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Free to Use and Reuse: Skyscrapers

The term "skyscrapers" vividly represents the world of very tall buildings. This set offers images from the oldest acknowledged skyscraper--the 10-story Home Insurance Building in Chicago–to the crowded skylines of the 21st century. You'll also see one of the tallest buildings in the United States--the Willis Tower in Chicago, built in 1974 with 108 floors, as well as diverse architectural styles. Browse more content that is free to use and reuse

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  Chrysler Building (1930) and other skyscrapers, New York City. Photo by Irving Underhill, 1930.

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  Two pigeons on ledge with spire of the Chrysler Building (1930) in background. Photo by Angelo Rizzuto, 1957.

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  Described as the world's first skyscraper due to its structural steel frame, the Home Insurance Building was completed in Chicago in 1885. Lithograph by L. Prang & Co., 1885.

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  "The skyscrapers of New York." An 11-minute film drama by the American Mutoscope and Biograph Company, 1906. (National Audiovisual Conservation Center)

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  One Detroit Center, Guardian Building, Detroit, Michigan. Photo by Balthazar Korab, 2007. (Opened in 1993, now the Ally Detroit Center)

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  "Living on a skyscraper," New York City. Photo by Bain News Service, about 1919.

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  Market Street, San Francisco, with the Call Building (completed in 1897). Photochrom print by Detroit Publishing Co., 1900.

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  "Unfinished steel structure intact after quake, San Francisco." Photograph by George R. Lawrence, 1906.

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  "Sailors on land--agile construction men on a suspended iron section, 200 ft. above ground, New York City." Stereograph by H.C. White, 1907.

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  Skyscraper office building. Drawing by architect Henry Wilbur Adams, 1927 or 1928. (Never built)

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  Comcast Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, has a distinctive cutout feature near its top. Photo by Carol M. Highsmith, 2019. (Opened 2008)

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  The 1891 Pontiac Building, Chicago, Illinois. Measured drawing by the Historic American Buildings Survey, 1967.

• Top story detail of the Schiller Theater Building, Chicago, Illinois. Photo by Richard Nickel, 1961. (Opened in 1892 and shown shortly before it was razed.)

• L.C. Smith Building (Pioneer Building), Seattle, Washington. Photo by Curtis & Miller, 1914. (Completed in 1892)

• Lower Peachtree Street, Atlanta, Georgia. Photo by the Albertype Company, early 1900s.

• "Election night illumination, Flatiron Building," New York City. Postcard copyrighted by William Randolph Hearst, 1904. (Building completed in 1902)

• "The Future of Trinity Church," New York City. Cartoon illustration by Albert Levering, published in Puck, March 6, 1907. (This Gothic Revival style church was completed in the mid-1800s and was for a time the tallest building in the United States.)

• "Votes for Women." National American Woman Suffrage Association headquarters, 17th floor of 505 Fifth Avenue at 42nd Street, New York City. Postcard, 1909.

• "The Foundations--Building a Skyscraper." Lithograph by Joseph Pennell, 1910.

• Electric Building at Night, Buffalo, N.Y. Postcard, about 1920. (General Electric Tower, built in 1912)

• Skyscrapers from the Gladstone, with City Hall in the background, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Lithograph by Joseph Pennell, 1912.

• "City's first skyscraper now being razed." The Sun (New York, N.Y.), January 4, 1914.

• The 1913 Woolworth Building, New York, New York. This sculpture of architect Cass Gilbert holding a model of the skyscraper is in the lobby. Photo by Carol M. Highsmith, 2009.

• Woolworth tower in clouds, New York City. Photo by Fairchild Aerial Surveys, 1928.

• The 1913 Palmetto Building, 1400 Main Street at Washington Street, Columbia, South Carolina. Photo by Jack Boucher, 1986.

• Entrance to the 1919 Mid-Continent Tower, one of the most recognizable skyscrapers in Tulsa, Oklahoma, with its white terracotta facade. Photo by Carol M. Highsmith, 2020.

• Proposed decorations for Fisher Building, Detroit. Soffit of stair no. 2 and elevator lobbies 202 & 302. Design drawing by Winold Reiss, about 1928.

• The 1929 Baltimore Trust Company Building, Baltimore, Maryland. Photo by James W. Rosenthal, 2001. (At left is the First National Bank Building, completed 1924. At right is the Schaefer Tower, completed 1986)

• Foshay Tower dedication fireworks as seen from the parade, more than a mile away, Minneapolis, Minnesota. Photo by Verne V. Gunsolley, 1929.

• Bird's-eye view of the 1931 Empire State Building at night. Photo by Angelo Rizzuto, 1953.

• "The big one." Photo by Angelo Rizzuto, 1959. (The 1931 Empire State Building, New York City)

• Painted glass located in the lobby of the 1931 Empire State Building, New York, New York. Photo by Carol M. Highsmith, between 1980 and 2006.

• "Sol Lesser presents 'City of Contrasts.'" Movie poster by Plampin Litho, 1931.

• "Rockefeller Center, New York City. The observation roofs are in reality commodious promenades overlooking the vast city from a height of 850 feet." Mophochrom by Irving Browning, about 1935. (Built 1930-1939)

• "The skyscraper section of Birmingham, Alabama." Stereograph by the Keystone View Company, 1935.

• Price Tower, Bartlesville, Oklahoma, built in 1956. Photo by Carol M. Highsmith, between 1980 and 2006.

• Base of the brutalist-style 30-story Xerox Tower building in Rochester, New York. Photo by Carol M. Highsmith, 2018. (Completed in 1967)

• John Hancock Center, Chicago, Illinois. Photo by Hedrich-Blessing, 1969. (Skyscraper completed in 1969 with Chicago Water Tower in foreground)

• A glass observation deck attached to the outside of the 100-story 875 North Michigan Avenue Building (John Hancock Center), in Chicago, Illinois. Photo by Carol M. Highsmith, 2017.

• World Trade Center, New York, New York. Exterior. Twilight view from harbor. Photo by Balthazar Korab, 1976. (Opened 1973)

• Houston, Texas. Skyline with skyscrapers and the Large Spindle Piece sculpture in foreground. Photo by Balthazar Korab Studios, 1987.

• The 31-story Lexington Financial Center, known as the "Big Blue Building" in Lexington, Kentucky. Photo by Carol M. Highsmith, 2020. (Completed in 1987)

• Dusk view of the skyline, Dallas, Texas, with the lighted sphere on Reunion Tower and many skyscrapers. Photo by Carol M. Highsmith, about 1990.

• Flats District of Cleveland, Ohio, with several skyscrapers in the background--Key Tower, 200 Public Square, and Terminal Tower–and The Powerhouse in the foreground. Photo by Carol M. Highsmith, 1990s.

• Hotels and other high-rise buildings on Waikiki Beach, Honolulu, Hawaii. Photo by Carol M. Highsmith, between 1980 and 2006.

• Skyline, Denver, Colorado. Photo by Carol M. Highsmith, between 1980 and 2006.

• Skyline at dusk along Lake Michigan, dominated by the Willis Tower (Sears Tower), Chicago, Illinois. Photo by Carol M. Highsmith, between 1980 and 2006.

• The upper reaches of Frost Bank Tower, completed 2003, Austin, Texas, skyscraper. Photograph by Carol M. Highsmith, 2014.

• Skyline view of Los Angeles, California, centering on the 1928 City Hall building. Photo by Carol M. Highsmith, 2013.

• Aerial view of Boston, Massachusetts, with a focus on one of its iconic skyscrapers: the (shiny blue) John Hancock Tower, completed in 1976. Photo by Carol M. Highsmith, 2019.

• A view of downtown Miami, Florida, skyscrapers from the Overtown District. Photo by Carol M. Highsmith, 2020.