Nat'l Historic Civil Engineering Landmark - Philadelphia, PA
N 39° 57.184 W 075° 09.810
18S E 486034 N 4422560
This historic marker is attached to the outside wall of City Hall. It is located to the right of the northern entrance with N. Broad Street and JFK Blvd. as a backdrop.
Waymark Code: WM9F6R
Location: Pennsylvania, United States
Date Posted: 08/12/2010
Views: 14
Welcome to City Hall. For a few years at the beginning of the 20th century, this amazing, building was the tallest thing on earth! Today, its artwork is a marvel and its engineering is still pioneering and a landmark for engineers around the world.
In 2006, City Hall was designated a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark as it is the world's tallest masonry load-bearing structure. Philadelphia's City Hall, completed in 1901, still holds claim as the world's tallest load-bearing masonry structure at 167 m (548 ft). The steel frame developed in stages of increasing self-sufficiency, with several buildings in Chicago and New York advancing the technology that allowed the steel frame to carry a building on its own. Today, however, many of the tallest skyscrapers are built almost entirely with reinforced concrete. The building was also added to the National Register of Historic Places.
The SOH reads National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark
Since its completion 30 years after construction began in 1871, City Hall has dominated the Center City Philadelphia Skyline. At Penn Square, the building is still the world's tallest masonry load bearing structure, made of 88 million bricks and thousands of tons of stone. City Hall is the nation's most elaborate seat of municipal government. It is the finest American example of the French Second EMpire style, widely used in late 19th century public buildings.