The high cost of real estate led to multistory buildings being created in American cities beginning in the 1850s. By the 1880s, very tall buildings had become status symbols, not only for the cities where they appeared but for the cash-rich corporations that built them. In the twenty-first century, almost every American city has at least one skyscraper. When the rest of the world thinks about American cities, it thinks of skyscrapers. The skyscrapers of Manhattan are as recognizable a symbol of New York City as the Eiffel Tower is to Paris, France, or Tower Bridge to London, England. Following America's lead, in Asia, the Middle East, and Europe, the skyscraper has become a symbol of influence and economic power.

Two technological developments made skyscrapers possible. The invention of the elevator by Elisha Graves Otis (1811–1861) in the 1850s meant that people could be carried to the upper floors...