William Penn statue (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)

USA / New Jersey / Camden / Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
A bronze statue of Pennsylvania founder William Penn rests atop Philadelphia's City Hall tower. Thirty-seven feet in height, it is the tallest statue atop any building in the world and was designed by Alexander Milne Calder.

The statue was the central figure in a local legend known as the "Curse of Billy Penn." For years, Philadelphia, as most cities tended to do at the time, had an "unwritten rule" that no building rise taller than the brim of the hat atop the William Penn statue's head. However, when several skyscrapers were constructed in the late 1980s and early 1990s in order to compete with other growing metropolises, notably New York City, this "rule" was broken.

Thus, the "Curse of Billy Penn" was unleashed: since the statue was dwarfed by the skyscrapers surrounding City Hall, no Philadelphia professional sports team won a championship in any of the major sports (MLB, NFL, NBA or NHL). In the 1990s, attempts to "break" the curse were undertaken: a metallic Philadelphia Phillies cap was placed atop the statue during the 1993 MLB playoffs and a Philadelphia Flyers hockey jersey was draped over the statue during each team's respective playoff runs. Neither team won the final championships.

With the completion of the Comcast Center, workers put a small replica of the statue atop, making his hat the highest point in Philadelphia. On October 29, 2008, the Philadelphia Phillies broke the "curse" by winning the World Series in 5 games over the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.
The place is located in City Hall Tower
Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curse_of_Billy_Penn
Nearby cities:
Coordinates:   39°57'10"N   75°9'48"W

Comments

  • The curse of Billy Penn is OVER!!! PHILLIES!!! World Series 2008 Champs!!!
This article was last modified 7 years ago