A section of the Skyscraper Museum in lower Manhattan is devoted to the World Trade Center and features models of the Twin Towers, photos of the structures in various states of construction and completion, and extensive videos of the mammoth building project.
With the recent anniversary of the terrorist attacks that destroyed the WTC on September 11, 2001, I was reminded of photos I took in this section when I attended a few exhibits at the museum in recent years.
What I remember most about the WTC is my first visit there when I was about 11 or 12 years olds, when my parents took me and my sisters to the top of one tower. I have two outstanding memories from that day. One is when I looked outside a window from the observation deck. This bird’s-eye view put me on edge, but I was fascinated at being so high above ground as I watched the the tiny people and toy-like cars on the streets below.
The following, though, is the memory I savor most: before my family and I entered the tower at ground level, I walked right up against one tower and looked skyward. I was in awe that men could build such tall and massive buildings.
This wall features a video of the World Trade Center construction project (left) and a photo of the towers looking south from a building near the West Side Highway. (Photo: Joseph Kellard/Courtesy Skyscraper Museum).
So that visit may have sparked my fear of heights, but it certainly, and much more importantly, laid the foundation for my admiration of skyscrapers and the mental and physical effort that it takes for men to build them.
My sisters, Maureen (left) and Mary, and me atop a tower at the World Trade Center, circa the late 1970’s. (Photo: Kellard Family)