Only People Over the Age of 50 Will Recognize These Historic Photos

Photographs of the Eiffel Tower rising over Paris gave newspapers and magazines a spectacular record of modern engineering. Some viewers saw elegance and progress; critics saw an industrial monster invading the skyline. Today, the construction images are remembered as proof that even beloved landmarks can begin as controversial experiments.

The Eiffel Tower was built for the 1889 Exposition Universelle in Paris. Engineer Gustave Eiffel’s company designed and constructed the iron structure between 1887 and 1889. Photographers documented each stage as the tower grew. What began as a temporary fair attraction became one of the world’s most recognizable monuments.