List of tallest buildings in Iowa

Skyline of Des Moines

This list of tallest buildings in Iowa ranks skyscrapers and monuments in the US state of Iowa by height.

Tallest buildings

Picture	Rank	Name	Stories	Height	Year Completed	Primary Purpose	City	Source
	1	801 Grand (previously The Principal Building)	45	630 ft (192 m)	1991	Office	Des Moines	[1]
	2	Ruan Center	36	460 ft (140 m)	1975	Office	Des Moines	[2]
	3	Des Moines Marriott Hotel	33	365 ft (111 m)	1981	Hotel	Des Moines	[3]
	4	Financial Center	25	345 ft (105 m)	1973	Office	Des Moines	[4]
	5	Plaza Building	25	340 ft (104 m)	1985	Residential	Des Moines	[5]
	6	HUB Tower	25	325 ft (99 m)	1986	Office	Des Moines	[6]
	7	EMC Insurance Building	19	325 ft (99 m)	1997	Office	Des Moines	[7]
	8	Equitable Building	19	318 ft (97 m)	1924	Residential	Des Moines	[8]
	9	Alliant Tower	21	285 ft (86.9 m)	1972	Office	Cedar Rapids	[9]
	10	Bank of America Building	16	280 ft (85 m)	1966	Office	Des Moines	[10]
	11	Iowa State Capitol	4	275 ft (83.8 m)	1884	Government	Des Moines	[11]
	12	Qwest Complex	15	273 ft (83 m)	–	Office	Des Moines	[12]
	13	Register & Tribune Building	14	243 ft (74 m)	1916	Office	Des Moines	[13]
	14	Wells Fargo Building	19	240 ft (73 m)	1927	Office/Residential	Davenport	[14]
	15	Cedar River Tower	25	237 ft (72 m)	1974	Residential/Office	Cedar Rapids	[15]
	16	MidAmerican Building	15	220 ft (67 m)	1995	Office	Davenport	[16]
	17	Plaza 425 (previously the APAC Building)	14	207 ft (63 m)	1983	Office	Cedar Rapids	[17]

Timeline of tallest buildings

Iowa Old Capitol Building, 1856.

This list shows which buildings have been the tallest in Iowa since 1884.

Years as Tallest	Name	Stories	Height	Source
1884–1924	Iowa State Capitol	n/a	275 ft (83.8 m)	[11]
1924–1973	Equitable Building	19	318 ft (97 m)	[8]
1973–1975	Financial Center	25	345 ft (105 m)	[4]
1975–1991	Ruan Center	36	460 ft (140 m)	[2]
1991–Present	801 Grand	45	630 ft (192 m)	[1]

Tall buildings prior to 1884

Ladies' College Building, Davenport, 1856, later Mount Ida Female College.

Mount Ida Female College in 1858, after dome was added.

There does not seem to have been any effort to document the tallest building in Iowa prior to the construction of the State Capitol in 1884. This list shows buildings which may have been the tallest in Iowa prior to 1884, excluding church steeples.

Years as Tallest	Name	Stories	Height	Source
1840–1856	Old Capitol, Iowa City	n/a	ca. 114 ft (34.7 m)	[18]
1856–1884	Shot Tower, Dubuque	10	120 ft 5 in (36.7 m)	[19]

Other early tall building include:

• Mount Ida Female College, Davenport, 1856. First four-story dwelling, later had a high dome placed on top, may have rivaled Old Capitol in height.^[20][21]
• Fort Madison, 1808, probably the first two-story buildings in what would become Iowa.^[22]

References

1. "801 Grand, Des Moines". emporis.com. Retrieved April 12, 2008.
2. "Ruan Center, Des Moines". emporis.com. Retrieved April 12, 2008.
3. "Des Moines Marriott, Des Moines". emporis.com. Retrieved April 12, 2008.
4. "Financial Center, Des Moines". emporis.com. Retrieved April 12, 2008.
5. "Plaza Building, Des Moines". emporis.com. Retrieved April 12, 2008.
6. "HUB Tower, Des Moines". emporis.com. Retrieved April 12, 2008.
7. "EMC Insurance Building, Des Moines". emporis.com. Retrieved April 12, 2008.
8. "Equitable Building, Des Moines". emporis.com. Retrieved April 12, 2008.
9. "Alliant Tower, Cedar Rapids". emporis.com. Retrieved April 12, 2008.
10. "Bank of America Building, Des Moines". emporis.com. Retrieved April 12, 2008.
11. "STATE CAPITOL". State of Iowa. Retrieved February 19, 2010.
12. "Qwest Building Addition, Des Moines". emporis.com. Retrieved April 12, 2008.
13. "Register & Tribune Building, Des Moines". emporis.com. Retrieved June 2, 2013.
14. "Wells Fargo Building". emporis.com. Retrieved April 12, 2008.
15. "Cedar River Tower, Cedar Rapids". emporis.com. Retrieved June 2, 2013.
16. "MidAmerican Building, Davenport". emporis.com. Retrieved June 2, 2013.
17. "APAC Building, Cedar Rapids". emporis.com. Retrieved June 2, 2013.
18. Old Capitol NRHP inventory, http://focus.nps.gov/pdfhost/docs/NHLS/Text/72000475.pdf
19. City of Dubuque, http://www.cityofdubuque.org/index.aspx?NID=712
20. Nathan Howe Parker, Iowa as it is in 1856: a gazetteer for citizens, 1856
21. Wilkie, Franc B. (1858), Davenport, past and present
22. Jackson, Donald (1958) "Old Fort Madison 1808–1813." Palimpsest 39(1).