Jerry Tobin, Jim Maguire, NYHISTers & NYC-Rootsers, In my earlier posting concerning the first skyscraper, I forgot to include its date. The Tower Building located at 50 Broadway was completed in 1889 and it lasted only until 1914. The Tower Building was 11 stories. It was developed and owned by John Noble Stearns, a silk importer. The architect was Bradford Lee Gilbert. There are two pictures of the Tower Building (1890 and 1900) accompanying a New York TIME's article (Page 7, Real Estate Section, Sunday, May 5, 1996) describing the building and the issues that had to be overcome in building it At the moment, I do not know when 40 Wall Street, the tallest skyscraper immediately prior to the Empire State Building was completed. A good resource (recommended by Christopher Gray, the TIMES architectural historian) is "Rise of the New York Skyscraper" by Bradford Landau and Carl W. Condit (Yale University Press, $50). Regards, Walter Greenspan