Weekend off | Scene Through the Lens
Inquirer staff photographer Tom Gralish’s weekly visual exploration of the Philadelphia region.
Back then, it was the coat of arms of the commonwealth - not an Eagle - that flew next to the American flag at Broad and Spring Garden.
The old Pennsylvania State Office Building, which dates from 1957 and is characterized as Midcentury Modern architecture, was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2010. It sold in 2008, and was redeveloped as Tower Place apartments in 2012.
Among the many photos I made myself - or saw of the 20-story building - which is just a block away from the historic 1920s beaux arts building that once housed The Inquirer and Daily News, my favorite is one made by former colleague Eric Mencher in 2003.
The building is on the site of what was the Baldwin Locomotive Works, once the most successful builder of steam locomotives in the world. During the Golden Age of railroading the plant occupied eight city blocks covering 19 acres. In its best year (at the turn of the 20th Century) some 20,000 workers made 3,600 steam engines (almost 10 a day). All that’s left today is a statue of Matthias Baldwin outside City Hall.
At lower right is the Elverson Building as it was known then, former home of The Inquirer and Daily News, now headquarters of the Philadelphia Police Department. (We moved out in 2012).
In the late 90s, It was also one of three or four proposed “downtown sites” before the Phillies ended up staying in the South Philadelphia sports complex, building Citizens Bank Park.
Since 1998, a black-and-white photo has appeared every Monday in staff photographer Tom Gralish’s “Scene Through the Lens” photo column in The Inquirer’s local news section. Here are the most recent, in color: