George Browne Post (December 15, 1837 – November 28, 1913) was an
American architect trained in the
Beaux-Arts tradition. Many of his most characteristic projects were for commercial buildings where new requirements pushed the traditional boundaries of design. Many of them have also been demolished, since their central locations in
New York and other cities made them vulnerable to rebuilding in the twentieth century. Some of his lost buildings were landmarks of their era, nevertheless. His
eight-story Equitable Life Assurance Society (1868–70), was the first office building designed to use elevators; Post himself leased the upper floors when contemporaries predicted they could not be rented. His
Western Union Telegraph Building (1872–75) at Dey Street in Lower Manhattan, was the first office building to rise as high as ten stories, a forerunner of
skyscrapers to come. When it was erected in "Newspaper Row" facing
City Hall Park, Post's twenty-story
New York World Building (1889–90) was the tallest building in New York City.