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March 25, 2004
Struttin'
What’s up with the stars?
Because of some of the architectural/schoolhouse research that I’ve been doing, my building gazing has greatly increased over the past few weeks. I had always taken note of the metal stars on many building exteriors, particularly near South Street Seaport and the DUMBO/Navy Yard areas, however I never thought much of them. One day I took specific notice, wondered exactly what they were, and became increasingly perplexed. After you make a mental note of something, often you begin seeing it everywhere—and realize that you’d obviously looked right past the detail for years.
What were these stars affixed to building edifices? I tried looking them up on the web, however I knew ahead of time that search strings like “building façade,” “stars,” and “metal” wouldn’t yield anything too specific. At first, I wondered if they were some sort of nautical decoration, as most of the buildings I’d seen that had them were located near former major sea ports. Then I spotted a couple of buildings in random areas of the Village—and a few in DuPont, DC—and my curiosity piqued, along with my frustration.
If all else fails, ask your museum/historian friends!
I generally like discovering things for myself, rather than asking right away. After a few days of searching, I was coming up with nothing, so I decided to seek real person advice. Now that I think about it, my small blogger sphere if rife with knowledgeable people who could have set me straight—but alas, I’m stubborn. Making things harder than they really are is one of my main character traits.
Sonnet suggested that the stars were decorative ends of supportive struts and suggested that I ask C, our local South Street Seaport guru. She confirmed this, sending me a great little historical recap, which was helpful, as “supportive struts” held no real meaning in my brain.
The stars are, indeed, the ends of supportive struts, called “tie-rods.” They generally look like stars, however this is less a decorative trait and more just how they’re shaped. In the early 19th Century, most buildings were wood-framed. As structures were built higher and higher, engineers found that supports were needed. Metal struts were imbedded in the wooden-frames and “tied” on the exterior of the brick exteriors. As C put it, “they [the tie-rods] acted as a sort of corset, holding the building together by tying the wood frame and floors to the masonry and brick.” The prevalence of these tie-rods in seaport areas is because many buildings were warehouses that needed to support heavy materials.
Eureka!
Lately, I’ve seen many current apartment buildings (old buildings that are now apartments or townhouses) here in the West Village with tie-rods. This morning, I noticed a few that weren’t star-shaped. I think it’s really neat…and feel somewhat silly that I’d been thinking the stars had some sort of military or nautical significance. Polar star? Hmm. At least I’m inquisitive.
Posted by callalillie at March 25, 2004 9:32 AM | History
thanks for clearing that up. i think i spotted the same thing in philly when i went there last year.
Posted by: tien at March 25, 2004 12:17 PM
Oh wow! I'd been wondering for ages.
Posted by: Mike at March 25, 2004 2:12 PM
this appears to be THE place for getting answers. tien, jess and i were wondering about the stars this past weekend. we were walking by the old tobacco warehouses (?) on water street in dumbo.
Posted by: jeannette at March 25, 2004 2:44 PM
The tie-rods often go completely through a building, hidden in a wall or ceiling. The threaded rods may have a turnbuckle at the mid-point that connects two rods that are connected to the outside walls where you see the stars, caps, etc. The rods are cut and threaded so that the turnbuckle has several inches to a foot or so of slack. It is then turned, drawing the tie rods together to the proper distance/tension to provide support that eliminates or prevents buckling of the walls.
Posted by: bobtrancho at March 25, 2004 4:39 PM
Me too! I saw some in Philly last week and was wondering what purpose they served. Some included rings, as if they were doing double duty as hitches for horses.
Posted by: joe s at March 25, 2004 6:50 PM
