The Morris Building and Skeleton-Frame Construction

The Real Estate Record and Builder's Guide in August 1891 mentioned that the still-young Atlas Iron Construction Company had opened a factory in Jersey City and was moving from the eighth floor of the Times Building to a larger office space on the tenth floor.  It also said they were working on several buildings, one of which was the Morris Building.

This ten-story office building stood on the northwest corner of Broad and Beaver streets.  The architects were Youngs & Cable, who almost certainly helped Atlas Iron get their construction contract.  William H. W. Youngs was a prominent architect in the city.  His son Frederick was Treasurer of Atlas Iron.

The building was constructed for and owned by Mrs. Cora H. Morris (wife of John A. Morris, the "Lottery King").  The Real Estate Record went on to point out the relatively new design practice which was used:

"In this building all the walls are carried on columns and girders of iron and steel, the outside walls being intended only as a buttress against the inroads of the weather, their greatest thickness being but 16 inches.  The saving in floor space through this character of construction is considerable, as the thickness of the walls under the old method would have been at least 4 feet."

This type of "skeleton" design was devised in 1889 by Bradford Gilbert in constructing the Tower Building on Broadway.  Youngs & Cable had previous experience with it; they designed the city's third skeleton-frame building, the Columbia, in 1890.  The practice slowly took hold in the city as its advantages and safety were proven.

I don't know how long the Morris Building stood, but it is not there today.

Sources:
Real Estate Record and Builder's Guide, 15 August 1891, p 212.
Photo from Architecture and Building, 27 May 1893, illustrations following p 246.
"A Review of the Development of Structural Iron" by William J. Fryer, in A History of Real Estate, Building and Architecture in New York City, especially pp 467-473.