This is part four of a four part series of pre-war building lists. The other three are headed by
a listing of the skyscrapers in the largest American cities , while separate lists on New York and Chicago are linked from that page.
As an exhibit of 1950, I have collected pictures of the tallest buildings from each of the largest cities, ordered by 1950 population. The figures can be found at
the Census Bureau.
This section covers the cities below the top 12. Why split at 12? The top 12 cities were all major regional centers, and by the end of the decade, all 12 would have baseball teams (much like how cities today point to pro teams with civic pride). The main reason is my computer was getting fussy with the file size and for more cities to be added, a split had to made. Since #12 Pittsburgh has a large skyline compared to its immediate followers, that seemed as good a place as any for a split.
So here we go:
#13, Milwaukee, 637,392
1) Milwaukee City Hall, 353 ft to roof, 1895
(greatdreams.com)
2) Wisconsin Tower, 280 ft to spire, 1930
Now the 606 Building
(milwaukeecondoman.com)
3) Hilton Milwaukee City Center, 274 ft to roof, 1927
(aafcs.org)
#14, Houston, 596,163
1) Gulf Building, 428 ft, 1929
Now the JPMorgan Chase Building
(texasescapes.com)
2) Niels Esperson Building, 410 ft, 1927
(Houston Chronicle)
3) Magnolia Hotel, 325 ft, 1926
(elitelocations.org)
4) Sterling Building, 312 ft, 1931
Today the 608 Texas Tower
(houstondeco.org)
5) Commerce Towers, 306 ft, 1929
(houstonluxuryhighrises.com)
#15. Buffalo, 580,132 (historical high)
1) Buffalo City Hall, 378 ft, 1931
(thelongfirm.com)
2) Rand Building, 351 ft to the roof, 1929
(Flickr)
3) Liberty Building, 333 ft to statue top, 1925
(Flickr)
4) Niagara Mohawk Building, 295 ft, 1912
(kindredroots.com)
5) Central Terminal, 271 ft, 1929
(new-york-pictures.org)
#16. New Orleans, 570,445
1) Hibernia Bank Building, 355 ft, 1921
(Flickr)
2) National American Bank Building, 330 ft, 1929
(Waymarking.com)
3) Charity Hospital, 279 ft, 1939
(e-architect.co.uk)
#17. Minneapolis, 521,718 (historical high)
1) Foshay Tower, 447 ft to roof, 1929
(stcloudwindow.com)
2) Northwestern Bell Building, 416 ft, 1932
Now the Qwest Building
(archiseek.com)
3) Minneapolis City Hall, 341 ft, 1906
(Flickr)
4) Rand Building, 311 ft, 1929
(larrymillett.com)
5) Medical Arts Building, 266 ft, 1930
(Flickr)
#18. Cincinnati, 503,998 (historical high)
1) Carew Tower, 574 ft to roof, 1930
(igougo.com)
2) Central Trust Bank Building, 495 ft, 1913
Now the PNC Tower
(Flickr)
3) Hilton Netherland Plaza, 372 ft, 1931
(nssga.org)
4) Carew-Netherland Parking Garage, 341 ft, 1927
Demolished in the late 1980s, no pictures found
5) Cinergy Building, 272 ft, 1929
(Flickr)
6) Crowne Plaza Cincinnati, 272 ft, 1949
(Emporis)
#19. Seattle, 467,591
1) Smith Tower, 489 ft to spire, 1914
(Flickr)
2) Seattle Tower, 350 ft to spire, 1929
(City of Seattle)
3) Washington Athletic Club, 285 ft, 1930
(Flickr)
4) Exchange Building, 273 ft, 1930
5) Medical Dental Building, 249 ft, 1925
(yelp.com)
#20. Kansas City, 456,622
1) Kansas City Power & Light Building, 476 ft, 1931
(Wikimedia)
2) Fidelity National Bank & Trust Building, 471 ft, 1931
Now 909 Walnut Tower
(kc-lofts.com)
3) Kansas City City Hall, 443 ft, 1937
(city-data.com)
4) Southwestern Bell Building, 379 ft, 1929
Now Oak Tower
(Wikimedia)
5) Bryant Building, 352 ft, 1931
(ctcwi.com)
6) Federal Reserve Building, 298 ft, 1921
(Wikimedia)
7) Jackson County Courthouse, 295 ft, 1934
(Wikimedia)
8) Mark Twain Tower, 284 ft, 1923
(Wikimedia)
#21. Newark, 438,776
1) National Newark Building, 465 ft, 1931
(tinypic)
2) Lefcourt Building, 448 ft, 1930
Now converted to residences as Eleven80
3) American Insurance Company Building, 325 ft, 1930
(Flickr)
4) Prudential Building, 299 ft, 1942
(Emporis)
5) Gibraltar Building, 269 ft, 1927
Now known as 153 Halsey Street
(Emporis)
#22. Dallas, 434,462
Dallas is a unique city in this list. Most cities built a new tallest around 1930 and did not build taller until around 1970, a forty year gap. Dallas however built new tallest buildings in 1942, 1954, 1959, 1964, and 1965! While only the first one makes this list, Dallas' changing skyline is remarkable in an era when skylines seemed frozen in time.
1) Mercantile National Bank Building, 523 ft to spire, 1943
(essential-architecture.com)
2) Magnolia Hotel, 493 ft to red Pegasus sign, 1923
(Wikimedia)
3) Davis Building, 322 ft, 1926
(Dallas Downtown Lofts)
4) Tower Petroleum Building, 315 ft, 1931
(fbi.gov)
5) Adolphus Hotel, 312 ft, 1912
(georgeandlesley.com)
#23. Indianapolis, 427,173
Note: The SBC Building did not reach its current height until the 1960s.
1) Indiana State House, 255 ft, 1888
(Flickr)
2) Barnes & Thornburg Building, 246 ft, 1909
(Emporis)
3) Fletcher Trust Building, 218 ft, 1915
Now the Hilton Garden Inn
(travelnow.com)
#24. Denver, 415,786
1) Daniels & Fisher Tower, 325 ft, 1910
The store was demolished in 1971
(brokersguildhomes.com)
2) Mountain States Telephone Company Building, 312 ft, 1929
Now the AT&T Building
(Doug Loudenback, Photobucket)
3) Colorado State Capitol, 272 ft, 1908
(State of Colorado)
#25. San Antonio, 408,442
1) Tower Life Building, 404 ft to roof, 1929
(TripAdvisor)
2) Nix Professional Building, 375 ft, 1931
(photohome.com)
3) Milam Building, 280 ft, 1928
(Flickr)
4) Bank One Building, 279 ft, 1929
Now Drury Plaza Hotel
(tripadvisor.com)[IMG]
Linear Mode
