Balloon Houses: The Original Aspects of Conventional Wood-Frame Construction Re-examined.

Recent historians have unquestioningly supported the hypothesis that balloon-frame construction was invented in Chicago in 1833. In Space, Time, and Architecture, Sigfried Giedion based his argument on a set of circumstances peculiar to Chicago and on the improved production of nails and dimension lumber. However, at the time, Chicago was not a unique town in the Midwest, and the amount and type of materials required for balloon framing, including nails, were not significantly different from those required for timber framing. Documentary evidence suggests that the balloon frame existed elsewhere in 1833 and as early as 1804 in the French settlements along the Mississippi River. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]