 Special water-tight boxes called caissons were invented to deal with this problem in England in 1830 and adopted in the U.S. during the 1850s and 1860s.The development of the elevator was also essential to the emergence of the early skyscrapers, as office buildings taller than around six stories would have been impractical without them.Powered elevators were first installed in England during the 1830s and spread to U.S. factories and hotels by the 1840s.