PHILADELPHIA, 



631 



ing on Walnut Street in the rear of Inde- 

 pendence Hall ; Washington Square, at Sixth 

 and Walnut Streets, diagonally opposite Inde- 

 pendence Square ; and Rittenhouse Square, 

 at Eighteenth and Walnut Streets. These 

 are laid out as parks and shaded with trees. 

 Franklin Square contains a large fountain. 

 On what was formerly Penn Square, at Broad 

 and Market Streets, the new City Hall is in 

 course of construction. It is to be 470 feet 

 from east to west, and 486|- feet from north to 



south, containing 520 rooms, and covering an 

 area, exclusive of the courtyard, of nearly 4 

 acres. It is to consist of four stories, together 

 100 feet high. From the north front will rise 

 a tower surmounted by a dome, the apex of 

 which will be nearly 300 feet above the pave- 

 ment. The exterior walls are to be of white 

 marble, and those facing the courtyard of light- 

 blue marble. The cost will be about $7,000,- 

 000. There are about half a dozen other small 

 parks in different sections of the city. 



NEW CITY HALL. 



The great park of Philadelphia, and one of 

 the largest in the world, is Fairmount Park, 

 embracing 2,740 acres. It extends along both 

 banks of the Schuylkill for more than seven 

 milesj and along both banks of the Wissahickon 

 for more than six miles, commencing at Fair- 

 mount, an elevation on the Schuylkill, from 

 which the park derives its name, about 1^- 

 mile above the original city, and extending- to 



Chestnut Hill on the Wissahickon, a total dis- 

 tance of nearly fourteen miles. It possesses 

 much natural beauty, being well wooded, and 

 having a great variety of surface. The park 

 was established mainly for the purpose of se- 

 curing a supply of pure water for the city by 

 preventing the occupation and contamination 

 of the streams by factories. In the southwest 

 portion of this park, west of the Schuylkill 



MAIN EXHIBITION BUILDING. 



River, is to be held from May 10 to November 

 10, 1876, the Internation al Exhibition in cele- 

 bration of the centennial anniversary of Amer- 

 ican Independence. The chief buildings consist 

 of the main Exhibition Building, the Art Gal- 

 lery, Machinery Building, Horticultural Build- 



ing, and Agricultural Building. The Art-Gal- 

 lery and the Horticultural Building are intend- 

 ed to be permanent ; the others are temporary. 

 The main building is 1,880 feet long from east 

 to west, and 464 feet wide, covering 20 acres. 

 It is for the most part of one story, the main 



