We Will Never Forget
9/11 Tribute and World Trade Center Artifact
At 8:46 AM EST on September 11, 2001, hijackers deliberately crashed American Airlines Flight 11, carrying 87 passengers and crew members, into floors 94-98 of the North Tower of the World Trade Center. Since that tragic day, pieces from the twin towers have been extracted, preserved and cataloged, to be distributed to cities around the country. The Fort Worth Museum of Science and History was bestowed the honor of being the caretaker of one of these historic artifacts.
At the center of the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History’s 9/11 Tribute Exhibit is N-101, a full-façade panel that supported three floors (101-103) two stories above the center of the impact zone of the North Tower. The beam is comprised of three steel columns, bolted together, three stories tall and is the largest World Trade Center artifact in Texas.
Officially known as "WTC 1, Column 133, floors 100-103 NIST Steel # N-101, Impact Steel", it is one of the few recovered pieces traced to an exact location within the tower by the National Institute of Standards and Technology.
N-101 is installed in a vertical orientation, just as it was positioned in the exterior structural frame of the North Tower immediately above the impact zone. The artifact weighs approximately 4 tons and measures 36 feet high by 6 feet wide by 3 feet thick.
The 9/11 Tribute Exhibit is installed in the Museum’s Urban Lantern and is free to the public. It is presented in partnership with the City of Fort Worth, as a national responsibility and obligation to our public to educate, inform and remember the gravity of this event.
About the Artifact
- In 2010, Museum President Van A. Romans and former Fort Worth Mayor Mike Moncrief sent in a request to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey to be selected to receive a piece of the fallen twin towers.
- The artifact arrived at the Museum in February 2011.
- BNSF Logistics handled the delivery of the massive steel beam from New York City to Fort Worth free of charge to the Museum.
- The artifact is comprised of a large 3-column, 3-story full-façade panel from floors 101, 102, and 103—just two floors above the center of impact. It is one of the few recovered pieces the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has been able to trace to its exact locations on the structure.
- The artifact is a full-façade panel measuring 36 feet tall x 6 feet wide x 3 feet thick.
- The artifact weighs approximately 4 tons.
- The steel is .5 inch thick.
- 70 other structural pieces from the site have been assigned to Texas, but the artifact given to the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History is the largest in Texas. The George W. Bush Library’s artifact is 22 feet tall by 6 feet wide.
- Bennet, Benner & Partner is the architectural designer for the Museum’s permanent tribute where the artifact is installed.
9/11 TRIBUTE EXHIBITION MADE POSSIBLE BY THESE GENEROUS SPONSORS
City of Fort Worth | Crystelle Waggoner Charitable Trust – Bank of America, Trustee | William E. Scott Foundation | Austin Commercial | Bennett Benner Partners | BNSF Railway | Hanson Trucking | Intsel Steel Distributors, LLC |NCM Demolition & Remediation, LP | Port Authority of New York/New Jersey
9/11 Moment of Silence 2020
In remembrance of the terror attacks that occurred on September 11, 2001, the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History hosted a moment of silence in their atrium on Friday, September 11. The brief ceremony included remarks from Fort Worth Mayor Betsy Price and chiefs of the Fort Worth Fire and Police Departments and concluded with a moment of silence. The event was streamed live and is available to watch here.
