Grand Central Terminal: 100 years - DC Breaking Local News Weather Sports FOX 5 WTTG

Grand Central Terminal: 100 years

Opened in 1913, Grand Central Terminal is celebrating its centennial this year.

In the terminal's information booth, jokes come almost as frequently as the 1,000 questions they receive each hour. The booth also has a secret: a covert spiral staircase leading to the lower level.

But that's just one of the gems in the iconic 49-acre terminal that serves 750,000 people a day. 

The terminal was almost knocked down in the 1960s but was saved thanks to Jackie Kennedy Onassis who took the landmark preservation fight all the way to the Supreme Court.

Still, it needed plenty of work. Between 1996 and 1998, a half-billion-dollar restoration project brought Grand Central back to its original splendor. Perhaps one of the most cherished items in the original design was the massive Tiffany clock. 

The historic terminal has also kept with the times. It is home to a state-of-the-art operations control center and a pretty elaborate lost and found.

People who work here say they love this mix of old and new.

The centennial celebration, with music and dancing, starts Friday morning right in the main concourse.