4 World Trade Center (1975–2001)

The original 4 World Trade Center, also called the Southeast Plaza Building, was a nine-story building at the southeast corner of the World Trade Center complex in Lower Manhattan, New York City. It was finished in 1975 and designed by Minoru Yamasaki and Emery Roth & Sons.

On September 11, 2001, the building was badly damaged during the attacks by the terrorist group al-Qaeda. Because of this, the building had to be torn down. Today, a new building called 4 World Trade Center stands where the old one used to be, along with 3 World Trade Center.

History

4 World Trade Center was built where the Hudson Terminal used to be. Construction started in late 1972 after the old Hudson Terminal was torn down. The building and a shopping area called The Mall at the World Trade Center finished construction in 1975. The first people to work there, from the Commodities Exchange Center, moved in during January 1977. By July 1, 1977, another group called the Mercantile Traders had also moved in.

Big companies like Deutsche Bank and the New York Board of Trade rented space in the building. The side facing Liberty Street had an entrance to the shopping area below.

The building was used for trading valuable goods on one of the biggest trading floors in the world, which was even shown in an Eddie Murphy movie called Trading Places. There were 12 special areas where people traded these goods.

Destruction

When the Twin Towers were damaged during the September 11 attacks, pieces of the buildings fell and destroyed or badly damaged nearby buildings, including the original 4 World Trade Center. Most of the southern part of the building was destroyed, and the remaining northern part was nearly destroyed when the South Tower fell down. The building was later taken down to make space for new construction.

At the time of the attacks, the building stored a lot of silver and gold coins in its basement. By November 2001, most of these coins had been moved out. Some coins that belonged to the Bank of Nova Scotia were later sold to collectors.

Tenants

The following places had space inside 4 World Trade Center when it was damaged: