Rounding out our survey of early Twentieth Century centerpiece skyscrapers, we look at a couple more, starting first on the other side of Missouri in Kansas City. The Kansas City Power and Light Building, built in 1931, was the tallest building in Missouri until 1976.

Designed by the Kansas City firm of Hoit, Price & Barnes, it remains one of the best examples of a towering Art-Deco skyscraper in the state.

In particular, the spire at the summit has dramatic sunbursts and what looks to be what was once a beacon.

Heading out to the East Coast and Baltimore, we look at the Baltimore Trust Company Building. Similarly, it was built in 1929 and formed a “spire” that anchors Charm City’s downtown.

Next we head to Dayton, Ohio to the former United Brethren Building, but is now known as the Centre City Building.

Ironically, this was built as the first major skyscraper in Dayton in two sections, the first opening in 1904 and the second portion, raising the height, in 1924.

As the headquarters of the Church of the United Brethren, there was also a chapel in the top of the building, designed by the firm of Charles Herby.

It was sitting vacant when I visited in 2021, and seems to still be so today.

I also looked at Louisville, Kentucky, and it seems that the city did not have any major skyscrapers built in the early Twentieth Century.

But there has been substantial construction of skyscrapers in the last couple of decades, unlike in St. Louis’s downtown.

I saw the same in Indianapolis; while there were few tall historic skyscrapers, there were many recently built office buildings.

It has been since the 1980s, with the construction of Metropolitan Square, that a major private office building over forty stories has been built in downtown St. Louis.