The Rise & Fall of Penn Station

The Rise & Fall of Penn Station

2004 · 60 min · ★ 9.5 · History, Documentary

In 1910, the Pennsylvania Railroad successfully accomplished the enormous engineering feat of building tunnels under New York City's Hudson and East Rivers, connecting the railroad to New York and New England, knitting together the entire eastern half of the United States. The tunnels terminated in what was one of the greatest architectural achievements of its time, Pennsylvania Station. Penn Station covered nearly eight acres, extended two city blocks, and housed one of the largest public spaces in the world. But just 53 years after the station’s opening, the monumental building that was supposed to last forever, to herald and represent the American Empire, was slated to be destroyed.

Directed by Randall MacLowry · Written by Randall MacLowry

Your Rating

Where to Watch

Streaming

Rent or Buy

Cast

Michael Murphy Narrator

Make it a double feature

1h 55m together

The Rise & Fall of Penn Station

The Polio Crusade

Both from Randall MacLowry.

More from Randall MacLowrySee all →

The Polio Crusade

The Polio Crusade · 2009

The Polio Crusade

MovieDocumentaryHistory

The film interweaves the personal accounts of polio survivors with the story of an ardent crusader who tirelessly fought on their behalf while scientists raced to eradicate this dreaded disease. Based in part on the Pulitzer Prize-winning book Polio: An American Story by David Oshinsky, Features interviews with historians, scientists, polio survivors, and the only surviving scientist from the core research team that developed the Salk vaccine, Julius Youngner.

Silicon Valley

Silicon Valley · 2013

MovieDocumentary

In 1957, decades before Steve Jobs dreamed up Apple or Mark Zuckerberg created Facebook, a group of eight brilliant young men defected from the Shockley Semiconductor Company in order to start their own transistor business. Their leader was 29-year-old Robert Noyce, a physicist with a brilliant mind and the affability of a born salesman who would co-invent the microchip — an essential component of nearly all modern electronics today, including computers, motor vehicles, cell phones and household appliances. SILICON VALLEY tells the story of the pioneering scientists who transformed rural Santa Clara County into the hub of technological ingenuity we now know as Silicon Valley.

A Brilliant Madness

A Brilliant Madness · 2002

A Brilliant Madness

MovieDocumentary

The life of the Nobel Prize-winning mathematician and schizophrenic John Nash — the inspiration for the feature film A Beautiful Mind — is a powerful exploration of how genius and madness can become intertwined.

American Oz

American Oz · 2021

MovieDocumentary

Explore the life and times of author L. Frank Baum, the creator of one of the most beloved, enduring and classic American narratives. By 1900, when The Wonderful Wizard of Oz was published, Baum was 44 years old and had spent much of his life in restless pursuit of success.

The Gold Rush

The Gold Rush · 2006

MovieDocumentaryHistory

The Battle Of Chosin

The Battle Of Chosin · 2016

The Battle Of Chosin

MovieDocumentary

An amazingly harrowing story of the 17 day engagement of bloody combat and heroic survival in subartic temperatures. UN forces largely outnumbered and surrounded, due to a surprise attack led by 120,000 Chinese troops.

NOVA

SeriesDocumentary

PBS' premier science series helps viewers of all ages explore the science behind the headlines. Along the way, NOVA demystifies science and technology, and highlights the people involved in scientific pursuits.

The Fabric of the Cosmos

The Fabric of the Cosmos · 2011

The Fabric of the Cosmos

SeriesDocumentaryMystery

Brian Greene is going to let you in on a secret: We've all been deceived. Our perceptions of time and space have led us astray. Much of what we thought we knew about our universe-that the past has already happened and the future is yet to be, that space is just an empty void, that our universe is the only universe that exists-just might be wrong.

The Mine Wars

The Mine Wars · 2016

MovieDocumentaryHistory

Efforts of the United Mine Workers, led by Mother Jones, to organize coal miners in southern West Virginia at the beginning of the 20th century leads to violence and insurrection.

American Masters

American Masters · 1986

American Masters

SeriesDocumentary

American Masters is a PBS television series which produces biographies on enduring writers, musicians, visual and performing artists, dramatists, filmmakers, and others who have left an indelible impression on the cultural landscape of the United States.

American Experience

American Experience · 1988

American Experience

SeriesDocumentary

TV's most-watched history series brings to life the compelling stories from our past that inform our understanding of the world today.

Lorraine Hansberry: Sighted Eyes / Feeling Heart

Lorraine Hansberry: Sighted Eyes / Feeling Heart · 2017

Lorraine Hansberry: Sighted Eyes / Feeling Heart

MovieDocumentary

On March 11, 1959, Lorraine Hansberry’s 'A Raisin in the Sun' opened on Broadway and changed the face of American theater forever. As the first-ever black woman to author a play performed on Broadway, she did not shy away from richly drawn characters and unprecedented subject matter. The play attracted record crowds and earned the coveted top prize from the New York Drama Critics’ Circle. While the play is seen as a groundbreaking work of art, the timely story of Hansberry’s life is far less known.

Zora Neale Hurston: Claiming a Space

Zora Neale Hurston: Claiming a Space · 2023

Zora Neale Hurston: Claiming a Space

MovieDocumentaryHistory

Raised in the small all-Black Florida town of Eatonville, Zora Neale Hurston studied at Howard University before arriving in New York in 1925. She would soon become a key figure of the Harlem Renaissance, best remembered for her novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God. But even as she gained renown in the Harlem literary circles, Hurston was also discovering anthropology at Barnard College with the renowned Franz Boas. She would make several trips to the American South and the Caribbean, documenting the lives of rural Black people and collecting their stories. She studied her own people, an unusual practice at the time, and during her lifetime became known as the foremost authority on Black folklore.

Building the Alaska Highway

Building the Alaska Highway · 2005

Building the Alaska Highway

MovieDocumentary

In May of 1942, across the rugged sub-Arctic wilderness of Alaska and Canada, thousands of American soldiers began one of the biggest and most difficult construction projects ever undertaken-building the Alaska Highway. This program tells how young soldiers battled mud, muskeg, and mosquitoes; endured ice, snow, and bitter cold; and cut pathways through primeval forests to push a 1,520-mile road across one of the world's harshest landscapes.

The Feud

The Feud · 2019

MovieHistoryDocumentary

The feud between the Hatfields and McCoys is perhaps the most famous family conflict in American history. As legend has it, two neighboring families in the backwoods of Appalachia waged a crude and bloody war against each other over a stolen hog, an illicit romance, and longstanding grudges. Yet the events that took place near the end of the 19th century between the Hatfields and McCoys are part of a much richer and more complex narrative of the American experience.

The Swamp

The Swamp · 2019

MovieDocumentaryHistory

The history of the Florida Everglades and the efforts to reclaim, control and preserve the vast area once viewed as a wasteland.

More Like This

The Seven Five

The Seven Five · 2015

MovieDocumentary

Meet the dirtiest cop in NYC history. Michael Dowd stole money and dealt drugs while patrolling the streets of '80s Brooklyn.

On Wings of Eagles

On Wings of Eagles · 2016

On Wings of Eagles

MovieDramaHistory

Eric Liddell - China's first gold medalist and one of Scotland's greatest athletes - returns to war-torn China.

Rate this film

Your ratings make Midnight smarter