When you are #1 in cheesesteaks,
the world might overlook your architectural achievements.
But Philadelphia’s City Hall is credited with several #1’s.
Designed to be the world’s tallest structure, it took 30 years to achieve 548 feet, from 1871-1901.
That’s 233 feet taller than the ClockTower that houses Big Ben.
Almost 100 feet taller than the Great Pyramid of Giza, at 455 feet.
It easily bests Seattle’s Space Needle built in 1961.
That top floor is at 518 feet.
It is still the worlds tallest masonry building.
A sentimental gentleman’s agreement among developers required that no building in Philly be taller than the statue of William Penn on the top of City Hall.
That agreement was finally discarded by a German from Nuremberg,
architect Helmut Jahn.
His One Liberty Place, soared to 945 feet in 1987.
Ripping off our 1929 Chrysler building in the process.
At least Philly is not also #1 in sausages.
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