Only 12 meters highthe Newby-McMahon Building in Wichita Falls, United States, is not very impressive, even compared to normal-sized buildings, let alone skyscrapers. And yet it was supposed to it would be one of the skyscrapers most imposing of its time when it was designed at the beginning of the 20th century.
The nickname of «the smallest skyscraper in the world» It’s a dubious title, but the Newby-McMahon Building is undoubtedly dwarfed by all the skyscrapers in the world. It doesn’t even remotely deserve to be called a skyscraper, as it is dwarfed by several normal buildings in Wichita Falls, but the story of how it came to be is truly fascinating.
The origins of the Newby-McMahon Building date back to the early 20th century, when the North Texas city of Wichita Falls became the center of a regional oil boom, reports Odditycentral.
The discovery of black gold in nearby Burkburnett turned hundreds of locals into millionaires, as mining rights were traded virtually everywhere, from street corners to pop-up tents.
Philadelphia oilman JDD McMahon was the first to notice the city’s dire need for office space and quickly proposed a solution: build a towering skyscraper right next to the original Newby Building, built by Augustus Newby in 1906.
A colossal scam
His plans caught the attention of several investors and he was able to raise around $200,000 (about $6.8 million today), indica Odditycentral.
McMahon promised a multi-story office building that would be built right across from the St. James Hotel, but what he forgot was that it wouldn’t go up very high. The excited investors did not realize that the scale of the building was measured in inches instead of meters, and, to By the time they realized they had been scammed, it was too late.
The architect of this ingenious scam used his own team to direct construction, and by the time his plan was revealed, had already disappeared a long time ago. The investors tried to sue to get their money back, but because the plans for the world’s smallest skyscraper clearly indicated 480 inches, not meters, the judge dismissed their attempt, blaming them for not paying more attention.
To make the situation even worse, the company in charge of installing the elevator abandoned the project upon discovering its actual size, so the only way to access the upper floors was through an external staircase, he says Odditycentral.
An internal staircase was later built, but since the tiny skyscraper measured only 3.35 x 5.75 meters, it ended up taking up approximately 25% of the space.
Shortly after the completion of the world’s smallest skyscraper in 1919, the oil boom ended and the Great Depression began.
The building fell into disuse, and even after the recovery of the American economy, it only briefly attracted tenants. There were times when local authorities They considered demolishing it, but the neighbors fought to save it, and it was finally included in the National Historical Register, reports Odditycentral.
What was once a shame for Wichita Falls, the smallest skyscraper in the world It is now one of its main tourist attractions.
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