<P> The early skyscrapers were a range of tall, commercial buildings built between 1884 and 1939, predominantly in the American cities of New York City and Chicago . 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 . Technological improvements enabled the construction of fireproofed iron - framed structures with deep foundations, equipped with new inventions such as the elevator and electric lighting . These made it both technically and commercially viable to build a new class of taller buildings, the first of which, Chicago's 138 - foot (42 m) tall Home Insurance Building, opened in 1885 . Their numbers grew rapidly, and by 1888 they were being labelled skyscrapers . </P> <P> Chicago initially led the way in skyscraper design, with many constructed in the center of the financial district during the late 1880s and early 1890s . Sometimes termed the products of the Chicago school of architecture, these skyscrapers attempted to balance aesthetic concerns with practical commercial design, producing large, square palazzo - styled buildings hosting shops and restaurants on the ground level and containing rentable offices on the upper floors . In contrast, New York's skyscrapers were frequently narrower towers which, more eclectic in style, were often criticized for their lack of elegance . In 1892, Chicago banned the construction of new skyscrapers taller than 150 feet (46 m), leaving the development of taller buildings to New York . </P>

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