Constructed for the 1964 World’s Fair, the Panorama of the City of New York exhibit at the Queens Museum shows the entire sprawling city in miniature. 

The Panorama was built by a team of people working for the great architectural model makers Raymond Lester & Associates over the course of three years. Around 100 prolific artisans built an incredibly realistic model of all five boroughs in New York City. 

Slight changes to this miniature city have been made over time in order to preserve its architectural integrity, and in the 1990s the panorama was modified and brought up-to-date. The model now contains 895,000 individual structures, including every building in the city as of 1992.

This post is promoted in partnership with NYC & Company, the official destination marketing organization for the five boroughs of New York City. Head here to discover more secrets of NYC.