Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

City Hall is built on the area designated by William Penn as Centre Square. It was a public square
from the city’s founding in 1682 until construction of City Hall began upon the site in 1871.
Working on a French Second Empire design by Scottish architect John McArthur, Jr., it was
intended to be the tallest building in th world but when it was finally finished 30 years - and eight
mayors - later City Hall was surpassed by both the Eiffel Tower and Washington Monument.
Instead, it hung its hat on the fact that at 547 feet it was the world’s tallest habitable building, a title
it held for less than a decade. Today it remains the tallest masonry building ever constructed.

The building is topped by an 11.3-m (37 ft), 27-ton bronze statue of city founder William Penn,
one of 250 sculptures created by Alexander Milne Calder that adorn the building inside and out.
The statue is the tallest atop any building in the world. Penn’s statue is hollow, and a narrow access
tunnel through it leads to a small (22-inch-diameter) hatch atop the hat.