It was 44 years ago today that the former One World Trade Center was topped out. It was the northern of the Twin Towerseasy to spot, because it was the one with the antenna. Construction may have finished on December 23, 1970, but the complex didn't open till April 4, 1973. Here now, take a trip back to the city's disco days with these photos of (and atop) the skyline-dominating behemoths. They were shot by English tourist Patrick Goff in 1976, when he first visited New York City and the site was but a toddler. We remember.



An erstwhile New York tourist (who also took lovely photos of Eero Saarinen's TWA terminal), Goff has a made a career in hotel design. You can read his hotel reviews here, and you can see some of his great shots of England on his blog.

—Evan Bindelglass is a local freelance journalist, photographer, cinephile, and foodie. You can e-mail him, follow him on Twitter @evabin, or check out his personal blog.

· All World Trade Center coverage [Curbed]