Philadelphia, PA: 1881,1893-1953 Pennsy Broad Street Station and Headquarters

(HAER; Satellite, the land has been repurposed)

This station replaced the 1876 32nd & Market Street Stations to be closer to downtown, and it was replaced by the West Philadelphia Station and then 30th Street Station for through trains and the Suburban Station for commuter trains. Because of the depression and WWII, this station was not removed until 1953.

While studying the Reading Station, I noticed on the topo map copied below that there was a station on the north half of the west side of the city square. This must be that one. 

Remember When: Pennsylvania posted

Market Street’s role as a transportation artery was cemented by the construction of the massive Gothic Revival Broad Street Station in 1881.

 (PhillyHistory.org)

Ed Johnson shared

 

The above photo was the original 1881 depot. The 1893 expanded version had even more gothic doodads on it.

HistoricalPix
"Broad Street Station in Philadelphia, originally designed by Wilson Brothers & Company in 1881, was a pioneering steel-framed building with masonry curtain walls. It underwent significant expansion by architect Frank Furness in 1892-93, including a new train shed with the world's largest single-span roof. The station served as the headquarters of the Pennsylvania Railroad until the 1930s when it was relocated. Unfortunately, the train shed was destroyed by fire in 1923, and the station was demolished in 1953."

1949 Philadelphia Quad @ 24,000 via Dennis DeBruler

A different exposure and cropping of the above photo used by HistoricalPix.

LC-D4-500683 [P&P]

Ed Johnson posted
Pennsylvania Railroad, Philadelphia

 

Alex Mary posted
This is what the west side of Philadelphia looked like from the top of City Hall's tower in 1900.
Jim Kelling shared
Philadelphia Broad Street Station with Trainshed (right)

explorepahistory,  Courtesy of the Pennsylvania State Archives
"Constructed in 1881, Philadelphia's Broad Street Station was the Pennsylvania Railroad's corporate headquarters as well as its largest station."

RealClearHistory
"One of the largest and busiest trains stations in the country, Broad Street Station was also headquarters of the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR), which was one of the world's largest corporations, with more than 200,000 employees. In the 1870s, the PRR's primary depot in Philadelphia was at 32nd and Market Streets, but it wanted a venue closer to the center of the city....In 1910, there were 578 arrivals and departures daily, more than one-tenth of all the PRR's trains."
The expansion increased the station from four tracks to sixteen tracks and a train shed that was 306' (93m) wide, 591' (180m) long and up to 100' (30m) tall. The train shed of the nearby Reading Depot was 300' (91m) wide, thus the additional 6' (1.8m) to be larger.
[Actually, the expansion was from 8 to 16 tracks because there had been two 4-track train sheds. [HiddenCityPhila]]

This appears to be a collorization of the above photo.

ebay

And a different colorization.

ebay

Before expansion:

PhillyHistory, 1882

 

After expansion:

PhillyHistory, 1896

.

PhillyHistory via HiddenCityPhila
The elevated viaduct between the Schuylkill River and the station had just the arch openings needed for the numbered streets that went under it. This viaduct became known as the "Chinese Wall," and it was an impediment to the economic development of the west side of downtown Philadelphia.

"The PRR shed was destroyed in a fire in 1923; it was one of the biggest fires the city had seen, but no lives were lost and service was restored nine days later." [RealClearHistory]

Library Company of Philadelphia
"The Broad Street Station fire, started Monday, June 11, 1923 by a short circuited cable, was at the time considered one of the worst fires in the city's history with an estimated $1,500,000 worth of damage. By the second day, despite the fire continuing to burn in areas, 2000 laborers began to clear debris and set up umbrella shelters to prepare for the station's reopening at the end of that week."

Sissy Mcsis E. McCarthy posted
Location the Broad Street terminal (Pennsylvania railroad the demolition) 1952
John L Garcia shared
Jonathan Dandridge: 30th Street Station made a lot more sense for PRR as most trains were through trains and could pass right through 30 th St whereas Broad St. was a stub end terminal so trains continuing to Washington had to back out or change ends.

HAER_gallery via HAER

For further reading:

• An extensive history of this depot
• A history that emphasises the architect of the 1893 expansion, Frank Furness This has some photos that I have not seen in the other sources.