9/11: Memory Remains

9/11 Footage

Photograph by Francesc Torres

9/11, as seen live on television in Barcelona, Spain. Photographed at roughly 3 p.m. local time by Maria Iturrioz de Torres, Francesc Torres’s mother, while they spoke by phone.

Subway Panels

Photograph by Francesc Torres

These three panels, offering a view of the Statue of Liberty from 1977, were salvaged from the Cortlandt Street subway station under the World Trade Center. The spray-painted markings indicate that the area nearby had been searched by rescue workers for survivors or victims.

Steel Beams

Photograph by Francesc Torres

It took nine months to clear the World Trade Center site of 1.8 million tons of rubble and debris. A tiny fraction of that material was selected for possible use in a future museum and kept at Hangar 17 at John F. Kennedy International Airport, which had been empty since the bankruptcy of Tower Airlines in 2000. Eventually, more than 1,200 pieces of steel, as well as other objects, filled the 80,000 square feet of Hangar 17.

Twisted Steel

Photograph by Francesc Torres

The Port Authority inventory calls this twisted object a “steel train rail,” but no rails were found to be missing from any of the train lines around the WTC. Speculation that it might be an elevator car railing has not been confirmed. More recently, a story emerged that old train tracks had been used to fortify the roof of one of the buildings in the WTC complex.

FDNY Fire Truck

Photograph by Francesc Torres

One of the many Fire Department, City of New York (FDNY) trucks used on September 11. This truck belonged to FDNY Squad 270.

Yellow Cab

Photograph by Francesc Torres

Though most of the vehicles at Hangar 17 came from first responders, this taxi, an emblem of daily life in New York, was also preserved.

The Last Column

Photograph by Francesc Torres

The Last Column was the final piece of structural steel to be removed from the twin towers site on May 30, 2002. After the remains of three of their colleagues were found near the column in March 2002, members of FDNY Squad 41 spray-painted “SQ 41” on the beam, as a marker to continue the search for the remains of three other colleagues. Eventually, all the remains were found.

The Composite

Photograph by Francesc Torres

Formed during the collapse of the towers, and then months of exposure to high-heat fires, this object has come to be known as the composite. Weighing between 12 and 15 tons, it holds the compressed remnants of four stories of one of the towers. It is just over four feet high.

Broadcast Antenna

Photograph by Francesc Torres

View through a portion of the broadcast antenna that fell from the top of the north tower. A number of fragments of the 360-foot antenna were kept at Hangar 17.

Papers and Files

Photograph by Francesc Torres

Papers and files removed from the concourse shops at ground zero. With over 60 shops, the World Trade Center concourse mall held 427,000 square feet of retail space. It was located one story below street level.

WTC Jacket

Photograph by Francesc Torres

This jacket and other articles of clothing were taken out of a dumpster that had been filled with construction rubble and brought to Hangar 17. As the dumpster was slowly emptied, conservators found tattered clothing mixed in with rebar and concrete. No owners have been identified for any of these pieces.

Charred Ambulance

Photograph by Francesc Torres

Close-up image of the charred letters on the side of an ambulance destroyed on 9/11.

Memory Remains is available for purchase at the National Geographic Store.