Brick and Mortar: Tallest buildings of each U.S. city, 1950
 

This is part one of a four part series of pre-war building lists. The second part is a continuation of this list to smaller cities . The other two parts in this series, covering New York and Chicago, are linked below each city.

I am a fan of pre-war buildings, their ornamentation, and their seeming sense of solidity next to the glass boxes of more recent decades. I also find old inner cities before suburbanization fascinating, and the year 1950 combines both of these topics. In that year, most cities' skylines were practically identical to 1932/1933, as the building halt from the Depression lingered on. (There were exceptions, notably Boston and Dallas.) The Census of 1950 was the high mark for most of the Northeast and Midwest's industrial metropolises as well. Chicago, Detroit, St. Louis, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Buffalo, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Baltimore, D.C., Rochester, and Boston all had their greatest city limit populations in 1950.

So as an exhibit of that notable year, 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.

I haven't included New York City's tallest. The Big Apple's pre-war skyscrapers IMO are on such another level in terms of height and fame they merit their own post. Also on a separate post are the Chicago skyscrapers due to their number and familiarity.

I love skyscrapers but I'm no expert on them, so if I have made an error feel free to point it out. Also, based on whether you include spires, the ranking of some of the buildings can shift. Personally, my interest in older buildings were sparked by childhood trips to Chicago and St. Louis. I recall being entranced by the old brick giants and their sense of history.

I also have a Canadian list in case the Queen is on your money.

First, a few world leaders in 1950.
POTUS - Harry S Truman
Prime Minister of Canada - Louis St. Laurent
King of Great Britain - George VI
Prime Minister of Great Britain - Clement Atlee
Chancellor of West Germany - Konrad Adenauer
Leader of Spain - Francisco Franco
President of France - Vincent Auriol
Leader of the Soviet Union - Joseph Stalin
Leader of the PR China - Mao Zedong
Prime Minister of India - Jawaharlal Nehru

The Cities:

#1. Of course, New York, with 7,891,957 in the five boroughs. New York also had the tallest buildings, but we all know that. ;)

Here is the list of New York's skyscrapers.

#2. Chicago, 3,620,962 (historical high)

Here is Chicago's list.

#3. Philadelphia, 2,071,605 (historical high)

1) Philadelphia City Hall, 548 ft, 1901
Billy Penn is a little over halfway through the Gentlemen’s Agreement.
http://www.philadelphia-reflections....-city-hall.jpg
(Philadelphia Reflections)

2) PSFS Building, 492 ft, 1932
The first International Style skyscraper in the States, and a sign of buildings to come...
http://phillyskyline.com/bldgs/psfs/psfs1_mummers.jpg
(Phillyskyline.com)

3) Pennsylvania National Bank Building, 482 ft, 1932
http://ec2-174-129-112-117.compute-1...th%20Broad.jpg
(Thatroof.com)

4) Fidelity-Philadelphia Trust Company Building, 405 ft, 1927
Today known as the Wachovia Building
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/188/4...e51625.jpg?v=0
(Flickr)

5) Girard Trust Building, 394 ft, 1930
Today the Ritz-Carlton Philadelphia
http://www.skyscrapersunset.com/skys.../041227/26.jpg
(skyscrapersunset.com)

6) Lewis Tower, 389 ft, 1929
Today a condo tower named Aria
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...iladelphia.JPG
(Wikimedia)

7) The Drake, 375 ft, 1929
http://pics4.city-data.com/cpicc/cfiles6459.jpg
(city-data.com)

8) Medical Tower, 364 ft, 1931
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1080/...06958e.jpg?v=0
(Flickr)

9) Market Street National Bank Building, 347 ft, 1930
Now Residence Inn Philadelphia Center City
http://image.pegs.com/content/H/H12/...Iext0124_j.jpg
(pegs.com)

10) Land Title & Trust Block, 345 ft, 1902
http://www.skyscrapersunset.com/skys.../050101/16.jpg
(skyscrapersunset.com)

#4. Los Angeles, 1,970,358
L.A. is the only city in 1950’s top ten not in the Northeast or Midwest! The Sun Belt’s boom was just starting…

1) Los Angeles City Hall, 454 ft, 1927
http://www.inetours.com/Los_Angeles/..._Hall_7371.jpg
(inetours.com)

2) LAC/USC Medical Center, 1933
http://www.usc.edu/hsc/pharmacy/pd_l...ncy/lacusc.gif
(USC)

3) Richfield Tower, 1929
This building was demolished in 1969, sparking a local preservation movement.
http://college.usc.edu/geography/pri...town/rich2.gif
(USC)

4) Eastern Columbia Building, 264 ft, 1930
http://www.you-are-here.com/broadway...n_columbia.jpg
(you-are-here.com)

5) U.S. Post Office & Court House, 256 ft, 1940
http://www.you-are-here.com/los_angeles/court_house.jpg
(you-are-here.com)

#5. Detroit, 1,849,568 (historical high)

1) Penobscot Building, 565 ft to the roof, 1928
http://detroitbankruptcylawyer.com/Penob0%5B1%5D.jpg
(detroitbankruptcylawyer.com)

2) Guardian Building, 495 ft, 1929
http://www.johnmars.com/images/detro...anbuilding.jpg
(johnmars.com)

3) Book Tower, 475 ft, 1926
http://www.downriverdetroit.net/wayn.../booktower.jpg
(downriverdetroit.net)

4) Fisher Building, 444 ft to spire, 1928
http://www.detroit-travel-guide.com/...r-building.jpg
(Detroit Travel Guide)

5) J.L. Hudson Department Store, 439 ft, 1927
Demolished in 1998
http://www.detroityes.com/downtown/09hudsons.jpg
(Detroityes.com)

6) Cadillac Tower, 438 ft to roof, 1927
http://www.downriverdetroit.net/wayn...illactower.jpg
(downriverdetroit.net)

7) David Stott Building, 437 ft, 1929
http://www.detroit-travel-guide.com/...-building2.jpg
(Detroit Travel Guide)

8) David Broderick Tower, 369 ft, 1928
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/148/4...f5d7a34dca.jpg
(Flickr)

9) Buhl Building, 366 ft, 1925
http://www.semcog.org/assets/0/188/2...40b656cfa3.jpg
(semcog.org)

10) Book-Cadillac Hotel, 349 ft, 1924
http://aktpeerless.sitewizard.biz/cu...okCadillac.jpg
(sitewizard.biz)

#6. Baltimore, 949,708 (historical high)

1) Baltimore Trust Company Building, 509 ft, 1924
Now the Bank of America Building
http://www.beyonddc.com/images/photo...famerica02.jpg
(Beyonddc.com)

2) Tower Building, 330 ft, 1912
Demolished in the 1980s
http://www.kilduffs.com/building_37_...uilding_PC.jpg
(kilduffs.com)

3) Silo Point, 299 ft, 1923
A modern high rise around a 1920s grain elevator! The picture is the modern complex.
http://www.baltimoregrows.com/wp-con...ilo-point1.jpg
(baltimoregrows.com)

4) Baltimore Gas & Electric Building, 289 ft, 1916
http://www.beyonddc.com/images/photo...ings/bge02.jpg
(beyonddc.com)

5) Emerson Tower, 289 ft, 1911
http://www.spearsvotta.com/projects/...lock_tower.jpg
(spearsvotta.com)

6) Radisson Plaza Hotel, 289 ft, 1928
http://www.fscottfitzgeraldsociety.o...reRadisson.jpg
(F. Scott Fitzgerald Society)

#7. Cleveland, 914,808 (historical high)

1) Terminal Tower, 708 ft to the roof, 1930
The tallest building in the world at the time outside of New York.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...inal_Tower.jpg
(Wikimedia)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...Picture058.jpg
(Photobucket, courtesy of FerrariEnzo)

2) Ohio Bell Building, 364 ft, 1927
Now the AT&T Huron Road
http://www.clevelandskyscrapers.com/...e051909_36.jpg
(clevelandskyscrapers.com)

3) Huntington Bank Building, 289 ft, 1924
http://www.pbase.com/jaybird287/image/126927871.jpg
(pbase.com)

4) Standard Building, 282 ft, 1925
http://www.clevelandskyscrapers.com/...rdbuilding.jpg

5) The Keith Building, 272 feet, 1922
http://www.clevelandskyscrapers.com/...thbuilding.jpg

6) Superior Building, 270 feet, 1922
http://www.clevelandskyscrapers.com/...orfrom1717.jpg

7) Fenn Tower, 265 feet, 1921
http://www.clevelandskyscrapers.com/...d/fenn0908.jpg

8) Landmark Office Towers, 260 ft, 1930
http://www.clevelandskyscrapers.com/...omterminal.jpg

#8. St. Louis, 856,796 (historical high)

1) Southwestern Bell Building, 397 ft, 1926
[IMG]http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3455/...g?v=1232420490 [/IMG]
(Flickr)

2) Civil Courts Building, 386 ft, 1929
http://www.thomaspatrickdeaton.com/Civil-Courts.jpg
(thomaspatrickdeaton.com)

3) Park Plaza, 310 ft, 1930
http://www.roomsinstlouis.com/pics/a...rk-Plaza-1.jpg
(roomsinstlouis.com)

4) Continental Building, 286 ft, 1930
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...uildingSTL.jpg
(Wikimedia)

5) Railway Exchange Building, 277 ft, 1914
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3572/...8b3f6085e5.jpg

#9. Washington, D.C., 802,178 (historical high)

1) Old Post Office Building, 314 ft, 1899
http://b5media_b4.s3.amazonaws.com/2...hington-dc.jpg
(thedctraveler.com)

2) National Cathedral, 301 ft, 1907
http://americanthings.files.wordpres...ressdotcom.jpg
(AmericanThings at WordPress)

3) United States Capitol, 288 ft, 1863
1863 is the year the crowning statue, Freedom, was put in place.
http://www.photohome.com/pictures/wa...uilding-1a.jpg
(photohome.com)

#10. Boston, 801,444 (historical high)

1) Custom House Tower, 496 ft, 1915
http://processwire.com/skyscrapers/s...se-tower-2.jpg
(processwire.com)

2) John Hancock Building, 495 ft, 1947
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/208/4...f3b010.jpg?v=0
(Flickr)

3) Federal Building & Post Office, 345 ft, 1931
http://www.bc.edu/bc_org/avp/cas/fna...h/bostnpo1.jpg
(Boston College)

4) Suffolk County Courthouse, 330 ft, 1939
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1229/...969e361e71.jpg
(Flickr)

5) New England Telephone & Telegraph Building, 298 ft, 1947
http://bostonartdeco.org/_Media/nett_textmedium.jpeg
(bostonartdeco.org)

6) United Shoe Machinery Building, 298 ft, 1930
http://www.bostonpreservation.org/pe...nitedshoe2.jpg
(bostonpreservation.org)

#11. San Francisco, 775,357

1) Russ Building, 435 ft, 1927
http://www.russbuilding.info/images/...rtoc_r3_c4.jpg
(russbuilding.info)

2) PacBell Building, 435 ft, 1925
http://www.silvercreek.wclark.k12.in...0building.jpeg
(wclark.k12.in.us)

3) Shell Building, 378 ft, 1929
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2189/...cee3f38ab7.jpg
(Flickr)

4) 450 Sutter Building, 345 ft, 1929
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...450_Sutter.jpg
(Wikimedia)

5) 225 Bush Street, 328 ft, 1922
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3189/...g?v=1218998442
(Flickr)

6) Sir Francis Drake Hotel, 315 ft, 1928
http://www.alamedainfo.com/Sir_Franc...cisco_PC_1.jpg
(alamedainfo.com)

7) Commercial Union Assurance Building, 308 ft, 1921
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3426/...f5fb609cff.jpg
(Flickr)

http://lh4.ggpht.com/_xOT6vpyKCTM/RV...0/IMG_1187.JPG
(ggpht.com)

8) McAllister Tower, 308 ft, 1929
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/128/3...fa6a9a.jpg?v=0
(Flickr)

9) San Francisco City Hall, 308 ft, 1915
http://blogs.sfweekly.com/thesnitch/...ity%20Hall.jpg
(sfweekly.com)

10) Hunter-Dulin Building, 305 ft, 1927
http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2006-...ing-small2.jpg
(villagephotos.com)

11) The Mark Hopkins Hotel, 305 ft, 1925
http://s2.hubimg.com/u/13589_f260.jpg
(hubimg.com)

#12, Pittsburgh, 676,806 (historical high)

1) Gulf Building, 582 ft, 1932
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2447/...57e6a8581d.jpg
(Flickr)

2) Cathedral of Learning, 535 ft, 1937
http://www.photohome.com/pictures/pe...earning-1a.jpg
(photohome.com)

(UC) US Steel & Mellon Building, 522 ft, 1951
http://www.glasssteelandstone.com/Im...Jul08-006a.jpg
(Glass, Steel, and Stone)

3) Grant Building, 485 ft, 1928
http://glasssteelandstone.com/Images...Jul08-002a.jpg
(Glass, Steel, and Stone)

4) Koppers Building, 475 ft, 1929
http://glasssteelandstone.com/Images...Jul08-010a.jpg
(Glass, Steel, and Stone)

5) First National Bank, 387 ft, 1912
Demolished 1970
http://www.phlf.org/wp-content/uploa...skyscraper.jpg
(phlf.org)

6) Clark Building, 1928
http://www.glasssteelandstone.com/Im...Jul08-002a.jpg
(Glass, Steel, and Stone)

7) The Lawyers Building, 1928
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2267/...6b098b.jpg?v=0
(Flickr)

8) Oliver Building, 347 ft, 1910
http://glasssteelandstone.com/Images...Jul08-002a.jpg
(Glass, Steel, and Stone)

9) Farmers Bank Building, 344 ft, 1902
Demolished in 1997
http://www.usgwarchives.net/pa/alleg...-bank-bldg.jpg
(usgwarchives.net)

10) Bell Telephone Building, 339 ft, 1923
http://www.emporis.com/images/5/2006/04/451857.jpg
(Emporis)

The list continues with more cities: Minneapolis, New Orleans, Cincinnati, Kansas City, Newark and far, far beyond...

Cool list.

Milwaukee's City Hall would remain the tallest building until 1973, when the First Wisconsin Center would open [which remains tallest to this day]. This made City Hall the tallest building in the city for 78 years, certainly one of the longest holders of 'city tallest' in the country. It was also the tallest skyscraper in the world for four years until the Park Row Building in NY was completed in 1899.

Yep, I once went through Emporis' chain of world's tallest buildings and I remember MCH. Off the top of my head, Philadelphia City Hall holds the "tallest for the longest" record at 86 years, while the Carew Tower in Cincy (79 years and counting) is up there too.

Interestingly, Milwaukee's population would increase to the mid 700k range in 1960, but the city area doubled in the 1950s, suggesting suburban annexation helped keep Milwaukee's population from dropping as early on as the other big industrial cities.

Whoohoo! Reliving the glory years of the industrial north! I love it. I feel like those old guys who meet every morning at every mcdonalds to drink their senior coffees and tell stories of how much better this country used to be.


But yeah, it was a golden age of landmark towers for the US. Thanks for including pics of each one.
For Pittsburgh, probably shouldve added the courthouse if you did the one for Buffalo and the post office of Wash DC.

If NYC's many wonderful towers of the era were included, you would have, in this thread, the best collection of beautiful buildings in this entire forum. Let all of these buildings be preserved.

That Cathedral of Learning (Pitts) and Guardian bldg (Det) are just fantastic.

Thanks! I'm glad you are enjoying my little project here. I'm working on expanding this list, both in cities and likely in buildings per city.

The reason the Courthouse isn't on Pitts' list is height. The Courthouse is a gorgeous building, but in 1950 it was down to #18. In 1950, for its size Pittsburgh had one of the more impressive skylines with 15 buildings with 20+ floors.

I'll also highlight in red the buildings we have lost. After this, I'm planning an extensive post on NYC's pre-war buildings.

great collection of prewar beauties!

you may want to consider adding the palmolive building for chicago, it's 565' to the top of it's spire.

and if you drop the height threshold for chicago down to 450' (instead of 500'), there are 8 more towers you could add, including some amazing classic gems like tribune tower, metropolitan tower (strauss building), hotel intercontinental, and the american furniture mart, amongst others.

also, your picture of chicago's pittsfield building is woefully out of date. the building was given a thorough cleaning years ago and its magnificent terra cotta cladding shines brilliantly white once again.

feel free to use my pic of it below:

http://img63.imageshack.us/img63/6871/pittsfield.jpg

For Minneapolis you should add the 26 storyRand Tower, its a great art deco building, completed the same year as the Foshay. Also, the 19 story Soo line Building was completed in 1915. Thats a great building, though renovations have messed up the lower floors:(

Great thread, it's one of the things that I love most about downtown Chicago. Finding these treasures all over the city. I think you're missing a few from Chicago in that list right? Wrigley building, Tribune tower, etc...

Foshay tower is off the hook! Its like a deco version of the John Hancock Building!

Great thread! I'm looking forward to seeing Kansas City and Newark.


Yea, it sure is nice to see those population numbers and rankings, back when the biggest cities were real cities.

It's also 'folk' architecture. The design was sketched out by Mr. Foshay and handed off to an architect of record who made it buildable, as I recall.

On a separate post, I expanded Chicago's part to the buildings around and above 400 feet, and included Palmolive's spire to make it #3. So now, Chicago's top 23 buildings are up there, which is fitting given Chicago's architectural history and its place as my favorite city. On the separate Chicago thread I will include the 300 footers, which is about 40 buildings and would include the Hilton, Merchandise Mart, London Guarantee, and the third tallest of the Michigan Avenue Wall. concurrently, I'll do New York's (long long) list this weekend and maintain this list.

Hartford 177,397

1) Travelers Tower, 527 ft, 1919
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2551/...97368a7d_b.jpg
charger2003
Tallest building outside of New York until 1924.

Great post! A few notes about Cleveland's towers:

Terminal Tower - 708 feet is the structural height; the 63-foot flagpole brings it to 771, but isn't usually included.

Ohio Bell Building - now known as AT&T Huron Road. They've removed a good amount of the telecomm equipment in the photo you posted. Here's a more current image:

http://www.clevelandskyscrapers.com/...e051909_36.jpg

There's also the Standard Building - 282 feet/86m, 1925:
http://www.clevelandskyscrapers.com/...rdbuilding.jpg

The Keith Building - 272 feet/83m, 1922:
http://www.clevelandskyscrapers.com/...thbuilding.jpg

The Superior Building - 270 feet/82m - 1922:
http://www.clevelandskyscrapers.com/...orfrom1717.jpg

Fenn Tower - 265 feet/81m, 1921:
http://www.clevelandskyscrapers.com/...d/fenn0908.jpg

Landmark Office Towers - 260 feet/79m - 1930:
http://www.clevelandskyscrapers.com/...omterminal.jpg

MayDay: Thanks for the pictures! They have been incorporated into the post.

Scalziand: I believe the Travelers Tower is by far the tallest building in a smaller city like Hartford. Thanks for the pic!

That's technically not true with Philadelphia City Hall being 548 feet, built in 1901. It might be the tallest office building outside of NYC for a bit. The previous holder was the 505 ft. Central Trust Building in Cincinnati (it was knocked down to 495 feet in the 40's or 50's when the crown came off), built in 1913.

Fiddling with the diagrams, I came up with some numbers:

400 footers in 1950:
All US cities - 154
New York - 87
Chicago - 23
Detroit - 7
Pittsburgh - 4
Philadelphia - 4
Kansas City - 3
Boston - 2
Cincinnati - 2
Dallas - 2
Newark - 2
Oklahoma City - 2
San Francisco - 2

200 footers:
All US cities - 1408
New York - 692
Chicago - 185
Philadelphia - 56
Detroit - 35
Pittsburgh - 26
San Francisco - 23
St. Louis - 17
Baltimore - 14
Cincinnati - 14
Dallas - 14
Cleveland - 13
Kansas City - 13
Houston - 12
Newark - 12
Los Angeles - 11
Minneapolis - 10
New Orleans - 10
Birmingham - 9
Boston - 9
Milwaukee - 9
Seattle - 9

400 footers by decade
1900s - 4 (3 in NY and Philly City Hall)
1910s - 12
1920s - 67
1930s - 65
1940s - 6

1901-1924 - 23
1925-1933 - 118
1934-1950 - 13

Damn, these stats are interesting. the heyday of skyscrapers: 1920s-1930s

Yeah, every year in the late 20s and early 30s, New York was adding the equivalent of most other major skylines to its own. One "what if" I wonder about is if the GD had never happened, what would have happened to skylines? How long would the ESB have stayed the world's tallest? When would the masonry of the pre-war buildings finally give way to the glass boxes?

During the Great Depression, the only major buildings finished in the late 1930s were government structures like New York's Federal Courthouse and Kansas City's City Hall. It's no accident the fastest growing cities in the 1930s were Washington (Fed Gov) and Los Angeles (symbol of a new start).

The Mercantile Exchange Building in Dallas and a few of the Rockefeller Plaza buildings were the only commercial skyscrapers built in the States between 1934 and 1947.