Bell Telephone Company Building
Why it's listed
Seventeen stories of reinforced concrete rise from the northeast corner of Nineteenth and Arch Streets in Philadelphia, completed in 1925 for the Bell Telephone Company. Eugene Stopper designed the building, which combines a limestone and marble public base with brick piers and terra cotta parapets above. Its upper floors housed giant switchboards and operators handling long-distance calls, while the ground floor held customer service rooms laid out like a bank. The building is regarded as an early reinforced concrete skyscraper and as a notable example of Philadelphia's restrained modern set-back design. It is also significant for its place in the expansion of long-distance telephone service, which had reached coast-to-coast by 1925. The lobby retains marble walls, bronze doors and a bell motif tied to the company trademark. The switchboards were removed around 1970, and the building was later converted to other uses.
Significance in brief: The nomination argues the building is significant for its role in the communications industry, as a central switching facility for long-distance lines, and for its architecture as an early reinforced concrete skyscraper in a restrained modern style. It is also described as an early example of the set-back skyscraper in Philadelphia and part of a group of modern Bell buildings.
Machine-generated summary. This summary was generated by a language model from the official nomination document and has not been reviewed line by line by an editor. It may contain errors. Check the source document before relying on any detail. Source: nomination document (PDF) · National Archives catalog entry. NRHP reference 00000849, listed August 7, 2000. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-haiku-5-5, prompt v1.1-2026-10-29, confidence medium).
Key facts
| Address | 1827-35 Arch St., Philadelphia |
|---|---|
| County | Philadelphia |
| Listed | August 7, 2000 |
| Reference number | 00000849 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Period of significance | 1925-1950 |
| Architect / builder | Eugene Stopper (architect) |
| Architectural style | Moderne |
| Criteria |
|
| Areas of significance | Communications, Architecture |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Switchboards were removed around 1970 and the building was converted to office space; the document states it was later sold and adapted to a self-storage facility in the 1990s. |
| Acreage | 1 |
| Coordinates | 39.95759, -75.17059 (NPS GIS) |
What listing means for this property
For an income-producing building, listing (individually or as a contributing building in a district) is the gateway to the 20% federal rehabilitation tax credit on qualified rehabilitation costs, often stackable with state credits. Work claiming the credit must follow the Secretary of the Interior's Standards and be approved in advance.
Listing does not restrict a private owner acting without federal money or permits; where federal funding or licensing is involved, Section 106 review applies.
General information, not legal or tax advice. Rules change; confirm with your State Historic Preservation Office or a qualified adviser.
Sources and further reading
- National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places database (snapshot May 2026), reference 00000849.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q4883273
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.