This Phasinating Philly Phacts is all about our founder Mr. William Penn, or as we affectionately like to refer to him, Billy Penn.
Did-ja know?…
- The statue of William Penn on top of city hall is 37 feet tall making it the tallest statue on top of a building in the world.
- The statue faces towards Penn Treaty Park in honor of the treaty Penn made with the Lenape Tribe for the right to the land now known as Philadelphia.
There is a curse upon the city call the curse of Billy Penn: There was an informal “gentleman’s agreement” after city hall was built that no building would be higher than Billy Penn’s statue atop city hall, this stood true until the construction of One Liberty Place in 1987 and from that time on no Philadelphia sports team could win a championship to save their lives until 2008 when the Philadelphia Phillies broke the curse by winning the World Series that is believed to be because just 6 months prior the current tallest building in Philly, the Comcast Center was finished construction and a tiny statue of our founder was placed on top. Is it possible it has since blown off??- When it rains and you look at the William Penn Statue from the side it sort of looks like he is relieving himself since his hand is stretched out in front of his body and the rain falls off of it in a stream.
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