General Photographic Agency // Getty Images ; Alexandra Schuler/picture alliance via Getty Images Today, certain city structures across America have become synonymous with the skylines they dot, from Seattle’s Space Needle to Chicago’s Willis Tower and New York City’s Empire State Building. While they may now be indelible markers in their metros, these buildings are relatively new. After all, it wasn’t until the late 19th century that cities in the United States started to grow at a dramatic rate. Increasing industrialization in the 19th century spurred that growth, with the development of electric power and steam engines resulting in factories no longer needing to be located near rivers. Instead, they could be in urban areas, drawing even more people into those cities with the promise of steady, though often difficult, jobs. By the turn of the 20th century, many American cities had distinct identities based on their particular industry. New York served as the national hub for finance, Chicago was a major meat processing base, Los Angeles became a center for film production, and so on. These distinctions only grew as urbanization continued, with the different industries marking the physical landscapes of their cities in specific ways. Of course, U.S. cities today look radically different than they did a century ago–but what do these differences reveal? How did these changes develop, and how did they affect various cities? Did certain cities expand organically over time, or did they multiply due to technological advancements like Edison’s electric lightbulb? To answer some of those questions, Stacker parsed through photo archives and consulted the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat to find out what 15 major U.S. city skylines looked like about a century ago compared to how they stand today. Miami: Then Bettmann // Getty Images Taken from Biscayne Bay, this 1925 photograph shows several skyscrapers under construction on land that had been filled in to create more waterfront real estate, including the new Bayfront Park. Most buildings pictured are hotels, built at the peak of Florida’s 1920s land boom when the city tripled in population. Miami: Now AaronP/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images // Getty Images Over the past century, the skyscrapers along Miami’s shore have multiplied, creating a sleek, contemporary city center of gleaming glass high-rises right to the water’s edge. But it’s not just the city that expanded in a century–the Atlantic Ocean has risen a foot in that same time thanks to climate change, causing frequent floods in Miami and South Florida. If the ocean stays on the same trajectory, more than 800,000 county residents will need to relocate by 2100. Las Vegas: Then Donaldson Collection/Michael Ochs Archives // Getty Images This 1928 view of Fremont Street depicts a car racing down a dusty dirt road–from the looks of the main drag, it appears this could be any old western frontier town. Few could guess this mining town was about to become the fabulous Las Vegas thanks to two developments on the horizon: the construction of the Hoover Dam and the legalization of gambling in the 1930s. Las Vegas: Now Lucky-photographer // Shutterstock Fremont Street hosted Vegas’ first casinos in the 1940s, but the limelight was quickly stolen by a once-barren stretch of land outside city limits: The Strip, seen in this 2017 photo. The Strip became the development site for glitzier and more fantastical hotel casinos, a few of which had ties to organized crime. Vegas has maintained its reputation as Sin City for decades, though it now boasts an array of family-friendly entertainment options. New York City: Then Library of Congress/Corbis/VCG via Getty Images This 1923 view of Battery Park and lower Manhattan shows a concentration of early skyscrapers that predate the construction of two of the city’s most famous landmarks: the Empire State and Chrysler buildings, built in the early 1930s. The tallest building pictured here is the 792-foot Woolworth Building; completed in 1913 and described as “the cathedral of commerce,” it was the tallest building in the world until 1930. Skyscrapers provided much-needed office space for New York’s financial and commercial businesses. New York City: Now TierneyMJ // Shutterstock After the impressive rise of skyscrapers in the 1930s–the Empire State, Chrysler, and 40 Wall Street buildings all went up during this decade–the New York City skyline stagnated, staying almost the same until the World Trade Center was built in 1972. Though the center’s iconic twin towers were destroyed in the September 2001 attacks, One World Trade Center set a new record for height when it opened on the site of the towers in 2014. Currently the tallest building in the U.S. at 1,776 feet, One World Trade Center has forever changed the profile of New York City’s skyline, as seen in this 2017 photo. Boston: Then Patricia L. Hollander/FPG/Archive Photos // Getty Images Boston’s Custom House Tower, which looms over the rest of the city in this image, was already 10 years old when this photo was taken in 1925. Added to the existing Custom House building in 1915, the tower remained the city’s tallest building until 1964. With cranes and construction surrounding the tower, this image captures Boston as its industrial economy expanded during a massive immigration surge, which saw the city’s population more than double between 1880 and 1920. Boston: Now Wangkun Jia // Shutterstock Custom House Tower remains visible in the city’s contemporary skyline, but it’s a little like finding a needle in a haystack–it is now the 17th tallest structure in Boston. Like so many other cities, Boston experienced significant migration in the 1920s and ’30s, only to see much of its middle-class and affluent population move to the suburbs in the post-World War II period. After decades of downturn, the urban core is once again reinvigorated today, with demands for residential real estate leading to the transformations of old skyscrapers and the construction of new, taller, sleeker ones. Chicago: Then Chicago History Museum // Getty Images Chicago is often described as the birthplace of the modern skyscraper, and this 1929 photo proves it worthy of the title. Here, the newly completed art deco Palmolive building rises above Michigan Avenue–the soap company dubbed its 37-story headquarters “a monument to cleanliness.” Little did Palmolive know, it would one day host the headquarters of Playboy magazine. Chicago: Now f11photo // Shutterstock Skyscrapers continued cropping up in Chicago throughout the 20th century, including some of the city’s great wonders, like the Willis Tower and 875 North Michigan. Michigan Avenue, part of which was designed to be a grand boulevard like Paris’ Champs-Élysées, has certainly earned the moniker “The Magnificent Mile.” The Wrigley Building, Tribune Tower, the Chicago Water Tower, and many more skyscrapers are located within a mile of each other on this iconic street. Los Angeles: Then American Stock // Getty Images As depicted in this photograph from 1930, City Hall once loomed over Los Angeles as its tallest building for 36 years. The relatively low-rise design of Los Angeles is no accident–city planners enacted an ordinance capping buildings at 150 feet in height from 1904 to 1959. The art deco-style City Hall building was the only exception. Los Angeles: Now Emeric’s Timelapse // Shutterstock LA’s sprawl now contains plenty of skyscrapers, which can be seen in this 2023 photo of downtown. While earthquakes have always been a concern for the City of Angels, a public vote passed a referendum to end the long-held height restrictions in 1956, and a spate of skyscrapers in the former Bunker Hill neighborhood followed. Towers replaced old Victorian homes, and the city has taken on an entirely new vertical profile thanks to waves of development over the last 68 years. Detroit: Then Library of Congress A 1929 photograph of the Detroit skyline across the Detroit River shows many art deco marvels, including the 47-story Penobscot Building, which had just been completed in the growing downtown financial district. In the decades before the Great Depression, the city grew rapidly due to the automobile industry. The skyline reflects that success, with many of its skyscrapers dating back to that time. Detroit: Now Gary Blakeley // Shutterstock While Motor City’s financial district may appear relatively unchanged from its 1920s art deco opulence, a 14-plus-acre development of connected skyscrapers known as the Renaissance Center (RenCen) transformed the city’s skyline in the 1970s. The city planners behind the ambitious complex hoped the new buildings would revitalize the decaying downtown, reeling from the effects of deindustrialization and civil unrest. In 1996, General Motors purchased the complex for its headquarters, and renovations in 2004 and 2018 made the complex more accessible to the public. Seattle: Then Library of Congress In this photo taken in 1921, Mt. Rainier is a dramatic backdrop to what was–and remains–the most populous city in the Pacific Northwest: Seattle. The tall building to the mountain’s right is the Smith Tower, the city’s tallest skyscraper (and the tallest building on the West Coast) for nearly 50 years after its construction in 1914. Seattle: Now beboy // Shutterstock The Space Needle took the honor of being Seattle’s tallest skyscraper in 1962 and now defines the cityscape. Seattle has endured its fair share of economic booms and busts–first in logging and mining, then in shipbuilding and airplanes–before settling into its current status as a tech center thanks to the presence of Microsoft and Amazon headquarters. Each stage of the city’s history can be seen in its skyline, and as it continues to grow, Seattle still has many new developments and towers in the works. Denver: Then Library of Congress This 1912 photograph of Denver prominently depicts the Daniels & Fisher Tower, the tallest building pictured. This 21-story clock tower was once connected to a five-story building, but in the 1970s, the smaller building fell victim to the city’s Skyline Urban Renewal project and was destroyed. Saved from the wrecking ball, the Daniels & Fisher Tower remains today, its 20th-floor observation deck a fitting place to survey how much the city has grown around it. Denver: Now Carol M. Highsmith // Library of Congress Since the 1950s, special municipal codes have been in place to protect views of the Rocky Mountains by limiting the height of new construction in particular areas. As a result, the Rockies continue to dominate Denver’s skyline. However, Mile High City has still grown over the past century, largely due to a building boom in the 1970s and ’80s that resulted in some of the city’s tallest buildings. San Francisco: Then
Major US city skylines in photos, then and now
