PHILADELPHIA, a city coextensive with Philadelphia co., Pa., on the ware and Schuylkill rivers, and on the Pennsylvania, Philadelphia and Reading, and the Baltimore and Ohio railroads; 85 miles S. W. of New York. It is the third largest city of the United States; area, 130 square miles; pop. (1910) 1,549,008; (1920) 1,823,779.
Topography.—The city is built chiefly on a low peninsula between the two rivers. In the portion most thickly built up the highest elevation is 46 feet, but rises to 440 feet in the suburbs. It ex tends N. and S. about 22 miles, and is from 5 to 10 miles in width. There is a water frontage on the Delaware river of over 16 miles, of which more than 5 miles have docks. The harbor has been greatly improved by the removal of the islands in the middle of the river, and in front of the wharves there is an average depth of 50 feet. The Schuylkill river, which runs through the city, is navigable for large vessels to Walnut street, and is crossed by many bridges, of which the most costly are at Walnut street, Gray's Ferry, Spring Garden street, and Girard avenue. Another important bridge is the Walnut Lane bridge over the Wissa hickon, one of the largest concrete bridges in the world. The section of the city W. of the Schuylkill is locally called West Philadelphia; another noted sec tion is known as Germantown. League Island, containing a widely noted navy yard, has an area of 925 acres and lies just above the mouth of the Schuylkill.
Municipal Improvements.—The city owns a waterworks system which cost about $65,000,000. They have a daily capacity of 320,000,000 gallons, and the water is distributed through 1,800 miles of mains. There are in all 1,733 miles of streets, of which 1,549 are paved. The sewer system covers 1,386 miles. The city is lighted by electricity at a cost of $1,244,696 per annum. The average annual cost of the police department is of the Schuylkill river, and more than 6 miles on both banks of Wissahickon creek, giving it an area of over 3,000 acres, traversed by 32% miles of drive ways. The park contains four reser voirs of the Schuylkill waterworks; Ran dolph Rogers' colossal bronze statue of Abraham Lincoln; statues of Washing ton, Garfield, Grant and others; the man sion (now occupied by a restaurant) in which Robert Morris lived during the almost $5,000,000, and that of the fire de partment $2,170,000. The annual death
rate averages 24.19 per 1,000. The cost of maintaining the city government in 1919 was $35,514,399. Electric street car lines traverse the principal streets and extend to the various suburbs.
Fairmount Park.—This is one of the largest public parks in the world. It ex tends more than 7 miles on both banks Revolutionary War; the Solitude, a villa erected by John Penn, grandson of Wil liam Penn, in 1785; the Zoological Gar dens; Commercial Museum; Belmont Glen, a beautiful ravine; and other points of interest. In 1876 the Centennial Ex position was held here. Memorial Hall, erected at a cost of $1,500,000, which was used for the art gallery of the Expo sition, now contains a permanent indus trial and art collection. Here also is the Horticultural Building filled with tropi cal and other plants and surrounded by 35 acres of ground devoted to horticul ture.
Notable Buildings.—In the heart of the city, at the intersection of Market and Broad streets, stands the City Hall, on a piece of ground which was formerly Penn Square. This great structure, usually called the Public Buildings, was built of white marble and granite; is 486% feet long by 470 wide; contains 520 rooms, and including a court yard 200 feet square in the center, covers an area of nearly acres. The central tower rises to a height of 547 feet, 3 inches, and is surrounded by a colossal statue of William Penn, 37 feet in height. The total cost of the building was over $20, 000,000. Besides this there are many other great buildings including the Masonic Temple, costing $2,000,000; the United States mint; the postoffice; the Bourse; the Stock Exchange; Independ ence Hall, famous as the State House of the colonial period, and as the depository of the Liberty Bell; the Pennsylvania Hospital, covering an entire square; the building of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania; the Philadelphia Library, containing upward of 500,000 volumes; Academy of Fine Arts, containing one of the most extensive collections of paint ings, engravings, bronzes, and sculptures in the United States; Odd Fellows' Hall; several armories; custom house, copied from the Parthenon, and considered one of the best samples of Doric architecture in the world; the stations of the Penn sylvania, the Philadelphia and Reading, and Baltimore and Ohio railroads; etc.