North Broad Street Station, Reading Company
Also known as: Reading Company Passenger Station
Why it's listed
Built in 1929 on the northern edge of Center City Philadelphia, the North Broad Street Station is a steel-framed, flat-roofed building in the form of a Doric temple, sheathed in Indiana limestone and granite. Twelve fluted Doric columns front Broad Street, and a round carved clock ringed with the signs of the zodiac sits at the center of the entablature, flanked by two carved women in togas. The Reading Company commissioned it from Horace Trumbauer, and it cost almost $1.5 million. The company built it to attract travellers on the Baltimore & Ohio's Royal Blue line and to rival the Pennsylvania Railroad, but passenger numbers fell short of expectations as automobiles, trucks and air travel grew. Its importance lies in its scale, its Classical Revival design, and its record of the railroad's ambitions in the years before the Great Depression. After the station closed to passengers, the building was converted to a motor hotel in 1969, and the rear addition now stands over the former marquee.
Significance in brief: The nomination argues the station is significant as a late, luxury passenger terminal built by the Reading Company to compete with the Pennsylvania Railroad, reflecting the company's optimism about intercity passenger travel. It is also significant as the work of Horace Trumbauer, whose design is described as a departure from earlier Philadelphia station design in its pared-down monumentalism.
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 96000325, listed March 28, 1996. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-haiku-5-5, prompt v1.1-2026-10-29, confidence high).
Key facts
| Address | 2601 N. Broad St., Philadelphia |
|---|---|
| County | Philadelphia |
| Listed | March 28, 1996 |
| Reference number | 96000325 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Period of significance | 1929-1946 |
| Architect / builder | Horace Trumbauer (architect); Irwin & Leighton (contractor) |
| Architectural style | Classical Revival |
| Criteria |
|
| Areas of significance | Transportation, Architecture |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Converted to a motor hotel in 1969 with a rear addition; the station no longer serves passengers and currently houses a community reintegration residential facility. |
| Acreage | 1.3 |
| Coordinates | 39.99706, -75.15472 (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 96000325.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q7054296
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.