Editing Philadelphia City Hall (section)

== The William Penn Statue ==

The statue atop Philadelphia City Hall depicts '''[[William Penn]]''' (1644-1718), the founder of the Province of Pennsylvania and the city of Philadelphia. The 37-foot bronze statue weighing 53,348 pounds (approximately 27 tons) is the tallest statue atop any building in the world.<ref name="apa">{{cite web |url=https://www.associationforpublicart.org/artwork/william-penn/ |title=William Penn |publisher=Association for Public Art |access-date=December 22, 2025}}</ref>

=== Alexander Milne Calder ===

The statue was designed and created by sculptor Alexander Milne Calder (1846-1923), who also designed all 250 sculptures decorating the building's exterior. Calder, grandfather of the famous mobile artist Alexander Calder, dedicated much of his career to the City Hall project.

Calder based his depiction of Penn on thorough historical research. The Historical Society of Pennsylvania helped determine the authentic 17th-century Quaker clothing Penn would have worn. Penn holds the charter of Pennsylvania in his hand, symbolizing the founding of the commonwealth.

=== Installation ===

The statue was cast at the Tacony Iron Works in Northeast Philadelphia and hoisted to the top of the tower in fourteen separate sections in 1894—seven years before the building was officially completed. Calder later claimed that the statue was incorrectly installed facing northeast instead of south, throwing its features into perpetual shadow. However, early drawings show the statue was intentionally oriented toward Penn Treaty Park, the legendary site of Penn's treaty with the Lenni Lenape people.