On October 27, 1904, at exactly 2:35 p.m., Mayor George McClellan stood at the controls of a brand-new train in a brand-new tunnel beneath the streets of New York City. A crowd of dignitaries stood behind him. He pushed the lever forward. The first New York City Subway train glided away from City Hall station with a smooth hum. For a five-cent fare, passengers could now travel from City Hall to 145th Street in Harlem in just 26 minutes - a trip that used to take an hour by horse-drawn carriage.
The subway had been built in just over four years by an army of 12,000 workers. They dug a 9.1-mile tunnel using a method called 'cut-and-cover': they ripped up entire streets, dug down, built the tunnel, and put the streets back on top. The original line included 28 stations, some of them decorated with fancy mosaic tiles and chandeliers. The City Hall station, with its arched ceilings and skylights, was so beautiful it looked more like a cathedral than a place to catch a train. On opening day, more than 150,000 people paid their nickels to ride.
Today the New York City Subway is one of the biggest in the world: 472 stations, 665 miles of track, and around three million riders every single day. The system never sleeps - trains rumble through the tunnels 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. The original City Hall station was closed in 1945 but still exists, sealed away beneath the streets like a hidden gem, occasionally toured by visitors who want to see where it all began.
