Philadelphia

About Philadelphia

Population

1,584,138 in city
6,533,122 in metro

Size

350 km² (135 mi²)

Altitude

3.048 m

In 1632 a small contingent of Swedes and Finns came to the land where the Schuylkill River meets the Delaware and founded New Sweden. In 1655 Peter Stuyvesant seized New Sweden for the Dutch, inciting conflict with the British until the Dutch relinquished their rights to the territory in 1673. Nine years later William Penn established a town between the Schuylkill and the Delaware rivers, naming it Philadelphia, the "city of brotherly love," and in two years it evolved into an active settlement of about 2,500 people, most of them Quakers. In the mid-1700s, Benjamin Franklin began shaping the destiny of Philadelphia by presiding over the founding of the University of Pennsylvania (one of America’s first universities), Pennsylvania Hospital, and a fire insurance company (both also firsts). Under his guidance Philadelphia became the premier colonial city for the arts and the home of many famous educators, scientists, mathematicians, authors, and painters. In addition a total of 17 libraries were founded at this time. The meeting place of the Continental Congress and the site of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Philadelphia was the nation’s capital from 1790 to 1800, the year the federal government moved permanently to Washington, DC. Throughout the 19th century, the influx first of Irish and German, then Jewish, Italian, Polish, Slavic immigrants from Europe, and blacks from the South, helped build the city’s industrial base. Today, a renewed vigor has overcome the city and it is evidenced by the bold and striking towers that look down on William Penn’s statue on top of Philadelphia City Hall.

Zones

Avenue of the Arts (18), Independence Mall (22)

Boroughs

Bridesburg - Kensington - Richmond (2), Center City (447), Germantown - Chestnut Hill (22), Lower North Philadelphia (163), Near Northeast Philadelphia (3), Olney - Oak Lane (5), Roxborough - Manayunk (2), South Philadelphia (48), Southwest Philadelphia (4), West Philadelphia (80)

Metro Cities

Abington Township, Alloway Township, Ambler, Ardmore, Audubon, Audubon Park, Bala Cynwyd, Barrington, Bass River Township, Bellmawr, Bensalem Township, Berlin, Berlin Township, Berwyn, Beverly, Blue Bell, Bordentown, Bordentown Township, Brandywine, Bridgeport, Bridgeton, Bristol, Brooklawn, Broomall, Bryn Mawr, Burlington, Burlington Township, Camden, Carneys Point Township, Chalfont, Cheltenham Township, Cherry Hill, Chesilhurst, Chester, Chesterbrook, Chesterfield Township, Cinnaminson Township, Claymont, Clayton, Clementon, Coatesville, Collingswood, Commercial Township, Conshohocken, Darby, Deerfield Township, Delanco Township, Delaware City, Delran Township, Deptford Township, Downe Township, Doylestown, East Greenwich Township, Eastampton Township, Eddystone, Edgewater Park Township, Elk Township, Elmer, Elsinboro Township, Essington, Evesham Township, Exton, Fairfield Township, Feasterville-Trevose, Fieldsboro, Florence Township, Flourtown, Fort Dix Military Reservation, Franklin Township, Gibbsboro, Glassboro, Gloucester City, Gloucester Township, Greenville, Greenwich Township, Greenwich Township, Haddon Heights, Haddon Township, Haddonfield, Harrison Township, Hatboro, Hatfield, Hatfield Township, Hi-Nella, Hopewell Township, Horsham Township, Huntingdon Valley, Jenkintown, Kennett Square, King of Prussia, Lafayette Hill, Langhorne, Lansdale, Lansdowne, Laurel Springs, Lawnside, Lawrence Township, Levittown, Lima, Lindenwold, Logan Township, Lower Alloways Creek Township, Lumberton Township, Magnolia, Malvern, Mannington Township, Mansfield Township, Mantua Township, Maple Shade Township, Maurice River Township, Medford Lakes, Medford Township, Merchantville, Middletown, Millville, Monroe Township, Moorestown Township, Morrisville, Mount Ephraim, Mount Holly Township, Mount Laurel Township, National Park, New Castle, New Hanover Township, New Hope, Newark, Newfield, Newtown Square, Norristown, North Hanover Township, Oaklyn, Oaks, Oldmans Township, Oreland, Palmyra, Paulsboro, Pemberton, Pemberton Township, Penn Wynne, Penns Grove, Pennsauken Township, Pennsville Township, Philadelphia, Phoenixville, Pilesgrove Township, Pine Hill, Pine Valley, Pitman, Pittsgrove Township, Plymouth Meeting, Pottstown, Quinton Township, Radnor Township, Reading, Richboro, Riverside Township, Riverton, Runnemede, Salem, Shamong Township, Sharon Hill, Shillington, Shiloh, Skippack, Somerdale, South Harrison, Southampton, Southampton Township, Springfield, Springfield Township (duplicate), Stow Creek Township, Stratford, Swarthmore, Swedesboro, Tabernacle Township, Tavistock, Telford, Tinicum Township, Upper Darby Township, Upper Deerfield Township, Upper Pittsgrove Township, Villanova, Vineland, Voorhees Township, Warminster, Washington Crossing, Washington Township, Washington Township, Waterford Township, Wenonah, West Chester, West Conshohocken, West Deptford Township, West Reading, Westampton Township, Westville, Willingboro Township, Wilmington, Winslow Township, Woodbury, Woodbury Heights, Woodland Township, Woodlyn, Woodlynne, Woodstown, Woolwich Township, Wrightstown, Wyncote, Wyomissing, Yardley, Yeadon

No.	Current status
941	All Buildings
739	existing
13	under construction
37	planned
62	unbuilt
90	demolished

#	Building	Height	Year
1	Comcast Innovation & Technology Center	1,113 ft	2018
2	Comcast Center	974 ft	2008
3	One Liberty Place	945 ft	1987
4	Two Liberty Place	848 ft	1990
5	BNY Mellon Center	792 ft	1990

No.	Type
462	high-rise building
321	low-rise building
94	skyscraper
17	mast (pole)
11	mast (framework)
8	stadium
7	open-air structure
5	church
4	mast (wired)
3	building with towers
2	bridge
2	sculpture
1	silo
1	monumental hall
1	temple
1	house
1	airport tower

No.	Type
11	Famous buildings
25	Buildings with construction images

About Philadelphia

Zones

Boroughs

Metro Cities

No. of Buildings

Tallest Buildings

Building types

Other buildings