描述
**Lincoln-Liberty Building**
**Art by:** Chris Hytha
**Story by:** Mark Houser
While Wanamaker’s is famed for its enormous pipe organ, this granite highrise built to hold a much-expanded men’s department for the store is known for the hourly tolls of its gigantic bell.
The 17-ton Founder’s Bell was commissioned in memory of John Wanamaker, who considered becoming a Presbyterian minister before finding success as a retail clothing merchant. The bell first rang on New Year’s Day 1927 from a tower on his great department store, but was soon relocated to the belfry of this skyscraper, the first seven floors of which purveyed a tasteful array of tailored suits, fashionable overcoats, hunting costumes and sporting goods for the discerning gentleman.
A pair of much-admired 1890s skyscrapers had to be torn down to make way for the new construction, so its original appellation name-checked them both in order to assuage any hard feelings.
After Philadelphia National Bank bought the tower, four sets of its illuminated initials “PNB” perched atop the belfry for nearly 60 years. They were finally removed by cargo helicopter in 2014 from the building now known as One South Broad, and one huge “B” was rehung in the lobby.