Photo: Reading Tom from Reading, UK · CC BY 2.0 · via Wikimedia Commons
City hall · Philadelphia, United States
Philadelphia City Hall
- Dated
- Dated 1871–1901
- Declared purpose
- Seat of city government
- Today
- Survives, still the city hall
- Architect of record
- John McArthur Jr., architect: about 46 when credited (1869, born 1823). Build time on record: about 30 years (1871–1901).All architects of record →
Hidden history
Found, Not Built
It has about 700 rooms, walls of granite and marble up to 22 feet thick at the base, and a 548-foot tower topped by William Penn. The official dates say 30 years of building, which researchers think is short for a building this size.
Walls built like a fortress
Granite walls more than 20 feet thick at the base are hard to explain for an office building. Researchers ask what kind of load, or what kind of purpose, called for walls like that.
The tallest in the world, briefly
For a few years it was the tallest habitable building in the world, then nothing like it was built again.
Questions worth asking
- Where were the carvers trained for 250 sculptures?
- Why does it sit exactly on Penn's center square?
Possible original uses
- A civic palace or capitol
- A power or communications tower
What the photos show
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Surrounding Buildings
Old buildings nearby in Philadelphia. Compare the stone, the domes and the dates.
Lost Buildings
Neighbours that were torn down or burned. Tap one for its photos.
Research
Further viewing
Episodes from My Lunch Break (Michael Kruse), the main lens for this app. They open on YouTube.
