Item Info
Historic Street Address: Broad & Walnut Street, SE corner
Media Type: Photographic Prints
Source: Print and Picture Collection
Notes:
This is a ca. 1914 photograph of the original Ritz-Carlton Philadelphia Hotel, designed by Horace Trumbauer and located at the SE corner of Broad & Walnut Streets. The building was completed in 1912, but quickly became so popular, that an immediate expansion to double its original size was completed in 1914, as seen in this image. It was one of the most luxurious hotels in Philadelphia for many years. As an interesting side note, the first NFL draft took place at the Ritz-Carlton, on February 8-9, 1936. It was the brainchild of deBenneville "Bert" Bell, the owner of the Eagles since 1933, and manager of his family’s Ritz-Carlton Hotel at the time.
The building continued to operate as a Ritz-Carlton hotel until sometime in the mid-1950s, after which it served as an office building for the next four decades. During that period, the original Beaux-Arts exterior underwent many regrettable architectural alterations. However, in 1997 the building was purchased by the University of the Arts, and, using some remaining sections of the original facade as a guide, restored the second through fifth floors to their original appearance. Renamed the Daniel J. Terra Building, it serves a mixed-use purpose of street-level retail businesses below, and the university's educational and performance spaces above.
Creation Year: ca. 1914
Geocode Latitude: Geocode Longitude:-75.163958
Geocode Latitude:39.949026
Creator Name: Horace Trumbauer - Architect