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Tower Tours
Mon- Fri 9:30AM- 4:30PM (10AM is reserved often for school groups) Timed tickets available, first-come, first-served Elevator leaves for observation deck every 15 minutes with four (4) visitors. Tickets are available in Room 114. To tower: Take NE or NW corner elevator to the top floor (7), follow the red lines on the floor to escalator that goes to the 9th floor Exhibit/Waiting Room. Interior Tours Mon-Fri 12:30PM Tours leave from Room 114 and last approximately 1.5 - 2 hours Learn about William Penn, City Hall's history, art & architecture See beautiful rooms used by the Mayor, City Council, & State Supreme Court. Tours ends at the Tower Exterior Tours and Special Group Tours By Appointment Call (215) 686-2840.
Since its completion 30 years after construction began in 1871,
City Hall has dominated the Center City panorama. Erected on Penn's Square,
the site of one of William Penn's five planned parks, and the location
at the exact center of the original city. Architect John McArthur.,
Jr., intended for the ornate building to be the tallest structure in
the world at 548 feet, but it never held that distinction. Although the
Eiffel Tower in Paris and the Washington monument in the District of
Columbia were completed first, City Hall was the tallest occupied
structure in the U.S. until 1909. The Building is still the world's
largest masonry load-bearing structure, made of 88 million bricks
and thousands of tons of stone.
City Hall is perhaps the nation's largest and most elaborate seat of municipal government. It is the finest American example of French Second-Empire style, widely used in turn of the century public buildings. City Hall boasts the most comprehensive sculptural decoration of any American building created in the Renaissance tradition. Alexander Milne Calder designed over 250 sculptures including the statue of William Penn, which alights the tower. Calder fashioned people and animals of the world, educators, artists, and engineers out of stone "to express American ideals and develop American genius." There are three generations of Calder family artists found along the Ben. Franklin Parkway: his son designed the Swann Fountain in Logan Circle and his grandson's famous mobile hangs at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. No other building in Philadelphia, matches City Hall's exuberance of design and, until 1987, no building exceeded its height. Although a corridor of sleep skyscrapers now views for attention along the skyline, "the marble elephant"- now a National Historic landmark, still inspires on-lookers.
City Hall is the government seat for the City of Philadelphia
and is home to the largest number of elected officials in the City. Agencies and services located in City Hall include the: . Mayor's Office . City Council . First Judicial District (Civil Court System) . Pennsylvania Supreme Court . Register of Wills . Department of Records . Prothonotary . City Commissioners . Public Art Office . Historic Commission . Department of Public Safety City hall is the largest municipal building in North America and has received many awards of distinction. It is maintained by the Department of Public Property Building Services Division. It is estimated that over 2000 people every day visit City Hall for business or City services. The visitors office is located in room 121 in the east portal. The tower is open daily to the public between the hours of 9:30AM and 4PM. |
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