Since John Adams took up residence on November 1st, 1800, every U.S. President has called the White House home. Not surprisingly, each resident has endeavored to leave their mark, but then change is the guiding principle at the heart of the design suggested by George Washington, the one President who never lived in the Executive Mansion yet was so intimately involved in its creation.

Over the past two hundred years, the building has faced both ambitious expansions and near destruction, as in when the building was burned at War of 1812. By 1948, the building was severely dilapidated enough that President Harry Truman vacated the residence to allow for a massive renovation that installed a steel superstructure to support the building.

This specimen is a fragment from a brick recovered during the 1948-1952 renovation and expansion of the White House. This process generated an enormous amount of salvage material, some of which was used as landfill, but more attractive items became part of a popular public souvenir program designated by the Commission on the Renovation of the Executive Mansion.

In 1929, Empire State Inc. announced its plans to construct the tallest building in existence—a state-of-the-art, 80-story office building in the heart of New York City. The Empire State Building exceeded even these grand ambitions. Coming in under budget and months ahead of schedule, the skyscraper was the first to rise over 100 stories, reigning as the tallest building in both its own city and the entire world for four decades.

On July 28, 1945, a B-25 bomber crashed between the 79th and 80th floors of the Empire State Building after its pilot Lieutenant Colonel William F. Smith Jr. became disoriented in a thick fog. The plane wreckage tore through the limestone facade, one engine punching through the building’s south side and landing on another building below. The plane’s crew died instantly, while 11 others inside the building were also killed in the explosion and the fires that followed.

This specimen is a piece of the Empire State Building, a section of continuous stainless steel mullion that framed the windows of this magnificent structure. The material was dislodged during the collision in 1945 and was acquired at auction in 2021.

On May 27th, 1937, the Golden Gate Bridge opened to the public, fulfilling the decades-long dream of "Bridging the Gate." Today, the bridge remains a marvel of engineering, representing the will to achieve what others said could not be done.

This bridge spans the Golden Gate straight, over 4,200 feet of steel with 27,572 galvanized wires bound together for support. These cable wires are made up of a bundle of super strong, galvanized steel wire strands. In total, it's estimated there are over 80,000 miles of wire on the bridge, maintaining an incredible integrity against the winds of the San Francisco Bay.

This specimen is one of the Golden Gate Bridge's original 250 vertical suspender ropes which was replaced in the mid-70s. The process took four years and was a major feat of engineering. The state of California sold some of this material to help pay for the repairs.

The original London Bridge was not built in London, but rather London was built around the bridge. When the Romans were occupying Britain, Londinium was settled around a key crossing point of the Thames. Many smaller bridges were built and destroyed over time, but in 1209 a more permanent structure was built which we now call the Old London Bridge. This too was eventually supplanted by the New London Bridge in the 19th century, and in turn by the current version in the 1970s.

In a strange twist of fate, the New London Bridge was not simply dismantled but was bought by U.S. industrialist Robert McCulloch to be disassembled and rebuilt... in Arizona. Robert McCulloch was a chainsaw magnate and land developer who founded Lake Havasu City in 1958 as a company town for his business. His purchase of the New London Bridge was a stunt to bring attention to the newly built city.

This specimen is from the New London Bridge, completed in 1831 and designed by celebrated civil engineer John Rennie. This bridge measured 928 feet across and was supported by five stone arches. It still stands in its new home of Lake Havasu City.