Philadelphia City Hall

It is by far the largest stone masonry building in the history of the world.

City Hall makes the Egyptian pyramids, the Roman Coliseum, the Great Wall of China, the Parthenon, the Taj Mahal, the US Capitol and the faces on Mount Rushmore look like some kid’s tiny sand sculptures at the Jersey Shore, and makes the Washington Monument (6 feet taller but not a real building, just a skinny stair tower) – look like an oversized toothpick.

City Hall took over 30 years to build (1871-1901), not to mention 88 MILLION handmade bricks and the modern-day equivalent of nearly 7 BILLION dollars in construction costs, making it the most expensive municipal building ever built in the United States. It covers 4.5 acres and contains more than 30 miles of electrical wiring. Its foundation walls are 22 feet thick. More than 250 stone sculptures adorn its ornate exterior. Even its brass door hinges are works of art – each one engraved with the shield from the Philadelphia city seal! The opulence of City Hall’s stone carvings, arches, staircases and grand interior rooms rivals that of Europe’s royal palaces.

The 50-ton tower clock is so huge (26 feet wide) that if you could stand next to it you would actually be able to see the 175-pound hour hand moving. The clock is illuminated at night and its bright yellow faces are easily visible for many miles in every direction. Above the clock and positioned on the tower’s four corners are bronze statues of Philadelphia’s earliest inhabitants, the Lenni-Lenape (Delaware) Indians and Swedish pioneers. Each weighs over 14 tons and is approximately 25 feet in height.

In Gulliver’s Travels, the hero – a young, well-educated, good-hearted English gentleman of the late 17th Century – voyages across the sea to a strange new land and befriends its inhabitants. Such a man was William Penn, Philadelphia’s own wise and benevolent founding father, who first came to the American colonies in 1682 and helped to establish long-standing peace in the area through his Quaker teachings and fair dealings with the local Lenni-Lenape Indians.

A towering giant like Gulliver, the 27-ton, 37-foot William Penn bronze statue atop City Hall is the tallest statue atop any building in the world. Having held his pose for more than a century in the rarefied air 500 feet above Broad Street, our Gulliveresque friend gazes contentedly across the city and beyond, oblivious to the political battles being fought by the tiny, scheming Lilliputians who occupy offices several hundred feet beneath his Size 60 buckle shoes.

Some consider it a marvel and others a monstrosity, but City Hall is truly the Eighth Wonder of the World. We proudly include it among the Seven Wonders of Philadelphia, and hope you will take a moment to look skyward and appreciate its splendor – or better yet, stop by and “follow the red line” for a tour – the next time you are in Center City hunting for cheese steaks.

Philadelphia City Hall Official Website

Another really good City Hall website

Visitor info and tours

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