Wells Fargo Building (Philadelphia)
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Fidelity-Philadelphia Trust Company Building
(Wells Fargo Building) |
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(2014)
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| Location | 123-151 S. Broad St. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
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| Coordinates | 39°56′58″N 75°9′52″W / 39.94944°N 75.16444°WCoordinates: 39°56′58″N 75°9′52″W / 39.94944°N 75.16444°W |
| Built | 1927-28 |
| Architect | Simon & Simon |
| Architectural style | Beaux-Arts |
| Part of | Broad Street Historic District (#84003529) |
| NRHP Reference # | 78002447 |
| Added to NRHP | November 27, 1978 |
The Wells Fargo Building, originally the Fidelity-Philadelphia Trust Company Building, is a skyscraper in Center City, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Designed in the Beaux-Arts style by the architectural firm Simon & Simon, the building was erected for the Fidelity-Philadelphia Trust Co. in 1928. The 29-story high-rise is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The building was long regarded as premier office space, but by the 1980s, tenants were leaving for newer buildings in the West Market Street neighborhood. Extensive rehab work has since drawn new tenants. Its largest tenant has always been the Fidelity-Philadelphia Trust Company or its successor companies — today, Wells Fargo.
The 405-foot (123 m) limestone and granite skyscraper features recesses that give the building an H-shape above the fifth floor. Decorations include sculpture by Piccirilli Brothers and 150,000 square feet (14,000 m2) of marble. Seven medallions, mainly depicting early American coins, decorate the street-level facade. Bas-relief figures decorate the spandrels above the building's bronze doors, which are themselves decorated by high-relief panels depicting the history of commerce and civilization.
In the late 1920s, numerous high-rises were constructed in Center City Philadelphia. Among the businesses commissioning new high-rises was the Fidelity-Philadelphia Trust Company, the result of the 1926 merger between Fidelity Trust Company and the Philadelphia Trust Company. Before the merger, in 1925, architects Edward P. Simon and Grant M. Simon of the firm Simon and Simon were approached to design a new building. The designs were complete by the end of 1926 and in January 1927 general contractor Irwin & Leighton was engaged to build the Fidelity-Philadelphia Trust Company Building. The site of the building along Broad Street was previously the location of the Forrest Theater and the "Yellow Mansion" (also known as the Dundas Lippincott House).
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