Before a building becomes a landmark, it is a construction site, full of excavation, machinery, workers, and plenty of mud and dust. The James Stewart Construction Collection at the National Building Museum captures these moments in detail, documenting how one of America’s major construction firms helped shape the built environment of the 20th century.
Prior to opening James Stewart & Company, James Stewart (1822–1902) was a successful architect and building tradesman in Canada. In 1865, he and his family moved to St. Louis, Missouri, anticipating opportunities in the U.S. after the Civil War. The decision paid off. Stewart & Company became one of America’s most accomplished and longest-operating contractors, working from 1845 to 1953. The firm, which Stewart ran with his sons, earned profits and acclaim building railroads west of the Mississippi River. By the end of the 19th century, it had grown impressively, alongside the nation’s expanding industrial might. After James died in 1902, his son Alexander Stewart (1857-1939) led the company, expanding its portfolio to include banks, department stores, hotels, and civic structures.
The James Stewart Construction Collection holds 108 leather-bound photo albums chronicling construction projects undertaken by the firm in this new era, primarily between 1904 and 1949. These albums demonstrate the wide geography of the company’s clients, with job sites in 22 U.S. states, Canada, and Japan. Together, they document the project entirely, from excavation to completion. They also reveal the breadth of Stewart & Company’s clientele, which included some of the most powerful industrial and commercial organizations of the era: the Pennsylvania Railroad, Standard Oil, U.S. Steel, General Electric, General Motors, Union Carbide, Grumman, and many more.
One of the most famous projects documented in the collection is Madison Square Garden. This version of the Garden, the third such New York City venue to use that moniker, was located on Eighth Avenue between 49th and 50th Streets, approximately a mile from the Garden’s modern home. Construction began in January 1925, enacting the vision of legendary theater architect Thomas W. Lamb (1870 – 1942). In these photos, workers use steam shovels and other early industrial tools to dig out the foundations in March 1925.
The photographs in these albums may have been gathered from several sources throughout the process; photos were routinely requested from the project’s contractor, the primary client, the architect, or the engineer. These myriad perspectives and specialties create a comprehensive record of each structure at different stages in the process.
Not every project in the collection received the attention of a landmark like Madison Square Garden. But the photographs of less celebrated projects can be just as revealing. In 1909, for example, the architecture firm C. D. Hill and Co. contracted Stewart Construction to demolish and rebuild the South Texas National Bank in Houston. The four photographs below follow the project from demolition to construction, offering a glimpse into the day-to-day work that went into creating a new building.
By May 1909, the existing building had been removed, with the exception of its vault. The vault walls are visible in one photograph, accompanied by a sign reading, “THIS VAULT BEING MOVED BY BROWN & RAMSAY. 312 FANNIN ST.” In the foreground, a horse-drawn wagon removes dirt from the site. By August, Stewart Construction had laid floors on the first and second levels. Banners displayed across the front façade identify the companies and individuals responsible for the work: Stewart as the contractor, C. D. Hill & Co. as the architect, and E. F. Glick as the manager. By October, workers were erecting the building’s Corinthian columns, and by early December, the front façade appears to be nearly complete.
In addition to banks and entertainment venues, Stewart Construction built offices and industrial buildings, warehouses, piers, train stations, schools, public buildings, apartment houses, and meeting halls. Each album contains between thirty and eighty photographic prints, including before-and-after photos, job crews hard at work and taking well-deserved breaks, and interiors of the completed projects. These albums showcase the tools, process, and workforce behind some of the most important construction sites of the first half of the 20th century.
To conduct research using the James Stewart Construction Collection, please fill out a Research Request Form. You can learn more about other collections held at the Museum by searching the online database here!