skyscraper Museum Archive |
| Location: | The Skyscraper Museum Archive |
HRH Construction, one of the
top construction managers and general contractors in the United States and successor to Starrett
Brothers and Eken, Inc., has been serving the New York region since 1925. The firm has earned
a reputation as an industry leader for its construction expertise and achievements in the planning,
development, and construction of a wide variety of projects, including commercial, residential,
hospitality, healthcare, interiors, educational, technology, and entertainment.
Collection includes photographs, job lists, heating and ventilation cost lists,
brochures, reprints, press releases and notes from 1929-1958, relating to their various projects
from 1897 to 1958. Projects include the Empire State Building, and 40 and 63 Wall Street
Buildings.
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| Organized into three series: Series I. Office Files, 1929-1958; Series II.
Projects: Empire State Building, 1929-1952; and Series III. Projects: Wall Street, 1938. |
Series II and III are arranged chronologically.
Access Restrictions
Open to qualified researchers. For
the job lists and costs (found in Box 1, Folders 5 and 6 below), researchers must use proof copy
(found in Box 1, Folder 7) used to publish Building the Empire State, edited by Carol Willis (New York: W.W. Norton, c1998).
Use Restrictions
Appointments are necessary for use of
manuscript and archival materials. For more information, contact
The Skyscraper Museum
39 Battery Place
New York, NY 10280
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| Subject Names: |
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| | Browning, photographer |
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| Subject Organizations: |
| | George A. Fuller Company |
| | HRH Construction |
| | Starrett Brothers & Eken |
| | Wurts Brothers (Firm) |
| Subject Topics: |
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| | 40 Wall Street Building (New York, N.Y.) |
| | 63 Wall Street Building (New York, N.Y.) |
| | Buildings-Estimates |
| | Buildings-New York (State)-New York |
| | Buildings-Prices |
| | Commercial buildings |
| | Construction industry-New
York (State)-New York |
| | Empire State Building (New York, N.Y.) |
| | Office
buildings-New York (State) |
| | Public buildings-Heating and ventilation |
| | Wall
Street (New York, N.Y.) |
| Subject Places: |
| | New York (State)--New York |
| Document Types: |
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| | Brochures |
| | Clippings |
| | Job lists |
| | Photographs |
| | Press releases |
| | Reprints |
| Other Names: |
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[There is no related material.]
[There is no
information about materials that are associated by provenance to the described materials but
physically separated or removed]
Materials donated by HRH Construction in 1997.
Published citations should take the following form:
Identification of item, date
(if known); The Records of HRH Construction; ACC. # 1997.02; box number; folder number;
The Skyscraper Museum
.
[The following section contains a detailed listing of the materials in the collection.]
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Series I. Office Files, 1929-1958
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| Box | Folder | Title | Date |
| Oversize | 1 | Starrett Brothers and Eken: Builders. "A portfolio of photographs of
office buildings, hospitals, university buildings, industrial plants, financial houses, housing
projects, apartment houses, department stores, insurance company home offices" built by Starrett
and Eken from 1925-1931. New York: William E. Rudge's Sons, c1931. Limited edition.
Oversize, clear (Lucite) board cover; leather spine; one clear plastic page with wide blue band
across the bottom embossed with the building name in gold. 25.5 x 19.5 in. / 65 x 49 cm.
Includes The Mutual Benefit Life Insurance Co., Newark, NJ, No. 80995[last number illegible],
Wurts Bros., photographer; National Newark & Essex Bank Building, Newark, NJ; Abraham &
Straus Department Store, Brooklyn, NY, No. 809011, 1929 May 11, Wurts Bros., photographer;
Kresge's Department Store alterations, Newark, NJ, Wurts Bros., photographer; Met Life Annex
Building, New York, NY; New York Life Insurance, New York, NY, Browning, photographer;
40 Wall Street, New York, NY; Brown Bros. "Interior," (shows window view of northern
Manhattan skyline), New York, NY; McGraw-Hill Building, New York, NY, Wurts Bros.,
photographer; Empire State Building, New York, NY. Includes list of projects organized under
building type. Condition: ivory pages warping, brittle with slight yellowing; vinyl page divider is
melted and cracked (Six of the seven original dividers were removed and destroyed to prevent
further damage to volume.); photographs are silvering particularly around the edges. Some of the
tipped-in plates are beginning to loosen. Leather spine worn at the corners, particularly top and
front bottom corners. Lucite cover showing some scratches. | | 1925-1931 |
| Box | Folder | Title | Date |
| 1 | 1 | Starrett Bros. & Eken, Inc., list of jobs from 1922-1958, (3 p.), New
York, [1958?]. Oversize typed sheets. 12 x 24 in. / 30 x 61 cm. Information grouped in 7
columns by year, name, location, owner, architect, type of building, and amount. Condition:
severe creasing in vertical folds; small tears along bottom edge of sheets at the folded creases.
High quality bond paper, shows slight yellowing. | | 1922-1958 |
| 1 | 2 | George A. Fuller Company's job costs from 1897-1922, New York, n.d. Originally in
leather three-ring binder, gold-stamped "A.J. Eken." Typed leaves inserted into binder, each leaf
numbered on recto only, with new pagination beginning for each of eight sections. "The long
forms with the various trades numbered are from the Fuller Company Cost Book. The short
forms are taken from Mr. Paul Starrett's Book"-Cover page. Includes index (6 p.) arranged
chronologically under the year the building was built; and subdivided, thereunder, by types of
buildings. Pages 1-106 refer to offices; pages 201-211 to banks; pages 301-328 to public
buildings; pages 401-413 to stores; pages 501-527 to factories and garages; pages 601-623 to
hotels; pages 701-708 to residences; and pages 801-807 to theaters. Each page is 9.5 x 6 in. / 24 x
15 cm. Condition: Top right corner of leather binding chipped away. Some fine cracking along
front cover edge where it joins with the spine; top edge of spine heavily worn; several small
chips in the spine. | | 1897-1922 |
| 1 | 3 | Tabulation of heating and
ventilating costs, [ca. 1931], Starrett Bros & Eken, Inc. Title block signed by Manz, A.C. NY,
1925-1931. Ink on linen. 17.25 x 30 in. / 44 x 76 cm. Information grouped in columns, under job
numbers, building name, location, year built, name of sub-contractor, cost on completion, sq. ft.
of radiation, cost per sq. ft. of radiation, cu. ft. of building, and sq. ft. of radiation per cu. ft. of
building. Condition: two small holes bottom left corner; 2 cm. tear near top center; generally
good. | | [1931] |
| 1 | 4 | A Comment on the Marketing of Shelter
Products, New York, c1929. Brochure of National Shelter Group, with portrait of Col. W.A.
Starrett, Vice-President of Starrett Bros. Tri-fold; interior in color; 9 x 4 in. / 23 x 10 cm. folded;
12 x 9 in. / 30 x 23 cm. opened. Condition: paper clip mark front top left, some slight flaking in
folds. | | 1929 |
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Series II. Projects: Empire State Building, 1929-1952
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| Box | Folder | Title | Date |
| 1 | 5-6 | Notes on Construction of Empire State Building, [1929-193-?]. Seventy b&w
photographs mounted on 33 sheets of pressboard. Documents the building of the Empire State
Building from the demolition of the former Waldorf-Astoria Hotel to completion. Photographs
size range: 4.75 x 3.5 in. / 12 x 9 cm. to 4.25 x 2.5 in. / 11 x 7 cm. | | [1929-193-?] |
| 1 | 7 | Color print-out of scanned pages from the Notes on
Construction of Empire State Building (see above), with 3-ring binder originally holding
materials in folders 8-12. Proof for publication of Building the Empire State. | | undated |
| 1 | 8 | Building Congress News, New York, 11 x 8.5 in. / 28 x
21.5 cm.: 1)1930 Feb.: v. VI, no.8; 2) 1930 Nov.: v. VII, no. 5. Includes the article "Two
thousand witness Empire State Building award," covering former Gov. Alfred E. Smith and
President of Empire State, Inc. speaking at the awards ceremony to honor 18 craftsmen (8 p.);
and 3) 1930 Dec.: v. VII, no.6. | | 1930 |
| 1 | 9 | The Empire State
Building, Shreve, Lamb, and Harmon, Architects, X. Field Organization and Methods, by John P.
Carmody, of Starrett Bros. & Eken, Inc. Reprinted from: The Architectural Forum. 1931 Apr.:
pp. 495-506, 12 x 9 in. / 30 x 22.5 cm. | | 1931 |
| 1 | 10 | Empire
State Building compression of steel notes and table, 1931. Shows observations made on each
floor, noting column shortening due to compression of steel (10 p.) Includes photocopy; 11 x 8.5
in. / 28 x 21 cm. | | 1931 |
| 1 | 11 | Reprints of two articles
from New York Herald Tribune and one from The New York Times, covering the sale of the
Empire State Building, 1951 Dec. 22 and 23, 11 x 8.5 in. 28 x 21 cm. Includes photo of the
principals involved in the sale. | | 1951 |
| 1 | 12 | News Item from
Charles F. Noyes Company, Inc., 1952 Jan. 10, 11 x 8.5 in. / 28 x 21 cm. press release. Signed in
pencil by BH Richardson. Includes "The Empire State Building," by George A. Hammer,
Vice-President (4 p.). | | 1952 |
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Series III. Projects: Wall Street, 1938
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| Box | Folder | Title | Date |
| Oversize | 2 | 40 Wall Street: Designed for Working. Raymond Lufkin, ill., [1938?].
Promotional book (26 p.), one of 12 copies written, designed and printed for Starrett Bros. &
Eken by William E. Rudge's Sons, New York. Oversize, clear (Lucite) covers; leather spine; 25.5
x 19.5 in. / 65 x 49 cm. Includes b&w and one color photographs pasted on paper. Condition:
high quality paper showing signs of yellowing; photographs beginning to silver. Leather spine
chipped corners, both top and bottom, worn along joint with boards. Generally good condition. | | [1938?] |
| Box | Folder | Title | Date |
| 1 | 13 | Sixty-three Wall Street at 63 Wall and 77
Beaver streets, New York, 1938 Nov. Cover illustration includes a diagram of building. 8.25 x
3.75 in. / 21 x 9.5 cm. Brochure describes the building and its tenants, and lists the Wall and
Hanover Street Realty Company as its owner. Condition: dirt stain; generally good condition. | | 1938 |
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