Summary: Lodged into Manhattan bedrock 121 feet below ground, the 181st Street IRT station in Manhattan is the subways deepest. It is also one of the oldest. 181st Street opened as part of the original subway system. Most of these stations opened in 1904, but a few like 181st Street did not open until 1906. Why the delay 181st Street sits deep in the Fort George Tunnel. The tunnel is the second longest tunnel in North America and its construction was the biggest engineering challenge of subway construction. This unique situation created a station of exceptional scale, with threestory ceilings at its peak.Being in the 181st Street station is a unique subway experience. The station is and feels vast and cavernous. This is not a result of the length of the station it is the same size as other IRT stations. Instead, it is a result of the depth and height of the station, sitting 121 feet below St. Nicholas Avenue. While the ceiling heights at either end of the station are the standard 10 to 12 feet high, the center of the station is a sight to behold. It stands three stories high, and has passenger walkways suspended above the platform. In the midst of this expansive station are highly decorated walls. Along the walls are traditional IRT station name plates. Here, the words 181st Street are written in white mosaic tile on a dark background with a floral and geometric border. These are similar, but not identical to many of the other original IRT mosaic name plates. Brightly colored rosette mosaic flowers sit above the name plates. One important ceramic detail in this station did not exist when it opened in 1906. The George Washington Bridge, whose name is rendered in mosaic tile on the name plates, did not open until 1931. The name does not look like a later addon it looks to be an original part of the name plate. So, its likely that these name tablets are not original to the 1906 station, but were designed in the style of those ceramics, and installed in the 1930s.
