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The World's Littlest Skyscraper, officially known as the Newby-McMahon Building, is a unique miniature Neoclassic-style red brick structure in Wichita Falls' downtown district The four-story building was constructed in 1906 by Augustus Newby as part of a fraudulent investment scheme that has become a local legend. The building was controversially constructed in cooperation with petroleum engineer J.D. McMahon, who bragged that he would build an elaborate high-rise in the city's downtown district. A swindling scheme resulted in the building being constructed at a height of 480 inches instead of 480 feet tall. In the 1920s, the structure was featured by the Ripley's Believe It or Not! Syndicated column, garnering national attention. Though the building was once a source of embarrassment for the community, today it has become a regional landmark, named as a Texas Historic Landmark within the Depot Square Historic District of Wichita Falls.
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