The world's smallest skyscraper In 1912 oil was found in | Honest historian
The world's smallest skyscraper
In 1912 oil was found in the vicinity of Wichita Falls, causing a sharp influx of settlers into the city. In addition to living quarters, there was a need for office buildings. Then engineer J. McMahon proposed the design for a building 480 feet (about 146 meters) high, asking $200,000 for the work. A year later construction was completed, but the building was only 12 meters tall. It turned out that the engineer had specified the height in inches instead of feet in the design, which the customers did not pay attention to. As a result, the investors' attempts to get their money back through the court were unsuccessful.
The building initially irritated residents, but in the 1920s it gained some notoriety through a mention in Robert Ripley's Believe It or Not! At the same time it was called "The World's Smallest Skyscraper". Meanwhile, oil reserves near the city were depleted, and the Great Depression finally undermined the city's economy. For several years the building was not used at all. The house many times changed owners, there were offices, then hair salons, then cafes. Repeatedly the building was planned to be dismantled, but the citizens began to actively advocate its preservation. In 1986, the "skyscraper" was given to the Wichita County Heritage Society.
