''10 That Changed America'' is a series of television

documentary film A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...

s about the history of

architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and construction, constructi ...

and

urban planning Urban planning (also called city planning in some contexts) is the process of developing and designing land use and the built environment, including air, water, and the infrastructure passing into and out of urban areas, such as transportatio ...

produced by US public service broadcaster

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

member station

WTTW WTTW (channel 11) is a PBS member television station in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Owned by not-for-profit broadcaster Window to the World Communications, Inc., it is sister to commercial classical music radio station WFMT (98.7 FM). ...

from 2013 to 2018. The series is presented by

Geoffrey Baer Geoffrey Baer is an American television personality, writer, and producer best known for hosting the '' 10 That Changed America'' series, the ''Chicago By Boat'' architecture series, and other television programs produced by WTTW in Chicago fo ...

and produced by Dan Protess. The series comprises seven separate films, each approximately 55 minutes in length. The initial episode on ''10 Buildings That Changed America'' was broadcast in 2013. A three part season 1 comprising episodes on ''10 Homes'', ''10 Towns'' and ''10 Parks'' followed in 2016. Season 2 with three further episodes covering ''10 Streets'', ''10 Monuments'' and ''10 Modern Marvels'' aired in July 2018.

''10 Buildings That Changed America''

''10 Homes That Changed America''

''10 Towns That Changed America''

''10 Parks That Changed America''

''10 Streets That Changed America''

The chosen streets, in rough chronological order of establishment, were New York City's

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street ** Broadway Theatre (53rd Stre ...

, the

Boston Post Road The Boston Post Road was a system of mail-delivery routes between New York City and Boston, Massachusetts, that evolved into one of the first major highways in the United States. The three major alignments were the Lower Post Road (now U.S. Ro ...

linking Boston, MA to New York, NY, St. Charles Avenue in New Orleans, LA, the

National Road The National Road (also known as the Cumberland Road) was the first major improved highway in the United States built by the federal government. Built between 1811 and 1837, the road connected the Potomac and Ohio Rivers and was a main tran ...

linking Cumberland, MD to Vandalia, IL, Brooklyn's

Eastern Parkway Eastern Parkway is a major east–west boulevard in the borough (New York City), New York City borough of Brooklyn. Designed by Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux, it was built between 1870 and 1874 and has been credited as the world's fir ...

in New York City,

Woodward Avenue A woodward is a Game warden, warden of a wood. Woodward may also refer to: Places ;United States * Woodward, Iowa * Woodward, Oklahoma * Woodward, Pennsylvania, a census-designated place * Woodward Avenue, a street in Tallahassee, Florida, which b ...

in Detroit, MI, the

Lincoln Highway The Lincoln Highway is one of the first transcontinental highways in the United States and one of the first highways designed expressly for automobiles. Conceived in 1912 by Indiana entrepreneur Carl G. Fisher, and formally dedicated Octob ...

from New York, NY to San Francisco, CA, Greenwood Avenue in Tulsa, OK,

Wilshire Boulevard Wilshire Boulevard ( wɪɫ.ʃɚ is a prominent boulevard in the Los Angeles area of Southern California, extending from Ocean Avenue (Santa Monica), Ocean Avenue in the city of Santa Monica, California, Santa Monica east to Grand Avenue (Lo ...

in Los Angeles, CA, and the

Kalamazoo Mall The Kalamazoo Mall, the first outdoor pedestrian shopping mall in the United States, is a section of Burdick Street in downtown Kalamazoo, Michigan. Built for $60,000 and opened in 1959, the pedestrian mall became the first of several hundred ...

outdoor pedestrian shopping mall at Kalamazoo, MI.

''10 Monuments That Changed America''

The chosen monuments were the

Bunker Hill Monument The Bunker Hill Monument is a monument erected at the site of the Battle of Bunker Hill in Boston, Massachusetts, which was among the first major battles between the United Colonies and the British Empire in the American Revolutionary War. The 2 ...

at Boston, MA (1843), the Statue of Liberty (1886), Standing Soldiers monuments to Civil War dead (post 1865), the Robert Gould Shaw/54th Regiment Memorial at Boston, MA (1897), the

Lincoln Memorial The Lincoln Memorial is a List of national memorials of the United States, U.S. national memorial honoring Abraham Lincoln, the List of presidents of the United States, 16th president of the United States, located on the western end of the Nati ...

at Washington, DC (1922),

Mount Rushmore The Mount Rushmore National Memorial is a National Memorial (United States), national memorial centered on a colossal sculpture carved into the granite face of Mount Rushmore (, or Six Grandfathers) in the Black Hills near Keystone, South Dak ...

(1941), the

Gateway Arch The Gateway Arch is a monument in St. Louis, Missouri, United States. Clad in stainless steel and built in the form of a weighted catenary Catenary arch, arch, it is the world's tallest arch and List of tallest buildings in Missouri, Missouri's ...

at St. Louis, MO (1965), the

Vietnam Veterans Memorial The Vietnam Veterans Memorial, commonly called the Vietnam Memorial, is a U.S. national memorial in Washington, D.C., honoring service members of the U.S. armed forces who served in the Vietnam War. The site is dominated by two black granit ...

at Washington, DC (1982), the

AIDS Memorial Quilt The NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt, often abbreviated to AIDS Memorial Quilt or AIDS Quilt, is a memorial to celebrate the lives of people who have died of AIDS-related causes. Weighing an estimated 54 tons, it is the largest piece of communit ...

(1987), and the Oklahoma City National Memorial at Oklahoma City, OK (2000).

''10 Modern Marvels That Changed America''

The civil engineering feats were the

Erie Canal The Erie Canal is a historic canal in upstate New York that runs east–west between the Hudson River and Lake Erie. Completed in 1825, the canal was the first navigability, navigable waterway connecting the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes, ...

(1825), the John A. Roebling Suspension Bridge across the Ohio River at Cincinnati, OH (1866), the

Transcontinental Railroad A transcontinental railroad or transcontinental railway is contiguous rail transport, railroad trackage that crosses a continent, continental land mass and has terminals at different oceans or continental borders. Such networks may be via the Ra ...

(1869), the

Eads Bridge The Eads Bridge is a combined road and railway bridge over the Mississippi River connecting the cities of St. Louis, Missouri, and East St. Louis, Illinois. It is located on the St. Louis riverfront between Laclede's Landing, St. Louis, Lacled ...

across the Mississippi River at St. Louis, MO (1874), the Reversal of the Chicago River (1900), the

Holland Tunnel The Holland Tunnel is a vehicular tunnel under the Hudson River that connects Hudson Square and Lower Manhattan in New York City in the east to Jersey City, New Jersey, in the west. The tunnel is operated by the Port Authority of New York an ...

under the Hudson River connecting New York, NY to Jersey City, NJ (1927), the

Hoover Dam The Hoover Dam is a concrete arch-gravity dam in the Black Canyon of the Colorado, Black Canyon of the Colorado River (U.S.), Colorado River, on the border between the U.S. states of Nevada and Arizona. Constructed between 1931 and 1936, d ...

(1936), the

Colorado River Aqueduct The Colorado River Aqueduct, or CRA, is a water conveyance in Southern California in the United States, operated by the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California. The aqueduct impounds water from the Colorado River at Lake Havasu on ...

(1935), the

Interstate Highway System The Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways, commonly known as the Interstate Highway System, or the Eisenhower Interstate System, is a network of controlled-access highways that forms part of the National Hi ...

(1956), and New Orleans' Hurricane and Storm Damage Risk Reduction System (2005)

Critical response

The initial episode on ''10 Buildings That Changed America'' received mixed reviews from architecture critics. It was recognised as achieving the goal to "explain complex battles over architectural ideas, in clear language, to a broad audience". However, it was also criticised as lacking substance and failing to address "the historical, social and economic impact of these 10 buildings". The

Minneapolis Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...

Star Tribune ''The Minnesota Star Tribune'', formerly the ''Minneapolis Star Tribune'', is an American daily newspaper based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. As of 2023, it is Minnesota's largest newspaper and the List of newspapers in the United States, seventh- ...

'' highlighted the series 1 episode covering ''10 Homes That Changed America'' for informativeness on "influential homes that transformed residential living".Palmer, Kim
"Worth watching"
''

'',

, 2 Apr 2016. Retrieved on 2 July 2018.

References

{{Reflist

External links

Official PBS series page

Official WTTW series page

10 Buildings That Changed America on Internet Movie Database

10 Homes That Changed America on Internet Movie Database

10 Towns That Changed America on Internet Movie Database

10 Parks That Changed America on Internet Movie Database
Television series by WTTW 2016 television specials Television series about the history of the United States