Sept. 18, 1897: Temperature controls installed at famous hotel

An entry in the Johnson Electric Service Company’s (the original name of Johnson Controls) New York branch contract book dated September 18, 1897 details a charge for $880 to the Astoria Hotel in New York City for services rendered.

This was in addition to the $7,700 Johnson Electric Service had billed the Astoria the previous year for temperature controls. It was during this time that the hotel was built and, then, connected to its neighbor, the Waldorf Hotel.

The Waldorf had been built at 34th Street and 5th Avenue in 1893 by millionaire William Waldorf Astor. Astor was the great-grandson of John Jacob Astor, whose Pacific Fur Company had created the family fortune. Spurred on by his cousin William's success, John Jacob Astor IV decided to build his Astoria Hotel on adjacent family property next to the Waldorf. The two hotels were combined to become the Waldorf-Astoria, the world's largest hotel upon its opening in November 1897.

The Waldorf-Astoria was famous for its high society clientele and lavish amenities. In 1929, the hotel was torn down to make way for the construction of the Empire State Building on that site. Two years later, a new Waldorf-Astoria, recognized today as an Art Deco masterpiece, was opened fifteen blocks to the north on Park Avenue.