City Hall is one of Philadelphia’s most prominent buildings. Located at the exact center of founding father William Penn’s plans for the city, it was constructed from 1871 to 1901. In order to emphasize the political importance of Philadelphia, the architect John McArthur, Jr. designed City Hall to be the tallest building in the world, with a statue of William Penn himself reaching a final height of 548 ft (167 m). However, this title never came to fruition, as both the Eiffel Tower and the Washington Monument were completed first. Despite this setback, City Hall was still the world’s tallest occupied building until 1909, and remained Philadelphia’s tallest building until 1987. In this year, a “gentlemans agreement” discouraging buildings rising higher than the top of William Penn’s hat ended with the construction of One Liberty Place. Nevertheless, it is the largest municipal building in the nation, surpassing even the U.S. Capitol building. City Hall has housed the government of the city of Philadelphia for over one hundred years, and remains a historical landmark.
Wow, that shot is lovely indeed. The effect with the lights in the photo is beautiful
Thanks Josefina! I actually took this photo from my car window. Only had time for one shot, so I got lucky!
Beautiful photo!
Thanks Seth! I think the cloud cover and drizzle actually enhanced the photo!
Nothing about the Curse of William Penn?? http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20081027&content_id=3648489&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb
Never knew about that – thanks for sharing Alicia!
Merry Christmas to you and your family!!!
Thanks Harold! Hope you and your family had a lovely holiday – and HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Love this photo!
Thanks Jenni!
Kavi, boy for a drive-by one quick shot attempt, you did a fabulous job. I love your brief write. Adds some meat to the bones. Thanks. Hope you have a very healthy and happy New Year.
It was late at night, so there weren’t many cars around – I got lucky! Glad you liked the historical elements of the post. I love learning about the places I visit!
Wow, what an awesome pic. And thank for the interesting information.
Thank you! Glad you found it interesting!