William Penn

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States

Public art

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Listed, not yet checked · Oct 2026

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A bronze statue of William Penn by Alexander Milne Calder stands on the tower of Philadelphia City Hall. The City of Philadelphia gives its height as 37 feet and its weight as over 53,000 pounds, and in 2017 called it the largest statue atop any building.

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William Penn

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Site-level location · 39.9524° N, 75.1630° W

FIELD GUIDE

The story

William Penn's hat has a hatch in the top, and in 2017 conservators climbed through it into his head.

The bronze figure crowns the tower of Philadelphia City Hall, about 500 feet above the sidewalk according to the City, and is the work of Alexander Milne Calder, who also made much of the building's sculpture. The City's 2017 release gives its height as 37 feet and its weight as more than 53,000 pounds, and calls it the largest statue atop any building in the world. The Association for Public Art describes it as thought to be one of the world's largest cast bronze figures. WHYY reported that it was cast in 47 parts in sand, as the Liberty Bell was, and bolted together by flanges.

The City says it was cast in 1888 at the Tacony Iron Works in Northeast Philadelphia.

The City says the statue is conserved every ten years. In 2017 the work, by Moorland Studios, began on 15 May; scaffolding rose from the floor of the tower's observation deck to the top of Penn's hat, and the City recorded laser treatment of corrosion and a new protective wax coating. The previous treatment was in 2007. WHYY reported that workers have chalked their names inside the statue, each dated, going back to the 1920s.

From the street Penn can look small. WHYY wrote that from street level he may appear about the size of a person. The Association for Public Art says his face can be seen clearly only in early morning light.

A column in the Philadelphia Inquirer in March 2025 described a Tower Tour as limited to four guests in a small elevator, ending on the observation deck with the statue and its outstretched hand overhead. Visit Philadelphia says Penn can be seen from many spots around the city.

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PRACTICAL

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WHAT TO EXPECT

The statue is seen from Center City streets; from the ground Penn can look small against the tower. In 2025 the Inquirer described a guided City Hall Tower Tour reaching the observation deck just below him, with places limited to four guests at a time.

ACCESS

On top of the City Hall tower at Penn Square, Broad and Market Streets, Philadelphia. It is seen from outside across Center City; a closer view was by guided Tower Tour from the City Hall Visitor Center in 2025, with limited places.

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