History of Chicago upper income Americans continued to move from the city for better housing and schools in the suburbs. Office building resumed in the 1960s. When completed in 1974, the Sears Tower, now known as the Willis Tower, at 1451 feet was the world's tallest building. It was designed by the famous Chicago firm of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, which designed many of the city's famous buildings. Mayor Richard J. Daley served 1955–1976, dominating the city's machine politics by his control of the Cook County Democratic Central Committee, which selected party nominees, who were usually elected in the Democratic stronghold. Daley took
The Gogo Building district along the Chicago River. There are two large red brick buildings along the Chicago River just south of where the river splits, formerly known as the Butler Brothers Warehouse buildings. They were both designed for the Butler Brothers Company, a mail order company, similar to Montgomery Ward's and Sears & Roebuck at the time. The northern structure was designed by Daniel Burnham, a famous Chicago architect, with its completion date being 1913, a year after Burnham’s death. This building only stood for 7 years before being completely demolished and rebuilt exactly as it stood before by the Chicago Union