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World's littlest skyscraper

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The Newby-McMahon Building, commonly referred to as the World's littlest skyscraper, is a historic four-story[4] building located at 511 7th Street[5] (on the corner of Seventh and La Salle streets) in downtown Wichita Falls, Texas.[6] It is a late Neoclassical style red brick and cast stone structure. It stands 40 ft (12 m) tall, and its exterior dimensions are 18 ft (5.5 m) deep and 10 ft (3.0 m) wide.[2] Its interior dimensions are approximately 12 ft (3.7 m) by 9 ft (2.7 m), or approximately 108 sq ft (10.0 m2). Steep, narrow, internal stairways leading to the upper floors occupy roughly 25% of the interior area.[3]

Newby–McMahon Building
Newby–McMahon Building, c. 1919, also known as the "Worlds Littlest Skyscraper"
Photographed in January 2016
Map
General information
TypeMixed-use
LocationWichita Falls, Texas, United States
Coordinates33°54′52″N 98°29′23″W / 33.9144°N 98.4897°W / 33.9144; -98.4897
Construction started1919
Completed1919
Opening1919
Cost$200,000 (equivalent to $3,514,779 in 2023)
Height
Roof12.2 m (40.0 ft)
Technical details
Floor count4 habitable floors
Floor area40 m2 (430 sq ft)
Design and construction
Architect(s)Michael Beards
Structural engineerJ. D. McMahon
Main contractorJ. D. McMahon
Newby–McMahon Building
Part ofDepot Square Historic District (Wichita Falls, Texas) (ID03001552[1])
Designated CPFebruary 4, 2004
References
[1][2][3]

Reportedly the result of a fraudulent investment scheme by a con artist, the Newby-McMahon Building was a source of great embarrassment to the city and its residents after its completion in 1919. During the 1920s, the building was featured in Robert Ripley's Ripley's Believe It or Not! syndicated column as "the world's littlest skyscraper,"[7] a nickname that has stuck with it ever since. It is now part of the Depot Square Historic District of Wichita Falls, a Texas Historic Landmark.

Background

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A large petroleum reservoir was discovered just west of the city of Burkburnett, a small town in Wichita County in 1912.[8][9] Burkburnett and its surrounding communities became boomtowns, experiencing explosive growth of their populations and economies. By 1918, an estimated 20,000 new settlers had taken up residence around the lucrative oil field and many Wichita County residents had become wealthy virtually overnight. As people streamed into the local communities in search of high-paying jobs, the nearby city of Wichita Falls began to grow in importance.[7]

Though it initially lacked the infrastructure needed for this sudden increase in economic and industrial activity, Wichita Falls was a natural choice to serve as the local logistical hub, being the seat of Wichita County. Because office space was lacking, major stock transactions and mineral rights deals were conducted on street corners and in tents that served as makeshift headquarters for the new oil companies. Sensing an opportunity, J. D. McMahon proposed the construction of a skyscraper. With a proposed height of 480 feet (150 metres), the new building would be among the tallest in the world at that time.[7]

Proposal and blueprints

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The original structure, referred to as the Newby Building, is a single-story brick building located near the railroad depot in downtown Wichita Falls, constructed in 1906 by Augustus Newby (1855–1909),[10][11] a director of the Wichita Falls and Oklahoma City Railway Company.[12] The oil-rig construction firm of J. D. McMahon, a petroleum landman and structural engineer from Philadelphia, was one of seven tenants whose offices were based in the original Newby Building.[11]

According to local legend,[13] when McMahon announced in 1919 that he would build a high-rise annex to the Newby Building as a solution to the newly wealthy city's urgent need for office space, investors were eager to invest in the project.[14] McMahon collected $200,000 (equivalent to $3,514,779 in 2023) in investment capital from this group of naïve investors, promising to construct a high-rise office building across the street from the St. James Hotel.[3]

Supposedly, the key to McMahon's swindle, and his successful defense in the ensuing lawsuit, was that legal documents listed the height as 480" (inches) as opposed to 480' (feet).[7] Investors did not seem to notice, and McMahon apparently never verbally stated that the actual height of the building would be 480 inches.[2][15]

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McMahon used his own construction crews to build the McMahon Building on the small, unused piece of property next to the Newby Building, without obtaining prior consent from the owner of the property, who lived in Oklahoma.

According to legend, investors brought a lawsuit against McMahon over the size of the building, but to their dismay, the real estate and construction deal was declared legally binding by a local judge.[3] They did recover a small portion of their investment from the elevator company, which refused to honor the contract after learning how small the building was. No stairway was installed in the building upon its initial completion, as none was included in the original blueprints. Rather, a ladder was employed to gain access to the upper three floors.[2] By the time construction was complete, McMahon had left Wichita Falls and perhaps Texas, taking with him the balance of the investors' money.[16]

Early occupancy and subsequent abandonment

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Upon its completion and opening in 1919, the Newby-McMahon Building was an immediate source of great embarrassment to the city and its residents.[7] The ground floor had six desks representing the six different companies that occupied the building as its original tenants. Throughout most of the 1920s, the building housed only two firms. During the 1920s, it was featured in Robert Ripley's Ripley's Believe It or Not! syndicated column as "the world's littlest skyscraper", which is a name that has stuck with it ever since.[2][7][11]

The oil industry ultimately proved to be a resource curse to Wichita Falls, and the Texas oil boom ended only a few years later. The building was vacated, boarded up, and virtually forgotten in 1929 as the Great Depression struck North Texas and office space became relatively inexpensive to lease or purchase.[3] A fire gutted the building in 1931, rendering it unusable for several years.

After the Great Depression, the building housed a succession of tenants, including barber shops and cafés. The building changed hands many times and was scheduled for demolition on several occasions, but escaped this fate apparently because a sufficient number of local residents came to its defense.[11] It was eventually deeded to the city of Wichita Falls. As the building continued to deteriorate, in 1986 the city gave the building to the Wichita County Heritage Society (WCHS), with the hope that it would eventually be restored, making it a viable part of the Depot Square Historic District [2][3]

Purchase and renovation

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The Newby-McMahon Building and the "Hello Again!" storefront in October 2015
 
Plaque attached to the Newby-McMahon Building, also known as the "world's littlest skyscraper". This plaque refers to the one-story brick building adjacent to the "skyscraper" which was completed in 1906;[1] the "skyscraper" itself was completed in 1919.

By 1999, the Newby-McMahon Building had proved to be an excessive burden on the limited capital reserves of the WCHS. The following year, the city council hired the local architectural firm of Bundy, Young, Sims & Potter to stabilize the crumbling structure, amid steadily growing talk of demolishing the building.[3] Dick Bundy and his partners became fascinated with the history and legacy of the building; they arranged a partnership with Marvin Groves Electric, another local business, to purchase the building. In December 2000, the city council voted to allow the WCHS to sell the building to Marvin Groves for $3,748 (equivalent to $6,631 in 2023).

On June 11, 2003, a storm swept through Wichita Falls, bringing gusts of wind as strong as 97 miles per hour (156 km/h). A 15-foot (4.6 m) section of brick wall from the McMahon Building complex was knocked down. The damage from this storm was repaired, but full restoration of the building and the adjacent Newby Building was delayed until late 2005. In June of that year, the City Council granted $25,000 (equivalent to $39,002 in 2023) in funds from the city's tax increment financing fund, to be invested in the restoration of the McMahon Building. Restoration of the building is estimated to have cost more than $254,000 (equivalent to $396,256 in 2023), the remainder of which was paid by the owners (Bundy, Young, Sims & Potter, Inc., and Marvin Groves Electric).

Current status

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After its renovation, the building was home to an antiques dealership, the Antique Wood, which opened in 2006 on the ground floor. Since 2013, a furniture and home décor consignment boutique by the name of "Hello Again!" has occupied the building.[5][17]

The Newby-McMahon Building has never met the criteria for the definition of a skyscraper,[18] nor even that of a "high-rise" building.[19] Having survived tornadoes, a fire, and decades of neglect, the building is currently part of the Depot Square Historic District of Wichita Falls.[11] It has been declared a Texas Historic Landmark and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.[20] The building attracts visitors from around the world.[21]

The building is among several historic buildings featured in the documentary film Wichita Falls: The Future of Our Past, a retrospective analysis of the city's architectural past produced in 2006 by Barry Levy, a public information officer with the city of Wichita Falls.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c National Park Service (February 4, 2004). "Section 7". Depot Square Historic District (PDF). Washington, D.C.: National Park Service, United States Department of the Interior. pp. 14–15.
  2. ^ a b c d e f Whitaker, Bill (August 20, 1998). "Cowboys Mosey On, But Littlest Skyscraper Remains". Abilene Reporter-News. Abilene, Texas: E. W. Scripps Company. ISSN 0199-3267. Archived from the original on June 14, 2011. Retrieved December 18, 2022.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Stowers, Carlton (2008). "Legend Of The World's Littlest Skyscraper". Texas Co-op Power. 65 (1). Austin, Texas: Texas Electric Cooperatives: 25. Retrieved December 18, 2022.
  4. ^ Texas Committee for the Humanities (1986). O'Connor, Robert F. (ed.). Texas Myths (1st ed.). College Station, Texas: Texas A & M University Press. p. 215. ISBN 0-89096-264-2.
  5. ^ a b Belefanti, Chantale (May 26, 2021). "'Hello Again' owners purchase the World's Littlest Skyscraper". www.newschannel6now.com. Wichita Falls, Texas: KAUZ-TV. Retrieved December 18, 2022.
  6. ^ Watson, Deanna (June 19, 2018). "Celebrating greed, fraud: Retelling the tale of the 'World's Littlest Skyscraper' in downtown Wichita Falls". Wichita Falls, Texas: Times Record News. Retrieved December 18, 2022.
  7. ^ a b c d e f Garner, Chet (2020). "The Height of Deceit". Texas Co-op Power. 76 (8). Austin, Texas: Texas Electric Cooperatives: 38. Retrieved December 18, 2022.
  8. ^ Olien, Diana Davids; Olien, Roger M. (2002). Oil in Texas: the gusher age, 1895–1945 (1st ed.). Austin, Texas: University of Texas Press. p. 78. ISBN 0-292-76056-6.
  9. ^ Hart, Brian (2021). "Burkburnett, Texas". Handbook of Texas. Denton, Texas: Texas State Historical Association. Retrieved December 18, 2022.
  10. ^ "Clay County Texas: Obituaries 1909". Wichita Daily Times. Wichita Falls, Texas. July 5, 1909. Retrieved December 18, 2022.
  11. ^ a b c d e "Littlest Skyscraper". The Shape of Texas (Podcast). Austin, Texas: Texas Society of Architects. 2010. Retrieved December 18, 2022.
  12. ^ Barnes, Cassius McDonald (1898). Report of the Governor of Oklahoma to the Secretary of the Interior. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office. p. 51.
  13. ^ Kelso, John; Permenter, Paris; Bigley, John (2018). "North Texas". Texas Curiosities: Quirky Characters, Roadside Oddities & Offbeat Fun (3rd ed.). Guilford, Connecticut: Globe Pequot Press. p. 72. ISBN 978-1-4930-2369-1.
  14. ^ McLeod, Gerald E. (September 15, 2000). "Day Trips: Best Skyscraper". The Austin Chronicle. Austin, Texas. Retrieved December 18, 2022.
  15. ^ Edwards, Jennifer (2008). "The Panhandle: Wichita Falls & Environs". In Harmsen, Debbie; Nalepa, Michael (eds.). Fodor's Texas (1st ed.). New York: Random House, Inc. p. 517. ISBN 978-1-4000-0719-6.
  16. ^ Pohlen, Jerome (2006). "Wichita Falls: The Littlest Skyscraper". Oddball Texas: A Guide To Some Really Strange Places (1st ed.). Chicago, Illinois: Chicago Review Press. p. 67. ISBN 978-155652-583-4.
  17. ^ McGinnis, Judith (February 28, 2016). "Downtown retail future gets boost from the past". Wichita Falls Times Record News. Retrieved December 18, 2022.
  18. ^ "Data Standards: skyscraper (ESN 24419)". Emporis Standards. Archived from the original on September 30, 2007. Retrieved December 18, 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  19. ^ "Data Standards: high-rise building (ESN 18727)". Emporis Standards. Archived from the original on August 18, 2007. Retrieved December 18, 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  20. ^ "Depot Square Historic District". Texas Historic Sites Atlas. Texas Historical Commission. Retrieved December 18, 2022.
  21. ^ Wichita Falls Convention and Visitors Bureau (2022). "World's Littlest Skyscraper". Historic Places. Wichita Falls, Texas: Wichita Falls Convention and Visitors Bureau. Retrieved December 18, 2022.
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