The original World Trade Center was a large complex of seven buildings in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan, New York City, United States. It opened on April 4, 1973, and was destroyed in 2001 during the September 11 attacks.
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| The Twin Towers in the 1970s |
At the time of their completion, the Twin Towers—the original 1 World Trade Center, at 1,368 feet (417 m); and 2 World Trade Center, at 1,362 feet (415.1 m)—were the tallest buildings in the world. Other buildings in the complex included the Marriott World Trade Center (3 WTC), 4 WTC, 5 WTC, 6 WTC, and 7 WTC. The complex contained 13,400,000 square feet (1,240,000 m2) of office space.
During its existence, the World Trade Center was an icon of New York City. It had a major role in popular culture and according to one estimate was depicted in 472 films.
Take a look at these fascinating color photos from World Trade Center Photo Archives (Official) to see beautiful scenes of the Twin Towers during the 1970s.
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| World Trade Center under construction, 1970 |
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| Aerial view from lower West Side with new World Trade Center’s Twin Towers (fore) against background of Manhattan, 1971 |
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| The World Trade Center, 1971 |
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| The World Trade Center, 1971 |
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| The WTC going up, 1971 |
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| New York night life, 1972 |
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| WTC during sunset back in 1972 |
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| A view of lower Manhattan, New York City seen from a ferry, 1973 |
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| Aerial view of the World Trade Center, 1973 |
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| Empire overshadowed, 1973 |
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| Garbage day, 1973 |
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| Nearing completion, 1973 |
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| The World Trade Center, 1973 |
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| The World Trade Center, 1973 |
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| The World Trade Center, 1973 |
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| Towers of the World Trade Center, 1973 |
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| Trash and Twins, 1973 |
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| World Trade Center’s Twin Towers seen from the harbor at night, 1973 |
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| Yesterday’s night, 1973 |
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| Golden Towers, 1974 |
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| Good morning New York, 1974 |
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| New York’s golden skyline, 1974 |
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| Rockefeller view, 1974 |
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| Aerial view of Lower Manhattan, 1975 |
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| Lower Manhattan, 1975 |
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| Washington Square Twins, 1975 |
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| Aerial view of the World Trade Center towers and surrounding buildings of lower Manhattan, 1976 |
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| Bicentennial, 1976 |
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| New York’s nightlight, 1976 |
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| World Trade Center aerial, 1976 |
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| World Trade Center Bicentennial, 1976 |
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| World Trade Center, 1976 |
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| World Trade Center, 1976 |
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| World Trade Center, 1976 |
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| World Trade Center, 1976 |
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| Blackout, 1977 |
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| Lovely day for a sail, 1978 |
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| New York City view from Jersey City, 1978 |
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| WTC, 4th of July 1978 from Exchange Pl. Jersey City, 1978 |
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| Antenna view from 1,728 feet above New York, 1979 |
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| Twins of New York, 1979 |
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| World Trade Center, 1979 |