{"nrhp_refnum":"79002325","name":"Old Federal Reserve Bank","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"925 Chestnut St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Philadelphia","county":"Philadelphia","state":"PA","lat":39.950116345000026,"lon":-75.15672028699998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1979-06-28","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Landscape Architecture","Commerce","Art","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"An eight-story steel-frame bank building with Vermont blue marble walls at Tenth and Chestnut Streets in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The main section was designed by Paul Philippe Cret and built between 1931 and 1935, incorporating an earlier 1899 structure.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the building represents the nation's optimism and economic stability during the Depression era through Cret's use of stripped classicism. It also cites the building's formal garden and fountain, regarded as one of the finest in Philadelphia, and its interior public hall with decorative marble and bronze work. The site's association with Colonial-era history, including a plaque commemorating Benjamin Franklin's kite experiments, is noted as additional context.","narrative":"Steel-frame building of Vermont blue marble at Tenth and Chestnut Streets in Philadelphia, designed by Paul Philippe Cret and built between 1931 and 1935 around an 1899 structure formerly known as the Penn Mutual Life Insurance Building. Its lower portion resembles a Greek temple, with engaged piers and bronze-grilled windows, while the upper floors were added or extended in 1952 by the firm of Harbeson, Hough, Livingston and Larson. The two-story public hall contains a ceiling with the Great Seal of the United States, red Levanto marble columns, and bronze light fixtures. Cret's design is regarded as an expression of national stability during the economic difficulties of the early 1930s, combining classical forms with the proportions of a modern office structure. A formal garden and fountain sculpture by Donald de Lue, added in 1941 on a narrow site above a garage, received a horticultural award in 1974. The building is also associated with the earlier Colonial-era block that once belonged to Abraham Markoe.","period_of_significance":"1899, 1931-35","architect_builder":"Paul Philippe Cret (architect)","architectural_style":"Neo-Classic \"restrained Doric\" / stripped classicism","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Serves as offices; the sixth floor and half of the first floor had not yet been renovated at the time of nomination.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.1-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 17:11:29.980651-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_PA/79002325.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/79002325/593215c797-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/79002325/593215c797-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"Beyond My Ken","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Old_Federal_Reserve_Bank_Building.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Beyond My Ken</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 4.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Old_Federal_Reserve_Bank_Building.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71997162","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Federal_Reserve_Bank_Building_(Philadelphia)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7083966"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/pennsylvania/philadelphia/old-federal-reserve-bank-79002325/"}