Skyscrapers w/dirigible mooring masts

[WilliamTheArtist]

Thought it would be neat to see pics of old skyscrapers in your city that had dirigible mooring masts. Especially if there are any with the zeppelins moored to the building


Here is one of the First National Bank Building in Downtown Tulsa. Topped off in 1928, it was once the tallest building in this region of the country.


.


But now you couldnt get near it with a zeppelin. The top part has a spiral staircase inside it for people to "disembark" from the zeppelins.


Bit of the interior.

[Austinlee]

Good thread! We definitely need more skyscrapers with dirigible parking.

[WilliamTheArtist]

Hadn't thought of it in the "parking/commuting" context lol. Speaking of over-the-top commuting practices. One of the oil barons back in the day actually built a railroad in order to "commute" from his office in downtown Tulsa to his home in the country.

[Austinlee]

^Sweet!

I've actually always dreamed of flying to work in a helicopter, myself.

[raggedy13]

Sweet thread idea. It always seems so odd how up-and-coming yet short-lived Zeppelins were. They're just such a novelty in my mind. There is something strangely futuristic yet old-fashioned about them, and they're just so classy and romantic somehow.

Anywho, I don't think Vancouver has any buildings with mooring masts but the Marine Building built in 1930 has cool Zeppelin reliefs on it...

[Nowhereman1280]

This may or may not be legend, but supposedly the steel mast a top Wisconsin Tower in Milwaukee was originally intended as a dirigible mooring. Right now it is just finishing conversion to condos and they seem to be doing a pretty good job on that.

From the Condo website, mast barely visible on top:

[MayDay]

There's no mooring mast, but Cleveland's Huntington Building was constructed with a dirigible "waiting area". It was never used for that, and eventually became a restaurant space.

You can see it in this photo - the top floor with the curved roof on the right:


Interior view:

[WilliamTheArtist]

Here is of course the classic example.




Here is one I found on the web for Birmingham that was put on a hotel building.

[Rufus]

Zeppelins are so cool.

[ardecila]

Chicago's Medinah Athletic Club was built with a mooring mast. It sat atop the little tower behind the dome. It was removed in the 1950s, I believe. The building is now the Hotel Intercontinental Chicago.

[KevinFromTexas]

^ I've always wondered why that little stub poked up above the dome. Seemed Odd, I just assumed it was an "unique top". That would be the perfect spot for a statue.

[Sulley]

Well, someone posted the Thomas Jefferson Hotel in Birmingham already...

[peanut gallery]

It is little known that the Transamerica Pyramid was intended to be a mooring mast for tiny commuter blimps:

Photo by Art Frisch, who passed away Jan 10; from the San Francisco Chronicle.

Just kidding. It was simply a clever photograph.

[pdxtex]

^^^ i totally believed that you jerk....

[ardecila]

Originally Posted by KevinFromTexas

^ I've always wondered why that little stub poked up above the dome. Seemed Odd, I just assumed it was an "unique top". That would be the perfect spot for a statue.

Well, we're already putting Mayor Daley and Garrett Kelleher as man-and-wife atop Chicago Spire.

What other Chicagoan can we memorialize atop this beautiful Islamic/Art Deco skyscraper? Is Louis Farrakhan dead yet?

[Austinlee]

This thread reminds me of the age old joke among early billionaire industrialists: "Excuse me good sir, but is that a dirigible moored to your mast or are you just happy to see me?"