The Home Insurance Building, considered the first skyscraper, was completed in 1885.
Designed by Chicago architect William Le Baron Jenney, the building introduced an influential iron-and-steel skeleton frame that carried much of the structure’s weight. This allowed its exterior walls to be lighter than the thick masonry walls used in earlier tall buildings.
The building originally stood 10 stories and about 138 feet tall. Two additional floors were added in 1891, raising it to 12 stories and approximately 180 feet. It was built for the Home Insurance Company in Chicago’s rapidly developing business district.
“First skyscraper” is a widely used description, but not an uncontested absolute. Earlier buildings used iron framing or reached notable heights, and the word skyscraper had no universally fixed technical definition at the time. The Home Insurance Building is remembered because its structural system helped establish the modern skyscraper, and it remained in Chicago until its demolition in 1931.