The first skyscraper, erected in Chicago in 1885. The building is small in comparison to today's skyscrapers; it consists of only eleven stories and one basement (nine stories in the original construction and two stories added at a later date). The Home Insurance Building was the groundbreaking structure to truly introduce a load-carrying infrastructure, developed by architect Major William Le Baron Jenney, setting the foundation (no pun intended) for future architects and skyscrapers.