Caleb Smith

Oct 27, 1904: The New York City subway opened. The mayor drove the first train and refused to give up the controls. The city's streets were jammed with horses, carts, and elevated trains that dropped soot on the people below. Planners decided to go underground. Workers dug and blasted through Manhattan for four years. Dozens of men were killed building it. The first line ran about nine miles from City Hall up to 145th Street in Harlem. The mayor was George McClellan Jr., son of the Civil War general. At the opening, he was supposed to start the first train and then hand over the controls to the motorman. Instead he kept driving, mile after mile, while officials grew nervous. By evening, over 100,000 people had paid a nickel to ride. The first station, under City Hall, was the most beautiful in the system, with tiled arched ceilings, skylights, and brass chandeliers. It closed in 1945 because its curved platform was too short for newer trains. You can still catch a glimpse of it if you stay on the 6 train when it loops around at the end of the line. Today the system has over 470 stations and carries millions of people a day.