William Penn City Hall
William Penn statue atop City Hall (1901). Urban designer Edmund Bacon was known to say that no gentleman would build taller than the brim of William Penn's hat. William Penn faces to the northeast, toward a location on the banks of the Delaware River where he signed a treaty of friendship with the Lenape Indians in 1682.
The 26-ton statue of William Penn on the top of City Hall is 37 feet high. City Hall itself is 548 ft. This was the tallest building in Philadelphia until the completion of One Liberty Place in 1987. It was second in height (U.S.A.) only to the Washington Monument when it was completed in 1901. Made of 88 million bricks and several thousand tons of stone, City Hall is the world's tallest masonry load-bearing structure.
- The main tower is supported by brick walls, which are 27 feet thick at their base.
- The lower 338 feet are covered with marble.
- The upper 210 feet were covered with cast-iron until the iron was replaced with steel during the 1990s.
William Penn City Hall
William Penn statue atop City Hall (1901). Urban designer Edmund Bacon was known to say that no gentleman would build taller than the brim of William Penn's hat. William Penn faces to the northeast, toward a location on the banks of the Delaware River where he signed a treaty of friendship with the Lenape Indians in 1682.
The 26-ton statue of William Penn on the top of City Hall is 37 feet high. City Hall itself is 548 ft. This was the tallest building in Philadelphia until the completion of One Liberty Place in 1987. It was second in height (U.S.A.) only to the Washington Monument when it was completed in 1901. Made of 88 million bricks and several thousand tons of stone, City Hall is the world's tallest masonry load-bearing structure.
- The main tower is supported by brick walls, which are 27 feet thick at their base.
- The lower 338 feet are covered with marble.
- The upper 210 feet were covered with cast-iron until the iron was replaced with steel during the 1990s.