Memorial Hall (Philadelphia)
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Memorial Hall
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Home of the Please Touch Museum
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| Location | West Fairmount Park 4231 Avenue of the Republic Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19131 |
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| Coordinates | 39°58′45″N 75°12′35″W / 39.97917°N 75.20972°WCoordinates: 39°58′45″N 75°12′35″W / 39.97917°N 75.20972°W |
| Area | 3 acres (1.2 ha) |
| Built | 1876 |
| Architect | Herman J. Schwarzmann |
| Architectural style | Beaux-Arts |
| NRHP Reference # | 76001665 |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | December 8, 1976 |
| Designated NHL | December 8, 1976 |
Memorial Hall is a Beaux-Arts style building in the Centennial District of West Fairmount Park, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Built as the art gallery for the 1876 Centennial Exposition, it is the only major structure from that exhibition to survive. It subsequently housed the Pennsylvania Museum of Art (now the Philadelphia Museum of Art) and the Pennsylvania Museum School of Industrial Art (now the University of the Arts). Since October 18, 2008, the Hall has served as home to the Please Touch Museum. It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1976.
The building is located west of the Schuylkill River, at the corner of East Memorial Hall Drive and the Avenue of the Republic.
Memorial Hall was designed by Herman J. Schwarzmann, and is an early example of monumental Beaux-Arts architecture in the United States. Schwarzmann, the chief engineer of the Fairmount Park Commission, also designed the temporary Horticultural Hall for the Exposition. Construction began on 6 July 1874 and was completed for the opening ceremonies on 10 May 1876, at a cost of $1.5 million dollars. President Ulysses S. Grant and other dignitaries presided over the event, which was the first major world's fair to be hosted in the United States.
The exterior is finished with granite and the interior is decorated with marble and ornamental plaster. The building is 365 feet (111 m) by 210 feet (64 m) with basement and ground floor, and 150 feet (46 m) tall at the top of the building's most distinctive feature, an iron and glass dome. Surmounting the dome is the 23-foot-tall (7.0 m) statue of Columbia (the poetic symbol of the United States) holding a laurel branch. At the corners of the dome stand four statues symbolizing industry, commerce, agriculture and mining. Memorial Hall was the inspiration for the Reichstag building in Berlin, Germany.
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