{"nrhp_refnum":"78002450","name":"Land Title Building","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"1400 Chestnut St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Philadelphia","county":"Philadelphia","state":"PA","lat":39.95073689900005,"lon":-75.16403856999995,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1978-12-15","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-part office tower at Broad and Chestnut Streets in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, built as the headquarters of the Land Title and Trust Company. The first tower was erected in 1897-8 and a second, taller tower was added to its south in 1901-2.","why_significant":"The nomination argues that the two towers mark two phases in the development of the modern office building, the first a surviving Chicago School design and the second an early twentieth-century classical revival work. It also presents them as among the first significant designs by out-of-town architects in late nineteenth-century Philadelphia, and as a response to the problem of light and air between tall buildings.","narrative":"Two adjoining office towers at the corner of Broad and Chestnut Streets in Philadelphia form the Land Title Building. Daniel H. Burnham and Company of Chicago designed the first tower, erected in 1897-8 with a granite base, a brick shaft of continuous piers rising to round arches, and a crowning cornice. A second, taller tower followed in 1901-2 on the site of the old Lafayette Hotel. Burnham worked on it with Philadelphia architect Horace Trumbauer, and its slab-like facade and giant top colonnade reflect the classical revival taste of the period. Both towers were built for the Land Title and Trust Company. The nomination regards the first as a surviving example of the Chicago School of tall office design and the pair as significant for bringing an out-of-town firm into Philadelphia's architectural scene. Their light wells, set to preserve light and air for neighboring streets, are cited as an early urban design response to crowded tall buildings.","period_of_significance":"1897-8; 1901-2","architect_builder":"Daniel H. Burnham and Co. (first building); Daniel H. Burnham and Co. with Horace Trumbauer (second building, 1901)","architectural_style":"Chicago School; classical revival","criteria":["C"],"status_note":"Document states the exterior of the first building is largely intact and the upper floors have been repeatedly updated; first-floor spaces were altered, most recently in 1964 by Vincent G. Kling and Associates.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.1-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 17:11:29.317893-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_PA/78002450.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/78002450/38df64ee30-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/78002450/38df64ee30-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Smallbones","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Land_Title_Building.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Smallbones</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Land_Title_Building.JPG"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"84003529","name":"Broad Street Historic District (Additional Documentation)","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/pennsylvania/broad-street-historic-district-additional-documentation-84003529/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71997104","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Land_Title_Building","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6483981"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/pennsylvania/philadelphia/land-title-building-78002450/"}