{"nrhp_refnum":"96000716","name":"The Elverson Building","other_names":["The Philadelphia Inquirer Complex"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"400-440 N. Broad St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Philadelphia","county":"Philadelphia","state":"PA","lat":39.96083009950004,"lon":-75.16259912987435,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1996-07-15","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Industry","Communications","Architecture","Engineering"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"The Elverson Building is a twenty-three story office tower with an attached six-story production plant at 801-829 North Broad Street... ","why_significant":"The nomination argues the building is a fine early 20th century Beaux Arts skyscraper with setbacks and Art Deco theatricality, a prominent work of the Rankin, Kellogg and Crane firm, and an innovative engineering design built over railroad tracks. It also cites its long association with the Philadelphia Inquirer.","narrative":"Built in 1924 on North Broad Street in central Philadelphia, the Elverson Building is a twenty-three story office tower clad in white terra cotta, limestone and granite, with a 340-foot clock tower topped by a bronze dome. It was designed by Rankin, Kellogg and Crane and built by Roydhouse Arey Company as the home of the Philadelphia Inquirer. Its stepped setbacks and Beaux Arts ornament were regarded as an early example of the skyscraper form shaped by New York's 1916 zoning rules, and its tower lantern could be seen from fifteen miles away. The building is also significant for its engineering: 150 steel piers sunk into bedrock support it over the tracks of a former Reading Railroad yard, allowing newsprint to be delivered by rail directly to the press rooms. The Inquirer's public presence and the building's theatrical design are central to its importance. The period of significance runs from 1924 to 1946, before the Rotogravure Building was added to the complex.","period_of_significance":"1924-1946","architect_builder":"Rankin, Kellogg and Crane (architects); Roydhouse Arey Company (builders)","architectural_style":"Beaux Arts","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Printing operations in the extension ceased as of 1993","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.1-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 17:11:37.148665-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_PA/96000716.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/96000716/cf79bb386e-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/96000716/cf79bb386e-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"Beyond My Ken","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Inquirer_Building_400_N._Broad_Street.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:Inquirer_Building_400_N._Broad_Street.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71997450","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inquirer_Building","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q20639521"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/pennsylvania/philadelphia/the-elverson-building-96000716/"}