A century after the Titanic sank, the legacy of the ship's wealthiest and most famous passenger lives on quietly at the luxury hotel he built in New York City.

John Jacob Astor IV (seen here), who was one of the richest men in America, went down with the ship in 1912 after helping his pregnant wife escape into the last lifeboat.

But at the St. Regis, one of Manhattan's oldest luxury hotels, the aristocratic sensibilities of the Gilded Age remain intact.

Butlers in white ties and black tailcoats still roam the hallways.

The lobby, with its frescoed ceiling and elaborate marble staircase, has not been altered since Astor died.

And the thousands of leather-bound books that he collected have been preserved on the same bookshelves for 100 years.

Text: Meghan Barr, Associated Press

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