Philadelphia City Hall is the seat of the municipal government of the

City of Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

in the U.S. state of

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

. Built in the ornate

Second Empire style Second Empire style, also known as the Napoleon III style, is a highly Eclecticism in architecture, eclectic style of architecture and decorative arts originating in the Second French Empire. It was characterized by elements of many differe ...

, City Hall houses the chambers of the

Philadelphia City Council The Philadelphia City Council is the legislative body of the city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in the United States. It is composed of 17 councilmembers: ten members elected by district and seven members elected at-large from throughou ...

and the offices of the

Mayor of Philadelphia The mayor of Philadelphia is the chief executive of the government of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, as stipulated by the Charter of the City of Philadelphia. The current mayor of Philadelphia is Cherelle Parker, who is the first woman to hold the ...

. This building is also a

courthouse A courthouse or court house is a structure which houses judicial functions for a governmental entity such as a state, region, province, county, prefecture, regency, or similar governmental unit. A courthouse is home to one or more courtrooms, ...

, serving as the seat of the

First Judicial District of Pennsylvania The First Judicial District is the judicial body governing the county of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. It consists of the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County and the Philadelphia Municipal Court. Although the title of the dis ...

. It houses the Civil Trial and Orphans' Court Divisions of the

Court of Common Pleas A court of common pleas is a common kind of court structure found in various common law jurisdictions. The form originated with the Court of Common Pleas at Westminster, which was created to permit individuals to press civil grievances against one ...

Philadelphia County Philadelphia County is the most populous of the 67 counties of Pennsylvania and the 24th-most populous county in the nation. As of the 2020 census, the county had a population of 1,603,797. It is coextensive with Philadelphia, the nation's ...

. It also houses the Philadelphia facilities for the

Supreme Court of Pennsylvania The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania is the highest court in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania's Judiciary of Pennsylvania, Unified Judicial System. It began in 1684 as the Provincial Court, and casual references to it as ...

(which also holds session and accepts filings in

Harrisburg Harrisburg ( ; ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), U.S. commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat, seat of Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, Dauphin County. With a population of 50, ...

and

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

). Built using brick, white marble and limestone, Philadelphia City Hall is the world's largest free-standing

masonry Masonry is the craft of building a structure with brick, stone, or similar material, including mortar plastering which are often laid in, bound, and pasted together by mortar (masonry), mortar. The term ''masonry'' can also refer to the buildin ...

building and was the world's tallest habitable building upon its completion in 1894. It was designated as a

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a National Register of Historic Places property types, building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the Federal government of the United States, United States government f ...

in 1976; in 2006, it was also named a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark by the

American Society of Civil Engineers The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) is a tax-exempt professional body founded in 1852 to represent members of the civil engineering profession worldwide. Headquartered in Reston, Virginia, it is the oldest national engineering soci ...

History and description

The building was designed by Scottish-born architect John McArthur Jr. (1823–1890), and

Thomas Ustick Walter Thomas Ustick Walter (September 4, 1804 – October 30, 1887) was an American architect. He worked on more than 400 projects, including Moyamensing Prison and Girard College in Philadelphia. He served as the fourth Architect of the Capitol, ...

(1804–1887)."National Register Digital Assets – Philadelphia City Hall"
. ''nps.gov''. National Park Service. December 8, 1976. Retrieved March 9, 2018. in the

French Second Empire The Second French Empire, officially the French Empire, was the government of France from 1852 to 1870. It was established on 2 December 1852 by Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte, president of France under the French Second Republic, who proclaimed hi ...

style of architecture, and was constructed from 1871 to 1901 at a cost of $24 million dollars (late 19th century value of American money). The City Hall's tower was completed by 1894,"National Register of Historic Places Inventory – Nomination Form"

archive
National Park Service. pp. 2, 10. Retrieved November 9, 2017. "The tower rising 548 feet, The City Hall of Philadelphia was the highest occupied building in North America. The extended construction project lasted for thirty years (1872–1901); the building was occupied in various stages over a period of twenty-two years (1877–1898)…The statue was…hoisted to the top of the tower in fourteen sections in 1894." although the interior was not finished until 1901. Designed to be the world's tallest building, it was surpassed during the phase of construction by the

Washington Monument The Washington Monument is an obelisk on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., built to commemorate George Washington, a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father of the United States, victorious commander-in-chief of the Continen ...

(of Washington, D.C.), the

Eiffel Tower The Eiffel Tower ( ; ) is a wrought-iron lattice tower on the Champ de Mars in Paris, France. It is named after the engineer Gustave Eiffel, whose company designed and built the tower from 1887 to 1889. Locally nicknamed "''La dame de fe ...

(in Paris, France), and the

Mole Antonelliana The Mole Antonelliana () is a major landmark building in Turin, Italy, named after its architect, Alessandro Antonelli. A ''wikt:mole#Italian, mole'' in Italian language, Italian is a building of monumental proportions. Construction began in 186 ...

. The Mole Antonelliana was a few feet taller and was the tallest masonry (i.e. without the use of steel) building in the world until 1953. In that year a storm caused the spire to collapse and so the Philadelphia City Hall then became the tallest masonry building in the world (excluding monuments). Upon completion of its tower in 1894, it became the world's tallest habitable building.""History of City Hall: 1886–1890"
(archive) Retrieved November 9, 2017. "1889: Mayor Fitler moves into completed offices on west side."
(archive) Retrieved November 9, 2017. "1891: State Supreme Court opens in permanent courtroom." It was also the first secular building to have this distinction, as all previous world's tallest buildings were religious structures, including European cathedrals and—for the previous 3,800 years—the

Great Pyramid of Giza The Great Pyramid of Giza is the largest Egyptian pyramid. It served as the tomb of pharaoh Khufu, who ruled during the Fourth Dynasty of Egypt, Fourth Dynasty of the Old Kingdom of Egypt, Old Kingdom. Built , over a period of about 26 years ...

; even the Mole Antonelliana was supposed to be a religious building—a synagogue—but then received a different use. The location chosen was one of the five center city urban park squares dedicated by William Penn, that geometrically is the center to the other four squares within Center City renamed as Penn Square. City Hall is a

building whose weight is borne by granite and brick walls up to thick. The principal exterior materials are

limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

granite Granite ( ) is a coarse-grained (phanerite, phaneritic) intrusive rock, intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly coo ...

, and

marble Marble is a metamorphic rock consisting of carbonate minerals (most commonly calcite (CaCO3) or Dolomite (mineral), dolomite (CaMg(CO3)2) that have recrystallized under the influence of heat and pressure. It has a crystalline texture, and is ty ...

. The original design called for virtually no sculpture. The stonemason William Struthers and sculptor

Alexander Milne Calder Alexander Milne Calder (August 23, 1846 – June 4, 1923) (MILL-nee) was a Scottish American sculptor best known for the architectural sculpture of Philadelphia City Hall. Both his son, Alexander Stirling Calder, and grandson, Alexander Calder ...

were responsible for the more than 250 sculptures, capturing artists, educators, and engineers who embodied American ideals and contributed to this country's genius. The final construction cost was $24 million. At , including the statue of city founder

William Penn William Penn ( – ) was an English writer, religious thinker, and influential Quakers, Quaker who founded the Province of Pennsylvania during the British colonization of the Americas, British colonial era. An advocate of democracy and religi ...

atop its tower, City Hall was the tallest

habitable Habitability is the adequacy of an environment for human living. Where housing is concerned, there are generally local ordinances which define habitability. If a residence complies with those laws, it is said to be habitable. In extreme environ ...

building in the world from 1894 to 1908. It remained the tallest in Pennsylvania until it was surpassed in 1932 by the

Gulf Tower The Gulf Tower is a 44-story, Art Deco skyscraper in downtown Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The tower is one of the major distinctive and recognizable features of the city and is named for the Gulf Oil, Gulf Oil Corporation. Built as the headquar ...

; it is now the 16th tallest. It was the tallest in Philadelphia until 1986 when the construction of

One Liberty Place Liberty Place is a skyscraper complex in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. The complex is composed of a 61-story, skyscraper called One Liberty Place, a 58-story, skyscraper called Two Liberty Place, a two-story shopping mall called ...

surpassed it, ending the informal

gentlemen's agreement A gentlemen's agreement, or gentleman's agreement, is an informal and legally non-binding wikt:agreement, agreement between two or more parties. It is typically Oral contract, oral, but it may be written or simply understood as part of an unspok ...

that had limited the height of buildings in the city to no higher than the Penn statue. It was constructed over the time span from 1871 to 1901 and includes 700 rooms dedicated for uses of various governmental operations. The building structure used over 88 million bricks and thousands of tons of marble and granite. With almost 700 rooms, City Hall is the largest municipal building in the United States and one of the largest in the world. The building houses three branches of government: the city's executive branch (the

Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

's Office), its legislature (the

), and a substantial portion of the judicial activity in the city (the Civil Division and Orphan's Court of the

Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas In Pennsylvania, the courts of common pleas are the trial courts of the Unified Judicial System of Pennsylvania (the state court system). The courts of common pleas are the trial courts of general jurisdiction in the state. The name derives fr ...

for the First Judicial District are housed there, as well as chambers for some criminal judges and some judges of the

Philadelphia Municipal Court The Philadelphia Municipal Court is a trial court of limited jurisdiction seated in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It has 27 judges elected by the voters of Philadelphia. The Municipal Court has three divisions: the Criminal Division, the Civil Div ...

). It was the tallest clock tower in the world when it was completed; it was surpassed by the

Metropolitan Life Insurance Company Tower The Metropolitan Life Insurance Company Tower (colloquially known as the Met Life Tower and also as the South Building) is a skyscraper occupying a full block in the Flatiron District of Manhattan in New York City. The building is composed of ...

in 1912, and is currently the 5th tallest building of this type. The tower features a clock face on each side that is in diameter. The clock faces are larger in diameter than those on

Big Ben Big Ben is the nickname for the Great Bell of the Great Clock of Westminster, and, by extension, for the clock tower itself, which stands at the north end of the Palace of Westminster in London, England. Originally named the Clock Tower, it ...

which measure . City Hall's clock was designed by Warren Johnson and built in 1898. The 1937 Philadelphia Guide noted that "shortly after the clock was installed the city inaugurated a custom which still continues. Every evening at three minutes of nine the tower lights are turned off, and then turned on again on the hour. This enables those within observation distance, though unable to see the hands, to set their timepieces. There are four bronze eagles, each weighing three tons with wingspans, perched above the tower's four clocks. City Hall's

observation deck An observation deck, observation platform, or viewing platform is an elevated sightseeing platform usually situated upon a tall architectural structure, such as a skyscraper or observation tower. Observation decks are sometimes enclosed from we ...

is located directly below the base of the statue, about above street level. Once enclosed with

chain-link fencing A chain-link fence (also referred to as wire netting, wire-mesh fence, chain-wire fence, cyclone fence, hurricane fence, or diamond-mesh fence) is a type of woven fence usually made from Galvanization, galvanized or linear low-density polyethy ...

, the observation deck is now enclosed by glass. It is reached in a 6-person elevator whose glass panels allow visitors to see the interior of the iron

superstructure A superstructure is an upward extension of an existing structure above a baseline. This term is applied to various kinds of physical structures such as buildings, bridges, or ships. Aboard ships and large boats On water craft, the superstruct ...

that caps the tower and supports the statuary and clocks. Stairs within the tower are only used for emergency exit. The ornamentation of the tower has been simplified; the huge garlands that festooned the top panels of the tower were removed. In the 1950s, the city council investigated tearing down City Hall for a new building elsewhere, but abandoned the plan due to the high cost of the demolition. Beginning in 1992, Philadelphia City Hall underwent a comprehensive exterior restoration, planned and supervised by the Historical Preservation Studio of Vitetta Architects & Engineers, headed by renowned historical preservation architect Hyman Myers. The majority of the restoration was completed by 2007, although some work has continued, including the installation of four new ornamental courtyard gates, based on an original architectural sketch, in December 2015. The building was voted 21st on the

American Institute of Architects The American Institute of Architects (AIA) is a professional organization for architects in the United States. It is headquartered in Washington, D.C. AIA offers education, government advocacy, community redevelopment, and public outreach progr ...

' list of Americans' 150 favorite U.S. structures in 2007.

William Penn statue

The center of municipal government building is topped by a

bronze statue Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals (such as phosphorus) or metalloids (su ...

weighing of state and city founder

(1644–1718), one of the 250 sculptures created by

(1846–1923), that adorn the building inside and out. The statue was cast at the Tacony Iron Works of

Northeast Philadelphia Northeast Philadelphia, nicknamed Northeast Philly, the Great Northeast, and known colloquially as simply "the Northeast", is a section of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. According to the 2000 census, Northeast Philadelphia has a population of betw ...

and hoisted to the top of the tower in fourteen sections in 1894, seven years before the building was declared completed in 1901. The William Penn statue is the tallest atop any building in the world.Trinacria, Joe (May 17, 2017)
"William Penn Is Getting a Facelift"archive
. ''phillymag.com''. Philadelphia Magazine. Retrieved November 13, 2017. Despite its lofty perch, the city has mandated that the statue be cleaned about every decade / ten years to remove

corrosion Corrosion is a natural process that converts a refined metal into a more chemically stable oxide. It is the gradual deterioration of materials (usually a metal) by chemical or electrochemical reaction with their environment. Corrosion engine ...

and reduce metal deterioration due to

weathering Weathering is the deterioration of rocks, soils and minerals (as well as wood and artificial materials) through contact with water, atmospheric gases, sunlight, and biological organisms. It occurs '' in situ'' (on-site, with little or no move ...

, with the latest cleaning done in May 2017. Penn's statue is hollow, and a narrow access tunnel through it from beneath in the stone / masonry and steel framing of the clock tower leads to a hatch atop the hat."William Penn Statue"
(archive) Retrieved November 13, 2017. Artist / sculptor Calder wished the statue to face south towards the

Delaware River The Delaware River is a major river in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States and is the longest free-flowing (undammed) river in the Eastern United States. From the meeting of its branches in Hancock, New York, the river flows for a ...

and

Bay A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a ''gulf'', ''sea'', ''sound'', or ''bight''. A ''cove'' is a small, ci ...

, so that its face would be lit by the sun most of the day, and the better to reveal the details of his work. But the statue in reality, actually faces to the northeast, towards

Penn Treaty Park Penn Treaty Park is a small park on the western bank of the Delaware River, in the Fishtown neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is located on Beach Street, near its intersection with Delaware Avenue. The land that is now the park ...

in the Fishtown section of the city, which commemorates the site where Penn signed a treaty with the local Native American tribe.

Pennsbury Manor Pennsbury Manor is the colonial estate of William Penn, founder and proprietor of the Colony of Pennsylvania, who lived there from 1699 to 1701. He left it and returned to England in 1701, where he died penniless in 1718. Following his departure ...

, Penn's country home in Bucks County, is also located to the northeast. By the terms of a

that forbade any other structure later built in the city from rising above the hat on the famous William Penn statue, so for decades, the Philadelphia City Hall remained the tallest building in the city until it was surpassed by the skyscraper

in 1986. The abrogation of this municipal agreement in local folklore of the nicknamed Curse of Billy Penn, supposedly brought down a curse onto local professional sports teams. Twice during the 1990s, the statue was partially clothed in a major league

sports team A sports team is a group of individuals who play a team sport together. The number of players in the group depends on the sport. The highest level of a sports team is a professional sports team. In professional sports, the athletes are very t ...

's uniform when they were in contention for a championship: a

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. The Phillies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East Division. Since 2004, the team's home stadium has ...

baseball cap in 1993 and a

Philadelphia Flyers The Philadelphia Flyers are a professional ice hockey team based in Philadelphia. The Flyers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Conference. The team play ...

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

team jersey in 1997—both teams lost however. The supposed curse ended 22 years later when the Philadelphia Phillies professional

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

team in the

National League National League often refers to: *National League (baseball), one of the two baseball leagues constituting Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada *National League (division), the fifth division of the English football (soccer) system ...

won the

2008 World Series The 2008 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 2008 season. The 104th edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff between the National League (NL) champion Philadelphia Phillies and the Amer ...

, a year and four months after a small William Penn

statuette A figurine (a diminutive form of the word ''figure'') or statuette is a small, three-dimensional sculpture that represents a human, deity or animal, or, in practice, a pair or small group of them. Figurines have been made in many media, with cla ...

had been affixed to the final steel beam of the

Comcast Center Comcast Center, also known as the Comcast Tower, is a skyscraper at 1701 John F. Kennedy Boulevard in Center City, Philadelphia, Center City Philadelphia. The 58-story, tower is the List of tallest buildings in Philadelphia, second-tallest bui ...

during its

topping out In building construction, topping out (sometimes referred to as topping off) is a builders' rite traditionally held when the last beam (or its equivalent) is placed at the top of a structure during its construction. Nowadays, the ceremony is ofte ...

ceremony in June 2007. Another Penn statuette was placed on the topmost beam of the

Comcast Technology Center The Comcast Technology Center is a supertall skyscraper in Center City Philadelphia. The 60-floor building, with a height of , is the tallest building in both Philadelphia and the state of Pennsylvania and the tallest building in the Wester ...

in November 2017, and the

Eagles Eagle is the common name for the golden eagle, bald eagle, and other birds of prey in the family of the Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of Genus, genera, some of which are closely related. True eagles comprise the genus ''Aquila ( ...

won the

Super Bowl The Super Bowl is the annual History of the NFL championship, league championship game of the National Football League (NFL) of the United States. It has served as the final game of every NFL season since 1966 NFL season, 1966 (with the excep ...

a few months later.

Centre Square

City Hall is situated on land that was reserved as a

public square A town square (or public square, urban square, city square or simply square), also called a plaza or piazza, is an open public space commonly found in the heart of a traditional town or city, and which is used for community gatherings. Relat ...

upon the city's founding in 1682. Originally known as Centre Square—later renamed Penn Square"Philadelphia City Hall location"
. ''philadelphiabuildings.org''. The Athenaeum of Philadelphia. Retrieved November 29, 2017.—it was used for public gatherings until the construction of City Hall began in 1871. Centre Square was one of the five original squares of Philadelphia laid out on the city grid by

. The square had been located at the geographic center of Penn's city plan, but the Act of Consolidation in 1854 created the much larger and coterminous city and county of Philadelphia. Though no longer at the exact center of the city, the square remains situated in the center of the historic area between the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers; an area which is now called Center City. Penn had intended that Centre Square be the central focus point where the major public buildings would be located, including those for government, religion, and education, as well as the central marketplace. However, the Delaware riverfront would remain the de facto economic and social heart of the city for more than a century.

Film appearances

City Hall has been a

filming location A filming location is a place where some or all of a film or television series is produced, instead of or in addition to using sets constructed on a movie studio backlot or soundstage. In filmmaking, a location is any place where a film crew wi ...

for several motion pictures including ''

Rocky ''Rocky'' is a 1976 American independent film, independent sports drama film directed by John G. Avildsen and written by and starring Sylvester Stallone. It is the first installment in the Rocky (film series), ''Rocky'' franchise and also star ...

'' (1976), ''

Blow Out ''Blow Out'' is a 1981 American independent mystery thriller film written and directed by Brian De Palma. The film stars John Travolta as Jack Terry, a movie sound effects technician from Philadelphia who, while recording sounds for a low-bud ...

'' (1981), ''

Trading Places ''Trading Places'' is a 1983 American comedy film directed by John Landis and written by Timothy Harris and Herschel Weingrod. Starring Dan Aykroyd, Eddie Murphy, Ralph Bellamy, Don Ameche, Denholm Elliott, and Jamie Lee Curtis, the film te ...

'' (1983), ''

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

'' (1993), ''

12 Monkeys ''12 Monkeys'' is a 1995 American Science fiction film, science fiction thriller film directed by Terry Gilliam from a screenplay by David Peoples and Janet Peoples, based on Chris Marker's 1962 short film ''La Jetée''. It stars Bruce Willis, M ...

'' (1995), ''

National Treasure A national treasure is a structure, artifact, object or cultural work that is officially or popularly recognized as having particular value to the nation, or representing the ideals of the nation. The term has also been applied to individuals or ...

'' (2004), '' Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen'' (2009), and '' Limitless'' (2011).

Gallery

File:Philadelphia City Hall at Night.jpg, alt=Christmas tree in front of City Hall, City Hall's Dilworth Plaza at Christmas in 2005 File:2013 Philadelphia City Hall N. Broad Street arcade 1.jpg, The North Broad Street arcade File:2013 Philadelphia City Hall courtyard view to north.jpg, View from City Hall's courtyard File:2013 Philadelphia City Hall from north at Arch Street.jpg, Northern view of City Hall from North Broad Street File:Philadelphia City Hall (146015659).jpeg, Southern view of City Hall from South Broad Street File:Market Street East.jpg, Eastern view of City Hall from Market Street File:Benjamin Franklin Parkway-27527.JPG, Northwestern view of City Hall from the Ben Franklin Parkway File:Market Street 2024.jpg, Western view of City Hall from Market Street File:William Penn Statue on City Hall Tower, Philadelphia, Pa (61764).jpg, The

statue that sits atop City Hall File:Philadelphia City Hall courtyard.jpg, Photo (taken on September 20, 2018) of courtyard of Philadelphia City Hall File:Pres. William McKinley.jpg, Statue of

President McKinley William McKinley (January 29, 1843September 14, 1901) was the 25th president of the United States, serving from 1897 until his assassination in 1901. A member of the Republican Party, he led a realignment that made Republicans largely do ...

File:Matthias William Baldwin.jpg, Statue of Matthias W. Baldwin File:John Wanamaker, Citizen, by John Massey Rhind - IMG 6686.JPG,

John Wanamaker John Wanamaker (July 11, 1838December 12, 1922) was an American merchant and religious, civic and political figure, considered by some to be a proponent of advertising and a "pioneer in marketing". He served as United States Postmaster General ...

, statue identified as "Citizen", created by John Massey Rhind File:John Christian Bullitt by John J. Boyle - IMG 6682.JPG, John Christian Bullitt sculpture by John J. Boyle File:North Pavilion, Philadelphia City Hall - IMG 6676.JPG, North Pavilion Sculpture created prior to 1893 by

; photograph taken on October 19, 2010. File:Detail of Alexander Milne Calder sculptures on Philadelphia City Hall, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania LCCN2011632220.tif, 2011 photo of detail of

sculptures on Philadelphia City Hall

Notes

: The

Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH) is an international body in the field of tall buildings, including skyscrapers, and Sustainable design, sustainable urban design. A non-profit organization based at the Monroe Building in ...

(an authority on the official height of tall buildings worldwide) provides the following criteria for defining the completion of a building: "topped out structurally and architecturally, fully-clad, and open for business, or at least partially occupiable.""CTBUH Height Criteria: Building Status – Complete"archive.org
. ''ctbuh.org''. Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat. Retrieved November 27, 2018. Philadelphia City Hall was occupied by the mayor beginning in 1889 and the

beginning in 1891, and the building was

topped out In building construction, topping out (sometimes referred to as topping off) is a builders' rite traditionally held when the last beam (or its equivalent) is placed at the top of a structure during its construction. Nowadays, the ceremony is ofte ...

in 1894. City Hall was the tallest ''habitable'' building in the world until 1908 when surpassed by the

Singer Building The Singer Building (also known as the Singer Tower) was an office building and early skyscraper at the northwestern corner of Liberty Street and Broadway in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan, New York City. Serving as the headqua ...

. City Hall was surpassed during its construction by the

and the

, and is slightly lower by about than the

(completed in 1889);"Mole Antonelliana"
. ''museocinema.it''. Museo Nazionale del Cinema. Retrieved November 12, 2017.. ''emporis.com''. Emporis Gmbh. Retrieved November 12, 2017. however, none of those three structures are considered habitable buildings.

References

External links

* * * *
''Official Hand Book, City Hall, Philadelphia''
– handbook by City Publishing Co. (1901)
Google Street View
{{Authority control 1901 establishments in Pennsylvania Benjamin Franklin Parkway Broad Street (Philadelphia) Center City, Philadelphia City and town halls on the National Register of Historic Places in Pennsylvania Clock towers in Pennsylvania Courthouses in Pennsylvania Former world's tallest buildings Government buildings completed in 1901 Government of Philadelphia Historic American Buildings Survey in Philadelphia Historic Civil Engineering Landmarks Market East, Philadelphia National Historic Landmarks in Pennsylvania Second Empire architecture in Pennsylvania Skyscraper office buildings in Philadelphia Terminating vistas in the United States Thomas U. Walter buildings