The Manhattan Building is a 16-story building at 431 South Dearborn Street in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

, Illinois. It was designed by architect

William Le Baron Jenney William Le Baron Jenney (September 25, 1832 – June 14, 1907) was an American architect and engineer known for building the first skyscraper in 1884. In 1998, Jenney was ranked number 89 in the book ''1,000 Years, 1,000 People: Ranking th ...

and constructed from 1889 to 1891. It is the oldest surviving

skyscraper A skyscraper is a tall continuously habitable building having multiple floors. Most modern sources define skyscrapers as being at least or in height, though there is no universally accepted definition, other than being very tall high-rise bui ...

in the world to use a purely skeletal supporting structure.' Emporis Buildings (URL accessed 9 July 2006
Manhattan Building, 431 South Dearborn Street, Chicago, Cook County, IL.
' American Memory from the Library of Congress (URL accessed 9 July 2006). It is the sixth oldest surviving building in the city. The building was the first home of the

Paymaster Corporation Paymaster Corporation was a Chicago-based company that manufactured and sold the Paymaster mechanical check writers, which could be found at post office branches, financial institutions, and small businesses in North America throughout the twent ...

, and is listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

on March 16, 1976, and designated a

Chicago Landmark Chicago Landmark is a designation by the Mayor and the City Council of Chicago for historic sites in Chicago, Illinois. Listed sites are selected after meeting a combination of criteria, including historical, economic, architectural, artist ...

on July 7, 1978.

Architecture

The distinctive bow windows provide light into the building's interior spaces, and the combination of a granite facade for the lower floors and brick facade for the upper stories helps lighten the load placed on the internal steel framework. The north and south walls of tile are supported on steel cantilevers that carry the load back to the internal supporting structure. The versatility and strength of metal frame construction made the skyscraper possible, as evidenced by this structure, which reached the then-astounding height of 16 stories in 1891. The first to ever do so in America. Its architect, William LeBaron Jenney, was a pioneer in the development of tall buildings.

Gallery

File:South Dearborn Street 060409.jpg, The Manhattan Building anchors an impressive row of historic skyscrapers along South Dearborn Street File:2018-02-25 7356x4904 chicago manhattan building.jpg, Looking South along South Dearborn Street File:Manhattan Building, Chicago, IL, USA, window detail.jpg, Facade Detail File:Manhattan Building, Chicago, IL, USA, window detail (a).jpg, Window Detail File:Manhattan Building, Chicago, IL, USA, window detail (b).jpg, Window Detail

References

{{Registered Historic Places Chicago school architecture in Illinois Commercial buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Chicago Residential skyscrapers in Chicago Residential condominiums in Chicago Commercial buildings completed in 1891 Chicago Landmarks 1891 establishments in Illinois

Architecture

Gallery

See also

References