Original Blueprints of the World Trade Center on Sale in New York City for $250,000

The rare blueprints were found in a trash can by chance.

Original Blueprints of the World Trade Center on Sale in New York City for $250,000

World Trade Center blueprints

James Cummins Bookseller

Nearly 20 years after the Twin Towers crumbled during the September 11 attacks, the original blueprints have been recovered by pure chance. 

They went on sale over the weekend at the New York International Antiquarian Book Fair, and are expected to sell between $250,000 and $1,000,000

Found in a rubbish bin

Of all places you’d expect to lay your hands on the original blueprints of the World Trade Center, also known as the Twin Towers, it would not be a rubbish bin. Yet, that’s precisely where these rare blueprints were discovered in 2018. 

The bin and the blueprints were in Denver, Colorado, where one of the Twin Towers’ architects, Joseph Solomon, moved to from New York in the 1970s. 

The Towers were thought up in the 1960s and were completed by 1973, when they were the world’s tallest buildings. 

This set of plans is the largest floor plan of the World Trade Center complex, including over 500 plans, to be found to date and to go on sale, according to James Cummins Bookseller from New York. Cummins believes the set will sell for at least six figures

How did the plans end up in a rubbish bin?

After Solomon died in November 2017, his daughter Amy Lee Solomon threw out the plans while she was cleaning out his belongings in May 2018, unknowingly throwing out iconic plans. 

SEE ALSO: ENGINEERING NYC’S ICONIC STRUCTURE: ONE WORLD TRADE CENTER

Local resident Jake Haas was passing by the bin when he noticed the plans that looked like antique maps. Intrigued, Haas pulled them out and quickly noticed that the words Tower A and Tower B were printed on the plans. Putting two and two together, Haas realized what the documents were and sold them to a pawnshop owner, Angelo Arguello

The Twin Towers’ original blueprints, Source: James Cummins Bookseller

Arguello reached out to Cummins, which is handling the sale of the blueprints on a consignment basis, so as to ensure the blueprints receive the merit they deserve. 

The Twin Towers were an iconic part of New York City’s skyline, and when they came crashing down on September 11, 2001, because of an Al Qaeda terrorist attack, the world was deeply shaken. 

The 9/11 Memorial and Museum said that it does not have a set of original blueprints, and the Port Authority of New York said it was unsure whether or not it did. 

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Fabienne Lang <p>Fabienne is a Berlin-based lifestyle, tech, and travel freelance writer and editor. As a fanatic of travel and experiences, 68 countries and counting, Fabienne leads an active and diverse lifestyle sharing her insights and tips along the way. Her words have appeared in international and national print and online publications: Exberliner, Culture Trip, Echelon, Giddy, Interesting Engineering, and more. You&rsquo;ll most likely find Fabienne voraciously reading, writing or on an active trip in far-fetched lands.</p>