PHILADELPHIA CITY HALL TOUR 13-noframes

Law Library Room 600

he Law Library Association of Philadelphia is the oldest such organization in America. It was formed on March 13, 1802 and occupied several locations around Philadelphia before moving into room 600 at the new City Hall.
he initial plans had designated space for the Library on the fourth floor. Funding delays caused the association to lose this space to other City agencies and the new sixth floor area was designed for their use by William Bleddyn Powell. Smoke damage from a sixth floor fire delayed the move into their new space an additional three months, but finally, on March 30, 1898, the Law Library Association took up residence in the new City Hall. Their new quarters were described by a local newspaper as "the most elegantly appointed in America."

urn of the century accounts described the original ceiling as "gorgeously frescoed and studded with incandescent lights that glitter like stars." The original Electro-gasoliers, six feet across, contained 24 gas and 24 electric lights in a period of radical change that the designers and builders of the new building struggled to keep up with.

n 1969, the Law Library Association relocated again, and the room they occupied at City Hall offered only hints of its former grandeur until a 1999 restoration effort by the First Judicial Court revived the forgotten room.

A 1960 photograph of the Law Library prior to the installation of a suspended ceiling.

The Law library as it appeared between 1969 and 1999

The Law Library today, once again resembling it's former glory thanks to restoration efforts of the First Judicial Court.
While financial constraints prohibited the perfect historic restoration of the space - painting, plaster, additional lighting, floor restoration, and removal of the suspended ceiling made it a space of quiet study very similiar to that intended by the original designers.

n interesting feature that can still be seen is the glass floors of the balcony.

ery popular with libraries of the period, the glass floor panels are 1" thick and emit light between the stacks. A spiral stair in the rear of the room leads up to the balcony level and the glass floor. Its inaccessability was intentional since the most valuable books were shelved on the balcony level and protected by brass gates that discouraged casual users.

inety eight tons of steel support the casings, galleries, and walks of the library which was designed to accomodate 70,000 volumes. 'Galvano plastic' brackets embellish the steel at the end of each stack. Another 'modern' feature of the time, these brass ornaments present a study in the history of man and individually are symbolical of Wisdom, Peace, Oppression, Power, Justice, Fame, Liberty and Equity.

ur interior tour ends here. It is only a small sampling of some of City Hall's more prominent rooms and spaces. Decorative arts and architectural treasures can be found throughout the building's various courtrooms and offices. Many have been lost, vandalized, stolen, or hidden behind 'modern' improvements. A few have been restored or preserved. The building is a functioning museum and years could be spent discovering all its secrets.

s you head back to the northeast corner to catch an elevator to the seventh floor, consider the words of Benjamin Harris Brewster in his address at the cornerstone dedication in 1876,

ne of the most majestic and useful structures that adorns, or have adorned, any city in the world.
May it last forever!"

hen you get to the seventh floor, follow the red lines painted on the floor. They lead to an escalator up to level nine. Take a moment and look at the exhibit there while you wait for the elevator to take you to the top of THE TOWER.