During the 19th century, life insurance firms were some of the first companies to build high-profile skyscrapers. The Equitable Life Assurance Society of the United States, founded by Henry Baldwin Hyde in 1859, had built the Equitable Life Building on 120 Broadway in 1870. The Equitable Life Building was the first office building to feature passenger elevators, and at a record upon construction, was among the world's first skyscrapers. The building was expanded numerous times, including in 1875 and in 1887. Equitable assumed control of all properties on the block by 1906. By the 1890s, the Equitable Life Building was architecturally outdated, and George B. Post prepared plans for a 40-story structure in 1897, which did not proceed.