Philadelphia City Hall is the house of government for the city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. At 548 ft (167 m), including the statue of city founder William Penn atop it, it is the world's tallest masonry building, since the collapse of the pinnacle of the Mole Antonelliana in Turin, and its consequent rebuilding as a metal structure faced with stone. The weight of the building is borne by granite and brick walls up to 22 feet (6.7 m) thick, rather than steel; the principal exterior materials are limestone, granite, and marble.
It was the tallest habitable building in the world from 1901 to 1908 and the tallest in Pennsylvania until 1932 when surpassed by the Gulf Tower in Pittsburgh. It remained the tallest building in Philadelphia until the construction of One Liberty Place (1984–1987) ended the informal gentlemen's agreement that limited the height of tall buildings in the city; it is currently the 16th-tallest building in Pennsylvania.
Famous quotes containing the words philadelphia, city and/or hall:
“All the oxygen of the world was in them.
All the feet of the babies of the world were in them.
All the crotches of the angels of the world were in them.
All the morning kisses of Philadelphia were in them.”
—Anne Sexton (1928–1974)
“This city now doth, like a garment, wear
The beauty of the morning; silent bare,
Ships, towers, domes, theatres and temples lie
Open unto the fields and to the sky;
All bright and glittering in the smokeless air.”
—William Wordsworth (1770–1850)
“A cell for prayer, a hall for joy,—
They treated nature as they would.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)