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Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, was founded in 1682 by William Penn.
The city was the capital of the U.S. from 1790 until 1800, when it lost that title to Washington D.C.
It was here that the independence of the United States of America was declared (1776).
And Philadelphia is a city of more 'firsts':
the first newspaper saw the light here, as well as the first hospital.
Until the first half of the 19th Century, Philadelphia was the world's second largest English speaking city,
behind London. A position that was later taken over by New York City.
At the moment, Philadelphia has a population of just over 1,5 million,
which makes it the fifth tallest city in the U.S. (behind New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Houston).
Philadelphia was also the very first city I visited, and the city where I took the very first skyscraper pictures.
In 2005, I re-visited the city and all the pictures I took then, you can find on the following two pages.


Above: three skyline views of Philadelphia. The left picture was taken from the north just before sunset.
The middle picture was taken from the west with Schuylkill River in front.
The last picture was taken from the 33rd floor of the Loews Philadelphia Hotel.




Above: ten different pictures of One Liberty Place (288m/945f, 61 stories, 1987), currently
Philadelphia's tallest skyscraper. It will have this title until 2007/2008, when it will be overtaken by Comcast Center.
The spire on top is approximately 20 metres tall (65 feet).




Above: and eight different pictures of Two Liberty Place (258m/848f, 58 stories, 1990),
the city's second tallest building. A shopping complex with some 60 shops connects One and Two Liberty Place.


Above: Mellon bank Center (241m/792f, 54 stories, 1990).
In the middle picture, a small part of a building site can be seen.
It's the site where Comcast Center is under construction.
This skyscraper will be 297m/975m tall, with 57 stories.
It will be Philadelphia's tallest when completed by late 2007.


Above: perhaps Philadelphia's finest: Bell Atlantic Tower (225m/739f, 55 stories, 1991).


To see more pictures and buildings of Philadelphia,
go to page 2: click here


Philadelphia's 10 tallest skyscrapers:
1. ONE LIBERTY PLACE 288m/945m, 61 stories, 1987
2. TWO LIBERTY PLACE 258m/848f, 58 stories, 1990
3. MELLON BANK CENTER 241m/792f, 54 stories, 1990
4. BELL ATLANTIC TOWER 225m/739f, 55 stories, 1991
5. G. FRED DIBONA, JR. BUILDING 191m/625f, 45 stories, 1990
6. TWO COMMERCE SQUARE 172m/565f, 41 stories, 1992
7. ONE COMMERCE SQUARE 172m/565f, 41 stories, 1987
8. PHILADELPHIA CITY HALL 167m/548f, 9 stories, 1901
9. 1818 MARKET STREET 152m/500f, 40 stories, 1974
10. THE SAINT JAMES 152m/498f, 45 stories, 2004

The building data, the top 10 of tallest buildings and some of the building information are courtesy of
EMPORIS.COM, one of the world's leading architectural resources on tall buildings.

All pictures copyright (c) 2005 Patrick Beckers. All Rights Reserved.
Download of any pictures from this site without written consent is strictly prohibited, unless for personal use!
This personal use does NOT include using the pictures on other web sites.

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