Why are the floors in a building called stories?

Answer 1

The best answer I've been able to find is an anecdotal one that the word comes from the Latin, "historia," meaning history. Roman buildings had decorations of carvings or murals on the exterior walls on each floor level they called historia, depicting myths or historical battles. Multilevel buildings were marked by levels of historia. The word was shortened to stories and, today, a building is so many stories tall. Or, this explanation is just someone's tall story. The rest is history, that's my story, and I'm sticking to it.

AnswerI have heard a different story. This is my account. Many Many years ago the churches uses stained glass for the windows some, still do. Each window pane told a piece of a biblical story. As the churches grew and built up to a second level (or second floor)they continued the story by using more stained glass. So if someone were to say "where is the priest?"One would respond by saying he in on the second story of the church and so on.