“simply adorable”
The Newby-McMahon Building, commonly referred to as the world's littlest skyscraper, is located at 701 La Salle (on the corner of Seventh and La Salle streets) in downtown Wichita Falls, Texas. This late Neoclassical style red brick and cast stone structure is 40 ft (12 m) tall, and its exterior dimensions are 18 ft (5.5 m) deep and 10 ft (3.0 m) wide. Reportedly the result of a fraudulent investment scheme by a confidence man, 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 Newby-McMahon Building was featured in Robert Ripley's Ripley's Believe It or Not! syndicated column as "the world's littlest skyscraper", a nickname that has stuck with it ever since. The Newby-McMahon Building is now part of the Depot Square Historic District of Wichita Falls, a Texas Historic Landmark.
Tucked away in a tiny alley. Not much to see. I ran into a local woman who told me the story about why it’s historic. She said that the builder/founder wanted to build the first skyscraper in Wichita Falls. He got an architect and drew up plans, who mistakenly read 300 feet as 300 inches. The woman said she won a honeymoon trip to the Bahamas during a trivia contest with that answer. Can’t vouch for the validity, but she was super nice and it’s a cute story.
Cute building and makes for the perfect quirky stop while road tripping!! Only regret is we didn't make it during business hours so we didn't hear the story or see the shop. The shop looked awesome though. Great photo op!!
It's a really cute building. The story awesome and couple ruining the shop inside are really nice.
Fun is all about attitude....and if you're on a road trip then this should be just what you're looking for.....The skyscraper is located in a nifty little part of town & the building is actually kind of cool. It's worth the 5 min detour. Go take goofy pics in front of it. 😄
There was a train cutting the road off so wr had to go around. No big deal. It was cool to see. We got there on a Sunday so it was closed, but still really cool and adorable. The story on Wikipedia is that the architect misread the prints from 300' to 300". Makes for a cute attraction.
The people were nice but we were pulling a camper and there was no place to park. We rushed to take a photo but didn’t get time to go inside the building for details. I looked up the history of the building and there’s an interesting story that goes with it. Worth the stop
As advertised. I drove past it 3 times before I found it. I wouldn't make a special trip to see it but the town is cute and it was a welcome break from the car.
Wichita Falls has it's share of quirky things. This is just one. The story is interesting. The building - blah.
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World's Littlest Skyscraper
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