Not yet named travel entry: Staycation.

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I was supposed to go to Boston this April to watch my cousin run the Boston Marathon. Yet, due to my Uncle’s wedding the group who were going to go decide to put all of our resources into the California trip.  Luckily, my cousin made good time and qualified for next year’s Boston Marathon with his time this year.
North Portal façade
Instead of returning my vacation days back to my pool, I decided to keep them and be a tourist in my own town.   I took a tour of Philadelphia City Hall, one of the many fascinating points of interest in my hometown that I never visited.  The $10 tour, which is volunteer-led, took me and the group around and throughout the building on a two hour tour including the statuary, architectural elements, Mayor’s reception room, tower, Supreme Court chambers and a six-person elevator ride to the observation platform immediately below the William Penn statue.
One of the four corners of the Earth capitals
 My volunteer, Mike, moved to Philadelphia from Trenton, NJ, after retirement.  Loving the city, he decided to find a meaningful way to volunteer during the day and is a well-versed docent.  I’ll admit the facts and figures that he shared were overwhelming, so I’ll share with you those that stuck with me.
The original chandelier in the Mayor's Reception Room.
My Top Ten Takeaways:

  • Philadelphia City Hall is the nation’s largest municipal building (548 feet tall).
  • The clock faces are larger than Westminster’s Clock Tower.
  • Its architectural style is French Second Empire.
  • There are over 250 relief and freestanding sculptures, all created by Alexander Milne Calder, including William Penn at the top.
  • The four corners of the world is a dominant theme of the building; there are four pediments representing such through the four races of Philadelphia’s inhabitants of the city: African, Asian, European and Native American and the column capitals supporting the tower echo this motif. 
Supreme Court Chamber
  • The William Penn statue is the tallest atop any building in the world.
  • Construction of City Hall started 1871 and lasted thirty years; by its completion in 1901, the style wasn’t en vogue anymore, and the citizens of Philadelphia disliked it and wanted to raze it.
  • The clocks were visible from a great distance and were so accurate that people used the clocks to set their watches and clocks; each evening at 8:57 pm, the clock tower light were turned off to give people three minutes to set their watches before the lights went on again at 9:00pm.
  • The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania is a traveling court – meaning it meets in additional cities outside of the Capital; for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania the Court meets in Harrisburg, Pittsburgh and Philadelphia.
  • The only word incorporated into the façade of the building is Justice, above the Moses Keystone of the South Portal entrance.
Looking up at William Penn from the observation deck
After the tour, I headed to nearby Reading Terminal and got some lunch.  My day in the city – my own city – was a success.  I recommend to anyone to go out and be a tourist in your own town.
The view South on Broad Street.
For additional pictures of Philadelphia City Hall, visit my facebook album: City Hall, Philadelphia, PA, April 2011.

Comments

4onthemove said…
Interesting! I think I knew not one of those 10 facts :) Great idea, I love a good stay-cation myself!
10:46
Casey said…
You know that you're staycationing when you have out of town visitors.
19:45
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