The First Skyscraper
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Fast Facts about the First Skyscraper for kids: Fact Sheet
Fast, fun facts about the First Skyscraper for kids:
Name: The Home
Insurance Building
Location: Chicago,
Illinois, United States of America
Name of the Designer and Architect: William
Le Baron Jenney (1832-1907)
Date the first Skyscraper was completed:
1884
Original Height of the First Skyscraper was
138 ft (42 m)
Number of Storeys:
Ten-storey construction
Floors added: Two additional floors were
added in 1890
Extended height: 180 feet (54.9 meters)
Date the First Skyscraper was Demolished:
1931
Name of Building now on the site: The Bank
of America Building
Picture of the First Skyscraper: The picture
shows the 12-storey construction and the
photo was taken in the early 1900's and
shows the cars of that era.
The
First Skyscraper Fact Sheet for kids
Interesting, fun First Skyscraper Facts for kids are detailed below. The
history of the building of the First Skyscraper is told in
a factual sequence consisting of a series of unusual short facts
providing a simple method of relating the famous people and events
and the construction of the First Skyscraper.
First
Skyscraper Facts for kids
First Skyscraper Fact 1:
In 1871 the
Great Chicago Fire
devastated the 'Windy City'
destroying $200
million dollars worth of property
and making over 100,000 people
homeless
First Skyscraper Fact 2:
Following the terrible disaster, the
city of Chicago embarked on a building frenzy to
re-build their metropolis. The construction materials
were no longer wood. The buildings were made of stone,
brick iron and a new material called steel.
First Skyscraper Fact 3:
Steel: The
Bessemer
Process was invented by Henry
Bessemer in 1856 that created steel from iron.
The Bessemer process was improved in 1876 by Sidney
Gilchrist Thomas which produced steel cheaply and
efficiently.
First Skyscraper Fact
4: In the fall of 1883 William Jenney
won a competition held by the Home Insurance Company in
New York for a new building in Chicago
First Skyscraper Fact
5: Steel: The cheap production of steel
opened up the possibilities of a new style of
architecture using steel beams. William Jenney used
metal columns and beams, instead of stone and brick, to
support the upper levels of the building. He was the
first to incorporate steel as a structural material.
First Skyscraper Fact
6: The design of the Home Insurance
Building in Chicago revolutionized architecture and
enabled the architect William Le Baron Jenney to create
an enormously tall steel frame building which became
known as the "skyscraper"
First Skyscraper Fact
7: Engineers and Architects had
encountered numerous problems with tall buildings. Brick
could not bear the weight of buildings higher than five
or six stories.
● As a building grew in height
it became thicker, darker, and less attractive to
prospective tenants
● Taller buildings needed
stronger walls
● Walls were made stronger by
making them thicker
● Thicker walls left less space
for windows
● Fewer windows caused problems
with ventilation
● William Jenney solved the
problem of building practical, tall buildings with
his innovative design
First Skyscraper Fact
8: The diagram shows
the internal structure and connections
● The skeleton
frame of steel was bolted together in unitary
structure, by joining together standardized units to
form larger compositions
● The floors were all carried
on the steel frame
● The vertical
columns were erected upon a very firm foundation
● Horizontal
beams and girders were bolted on the floor levels
and kept in place by tie rods
● Hollow
fireproof tiles to formed the floor
● The outer
masonry walls were built around the steel skeleton
frame
First Skyscraper Fact
9: There were many advantages to the
new, innovative design in construction:
● The new design
in architecture, using steel, enabled the vertical
extension of buildings to a greater number of
stories
● The
ever-increasing price of city lots made this type of
building highly desirable and cost effective
● The style
avoided loss of interior space
● Steel helped
to make buildings fireproof
First Skyscraper Fact
10: The architectural design of tall
building was made possible by the use of electricity:
● In 1852 Elisha Otis had invented the first safety
brake for elevators which made it practical to build
buildings of 5 storeys. Then the electric elevator
was invented in the 1880's which was smaller and
more practical for taller buildings
● Early ventilation systems
used electric fans to move air through ducts
● Electric pumps were used in
plumbing to provide pressure to circulate water
First Skyscraper Fact 11:
The Home Insurance Building building
was extended by two storeys in 1890.
First Skyscraper Fact 12:
The viability of the skyscraper was
due to the invention of the elevator, the use of steel
skeletal structures and the boom in office work by the
1890s.
First Skyscraper Fact 13:
The first skyscraper in New York was
the Tacoma Building on lower Broadway that was built in
1899 by George Fuller (1851-1900)
First Skyscraper Fact 14:
The Home Insurance Building was
demolished in 1931 to make way for another skyscraper,
originally called the Field Building and is now known as
the Bank of America Building.
First
Skyscraper Facts for kids
First Skyscraper - President Chester Arthur Video
The article on the First Skyscraper provides detailed facts and a summary of one of the important events during his presidential term in office. The following
Chester Arthur video will
give you additional important facts and dates about the political events experienced by the 21st American President whose presidency spanned from September 19, 1881 to March 4, 1885.
First Skyscraper
●
Interesting Facts about First Skyscraper for kids and schools
● Construction
of the First Skyscraper in America
●
The construction of the First Skyscraper, a major
event in US history
●
Chester Arthur Presidency September 19, 1881 to March 4, 1885
●
Fast, fun, interesting
facts
about the First Skyscraper construction
●
First Skyscraper in America
●
Chester Arthur Presidency and
facts about the First Skyscraper for schools,
homework, kids and children |
