The grid of streets in central Philadelphia, the first U.S. city to be so arranged, follows the original plans of William Penn. Midway between the two rivers, Penn Square, occupied by City Hall, is the centre of the plan. The building itself, opened on January 1, 1901, is one of the city’s great monuments and is the largest example of French Second Empire architecture in the United States. City Hall contains 700 rooms and 250 architectural reliefs and sculptures by Alexander Milne Calder, including a 37-foot, 27-ton statue of William Penn that stands atop the building’s main ... (100 of 6,801 words)
