The Potter Building employed the most advanced fireproofing methods available at the time of construction, due to its predecessor having burned down. This included the use of rolled iron beams, cast iron columns, brick exterior walls – its walls are thick at ground level – as well as tile arches and terracotta. All of the above-ground floors were built on girders made of rolled iron. Five iron companies provided the material. The fireproofing is insulated by the brick-and-terracotta facade. The Potter Building lot, and the adjoining lot immediately to its north (which was occupied by the New York Times Building at 41 Park Row), was the site of the Old Brick Church of the Brick Presbyterian Church, built in 1767-1768 by John McComb Sr. During the late 19th century, the surrounding area grew into a "Newspaper Row", with the construction of several newspaper headquarters on Park Row. Meanwhile, printing was centered around Beekman Street. When the Brick Presbyterian Church congregation moved uptown to Murray Hill in 1857, Orlando B. Potter purchased the southern half of the Old Brick Church lot. Potter erected a five-story Italianate stone building on the lot for $350,000; it became the first headquarters of the "New York World", which was established in 1860. Potter purchased the building outright in 1867. A fire broke out in the "World" building around 10:00 p.m. on January 31, 1882, supposedly because of a draft of wind from the nearby Temple Court Building. The fire destroyed much of the block within a few hours, causing more than $400,000 in damage. The fire ultimately killed six people, and it took a week to investigate the wreckage. The "World" building was said to have "made itself notorious the country over for burning up in the shortest time on record". Nevertheless, the "Real Estate Record and Guide" said less than a week after the fire, "the ground is so valuable that it will no doubt be immediately built upon". Potter sought to replace the burned-down edifice with a fireproof structure, having incurred more than $200,000 of losses in addition to loss of income. By mid-February 1882, Potter was planning to construct an 11-story building at the site of the old "World" building, which he specified should be fireproof. In 1883, Starkweather presented plans for the structure, of which the first two stories would have an iron facade and the remainder would have a brick facade.