Philadelphia City Hall
Oct 8, 2020 07:10:23 #
Philadelphia City Hall serves as the seat of the municipal government of the City of Philadelphia, housing the chambers of the Philadelphia City Council and the offices of the Mayor of Philadelphia.
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Sept 2008
Philadelphia City Hall by Paul Sager, on Flickr
Built of brick, white marble, and limestone, Philadelphia City Hall is the world’s largest free standing masonry building. In 1976, it was designated a National Historic Landmark.
Philadelphia City Hall
The building was designed by Scottish-born architect John McArthur Jr. and Thomas Ustick Walter in the Second Empire style, and was constructed from 1871 to 1901 at a cost of $24 million.
Philadelphia City Hall
City Hall's tower was completed by 1894, although the interior wasn't finished until 1901. Designed to be the world's tallest building, it was surpassed during construction by the Washington Monument and the Eiffel Tower.
At 548 ft (167 m), including the statue of city founder William Penn atop its tower, City Hall was the tallest building in Pennsylvania until it was surpassed in 1932 by the Gulf Tower in Pittsburgh.
Philadelphia City Hall
The principal exterior materials are limestone, granite, and marble. The original design called for virtually no sculpture. The stonemason William Struthers and sculptor Alexander Milne Calder were responsible for the more than 250 sculptures of nature, artists, educators, and engineers who embodied American ideals and contributed to this country’s genius.
Philadelphia City Hall
William Penn (1644 – 1718) was the son of the admiral and politician Sir William Penn. In 1681, King Charles II handed over a large piece of his North American land holdings to Penn to pay debts owed by the Crown to Penn's father. This land included the present-day states of Pennsylvania and Delaware.
Philadelphia City Hall
In the 1950s, the city council investigated tearing down City Hall for a new building elsewhere. They found that the demolition would have bankrupted the city due to the building's masonry construction.
Philadelphia City Hall
The bronze statue William Penn is 37 ft (11 m) tall and weighs 53,348 lbs. A gentlemen's agreement forbade any structure in the city from rising above the hat on the Penn statue. Philadelphia City Hall remained the tallest building in the city until it was surpassed by One Liberty Place in 1986.
Philadelphia City Hall
Second Empire is an architectural style most popular in the latter half of the 19th century and early years of the 20th century. It was so named for the architectural elements in vogue during the era of the Second French Empire. As the Second Empire style evolved from its 17th-century Renaissance foundations, it acquired a mix of earlier European styles, most notably the Baroque, often combined with mansard roofs and / or low, square-based domes.
The Second French Empire refers to the Imperial Bonapartist regime of Napoleon III from 1852 to 1870, between the Second Republic and the Third Republic in France.
Philadelphia City Hall
City Hall is situated on land that was reserved as a public square upon the city's founding in 1682. Originally known as Centre Square, the area was later renamed Penn Square, and was used for public gatherings until the construction of City Hall began in 1871.
Philadelphia City Hall
In 1986 when the agreement was broken regarding the height of City Hall, it supposedly brought a curse onto all the local professional sports teams. Twice during the 1990s, the statue was partially clothed in a major league sports team's uniform when they were in contention for a championship: a Phillies cap in 1993 and a Flyers jersey in 1997. Both teams lost. The curse finally ended 22 years later when the Phillies won the 2008 World Series, a year and four months after a Penn statuette had been affixed to the final beam of the Comcast Center during its topping out ceremony in June 2007. Another Penn statuette was placed on the topmost beam of the Comcast Technology Center in November 2017, and the Eagles won the Super Bowl a few months later.
Philadelphia City Hall
Despite its lofty perch, the city requires the Penn statue be cleaned about every ten years to remove corrosion and reduce deterioration due to weathering, with the latest cleaning done in May 2017. Penn's statue is hollow, and a narrow access tunnel through it leads to a 22-inch-diameter (56 cm) hatch atop the hat.
Philadelphia City Hall
Images shared in this post come from reprocessing in Adobe Lightroom 6 of the original JPEGs from October 2008. I was looking for examples of the Canon EF 75–300mm f/4–5.6 lens "kit lens" with an EOS Rebel XTi. The film era EF 24-85mm f/3.5-4.5 USM was used for most of this series.
These images are sized to fill your wide-screen display. Try using <F11> to maximize your browser window for the full effect. If the images overshoot your display, such as a laptop, just click on the image or the URL link and they'll resize to your screen from the host Flickr site. You can click a bit further into the image details on the Flickr page, if desired. EXIF data is available from the host Flickr pages as well. On the Flickr site, use your <L>key for Large and the <F11> for the full-screen.
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Sept 2008
Philadelphia City Hall by Paul Sager, on Flickr
Built of brick, white marble, and limestone, Philadelphia City Hall is the world’s largest free standing masonry building. In 1976, it was designated a National Historic Landmark.
Philadelphia City Hall
The building was designed by Scottish-born architect John McArthur Jr. and Thomas Ustick Walter in the Second Empire style, and was constructed from 1871 to 1901 at a cost of $24 million.
Philadelphia City Hall
City Hall's tower was completed by 1894, although the interior wasn't finished until 1901. Designed to be the world's tallest building, it was surpassed during construction by the Washington Monument and the Eiffel Tower.
At 548 ft (167 m), including the statue of city founder William Penn atop its tower, City Hall was the tallest building in Pennsylvania until it was surpassed in 1932 by the Gulf Tower in Pittsburgh.
Philadelphia City Hall
The principal exterior materials are limestone, granite, and marble. The original design called for virtually no sculpture. The stonemason William Struthers and sculptor Alexander Milne Calder were responsible for the more than 250 sculptures of nature, artists, educators, and engineers who embodied American ideals and contributed to this country’s genius.
Philadelphia City Hall
William Penn (1644 – 1718) was the son of the admiral and politician Sir William Penn. In 1681, King Charles II handed over a large piece of his North American land holdings to Penn to pay debts owed by the Crown to Penn's father. This land included the present-day states of Pennsylvania and Delaware.
Philadelphia City Hall
In the 1950s, the city council investigated tearing down City Hall for a new building elsewhere. They found that the demolition would have bankrupted the city due to the building's masonry construction.
Philadelphia City Hall
The bronze statue William Penn is 37 ft (11 m) tall and weighs 53,348 lbs. A gentlemen's agreement forbade any structure in the city from rising above the hat on the Penn statue. Philadelphia City Hall remained the tallest building in the city until it was surpassed by One Liberty Place in 1986.
Philadelphia City Hall
Second Empire is an architectural style most popular in the latter half of the 19th century and early years of the 20th century. It was so named for the architectural elements in vogue during the era of the Second French Empire. As the Second Empire style evolved from its 17th-century Renaissance foundations, it acquired a mix of earlier European styles, most notably the Baroque, often combined with mansard roofs and / or low, square-based domes.
The Second French Empire refers to the Imperial Bonapartist regime of Napoleon III from 1852 to 1870, between the Second Republic and the Third Republic in France.
Philadelphia City Hall
City Hall is situated on land that was reserved as a public square upon the city's founding in 1682. Originally known as Centre Square, the area was later renamed Penn Square, and was used for public gatherings until the construction of City Hall began in 1871.
Philadelphia City Hall
In 1986 when the agreement was broken regarding the height of City Hall, it supposedly brought a curse onto all the local professional sports teams. Twice during the 1990s, the statue was partially clothed in a major league sports team's uniform when they were in contention for a championship: a Phillies cap in 1993 and a Flyers jersey in 1997. Both teams lost. The curse finally ended 22 years later when the Phillies won the 2008 World Series, a year and four months after a Penn statuette had been affixed to the final beam of the Comcast Center during its topping out ceremony in June 2007. Another Penn statuette was placed on the topmost beam of the Comcast Technology Center in November 2017, and the Eagles won the Super Bowl a few months later.
Philadelphia City Hall
Despite its lofty perch, the city requires the Penn statue be cleaned about every ten years to remove corrosion and reduce deterioration due to weathering, with the latest cleaning done in May 2017. Penn's statue is hollow, and a narrow access tunnel through it leads to a 22-inch-diameter (56 cm) hatch atop the hat.
Philadelphia City Hall
Images shared in this post come from reprocessing in Adobe Lightroom 6 of the original JPEGs from October 2008. I was looking for examples of the Canon EF 75–300mm f/4–5.6 lens "kit lens" with an EOS Rebel XTi. The film era EF 24-85mm f/3.5-4.5 USM was used for most of this series.
These images are sized to fill your wide-screen display. Try using <F11> to maximize your browser window for the full effect. If the images overshoot your display, such as a laptop, just click on the image or the URL link and they'll resize to your screen from the host Flickr site. You can click a bit further into the image details on the Flickr page, if desired. EXIF data is available from the host Flickr pages as well. On the Flickr site, use your <L>key for Large and the <F11> for the full-screen.
Oct 8, 2020 07:37:11 #
Excellent shots Paul. I worked a few blocks from City Hall and took many walks during lunch in that area. But I don't miss the 1 hour commute each way.
Oct 8, 2020 07:39:06 #
exakta56
Loc: Orford,New Hampshire
Thank you very much for taking the time and effort to present this interesting story.
Oct 8, 2020 07:43:43 #
Oct 8, 2020 08:02:57 #
Oct 8, 2020 08:06:59 #
Oct 8, 2020 09:25:03 #
Thank you Elliott, exakta56, Bill, John, mizzee! I've been revisiting older work, here finding a night / weekend in Philadelphia now over 12-years ago. I was never inside the Philly City Hall, even after this big tour around outside. Thank you for your kind comments.
Oct 9, 2020 00:23:36 #
exakta56 wrote:
Thank you very much for taking the time and effort to present this interesting story.
Oct 9, 2020 05:54:42 #
CHG_CANON wrote:
Philadelphia City Hall serves as the seat of the m... (show quote)
Really like the different angles and history lesson. Thanks!
Oct 9, 2020 06:53:53 #
Another excellent set from you Paul. I liked the different angles and the perspective of the images. And as always the narrative you include behind the images. Well done. Thank you for sharing.
Oct 9, 2020 07:53:31 #
Beautiful photographs, each and every one of them. Thanks for the description too of the photos. Well done.
Dennis
Dennis
Oct 9, 2020 07:59:21 #
CHG_CANON wrote:
Philadelphia City Hall serves as the seat of the m... (show quote)
Fabulous work Paul. The architecture is breath-taking and over the top. I enjoyed every frame of it sir.
Oct 9, 2020 08:15:43 #
Thank you MDI Mainer, Jim, venkatesh_eng, Dennis, Blair! For buildings of the Second Empire style, the design is rather distinct, even when from unrelated architects. We can no longer get as close to the Eisenhower Executive Office Building in DC for similar angles / views, but at first glance, you'd think these were the same building. Glad you enjoyed this blast from the (digital archive) past.
Oct 9, 2020 08:39:55 #
Oct 9, 2020 08:51:08 #
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