The Dun Building
The Dun Building was Buffalo's first high-rise and is named after Robert G. Dun, the first occupant and the founder of the R.G. Dun Company that became Dun & Bradstreet, the nation's oldest and largest credit reporting agency. Completed in 1895, the 10 story tall building was designed by E. B. Green and William S. Wicks, who applied the Neoclassical style of horizontal buildings to a vertical tower. The facade is divided into a series of multiple-story bands stacked one on top of the other, with the central band featuring several giant four-story window arches, and decoratively framed oval windows on the seventh floor. The building has a supporting steel skeleton, however the walls also had to be made with load-bearing capabilities to give the very narrow structure enough bracing against the strong Lake Erie winds.
Although it holds the crown of Buffalo's first high-rise, it was quickly surpassed as the highest in Buffalo the following year by the completion of the 12 story Morgan Building at Niagara and Pearl. During the late 1890s and early 1900's, Buffalo experienced a building boom that led to many of our historic buildings today, including the Ellicott Building nearby. Today, the Dun Building serves as a fantastic local example of 1890's Beaux-Arts and Renaissance Styling and is a historic landmark.
