Then and Now: Philadelphia main post office, 30th and Market Street, Philadelphia

1950-2009

Alongside 30th Street Station just across Market Street, Philadelphia's former main post office is one of the city's most imposing civic buildings. Its architects, Rankin & Kellogg, were also responsible for many of the city's most iconic early 20th century buildings, including the Architects' Building, the Inquirer Building. and the Provident Trust Company tower. The structure was also a substantial engineering feat, built on a platform above 30th Street Station's railroad tracks in 1935.

Unfortunately, I never had the pleasure of seeing its grand interior before the post office closed several years ago, and presumably never will. The building is currently being renovated for the Internal Revenue Service's new Philadelphia office, as part of the University of Pennsylvania and Brandywine Realty Trust's Cira Centre South project. The former 30th Street loading docks slightly visible in the photo are set to be converted to an outdoor terrace for IRS workers. The Bolt Buses will probably have to load somewhere else once that happens.

Cira Centre South [Skyscraperpage]

Original photo: Wenzell J. Hess, "Public Works-41057-0-C." 1950. Philadelphia City Archives. PhillyHistory.org. Philadelphia Department of Records. http://www.phillyhistory.org/PhotoArchive/MediaStream.ashx?mediaId=68115