The Home Insurance Building was basically the first building made with steel. And at 180 feet (55 meters) it still was nothing like some of the buildings of today, but for the 1880′s it was a magnificent structure. The main reason it was built was because of a huge fire that destroyed over 17,000 buildings in Chicago, but after less than six weeks following the fire, over 300 buildings were already under construction. After a few years, buildings had risen up everywhere until there was almost nowhere to build…but up. At the time there were almost no buildings made out of steel, as I said earlier. That’s why most people refer to the Home Insurance Building as “the first skyscraper” – because most buildings before had been masonry buildings. But now the steel frame helps to build to amazing heights and the Home Insurance Building was the first one. However, the Home Insurance Building no longer stands; it was demolished in 1931 because it was getting weak. But now Sears Tower is almost in its backyard, so it went from the first skyscraper to one of the tallest buildings in the world!