In 1883, William LeBaron Jenney was appointed by the Home Insurance Company in New York to design a tall, fireproof building for their Chicago headquarters. ... As a result, the walls of the building didn't have to be as thick, and the structure could be much higher without collapsing under its own weight.

Why was the skyscraper invented?

Reducing housing costs, to level inequality, and allowing more people to live in city centers are three of the founding reasons that skyscrapers were built.

Why did cities start building skyscrapers?

Cities in the United States were traditionally made up of low-rise buildings, but significant economic growth after the Civil War and increasingly intensive use of urban land encouraged the development of taller buildings beginning in the 1870s.