The Reliance Building

Root/Atwood, 1890/1895

A then-unprecedented amount of glass was used in this early skyscraper, bewildering a public still used to masonry walls. Note the difference between the first two floors and the ones above: hold-outs among the previous building's tenants forced developers to build the foundation and the first two floors under the top three floors from the old building, and then knock off the top three when their leases had expired. It was restored when it became the Hotel Burnham (see below) in 1999, and can be explored with a stop at the Atwood Cafe (also below).

• history
• coffee

Address

36 N State St

Phone

+13129223432

Website

burnhamhotel.com (opens in a new tab)