Widener Building

This 18-story Neo-classical building was designed and built by Horace Trumbauer for Peter A. B. Widener. P.A.B. Widener earned the badge of “robber baron,” after engaging in unethical business deals and practices throughout his life.

A public lawsuit letter accusing Widener of shady business, 1908

Before Widener was known as a robber baron, he trained as a butcher’s apprentice in Philadelphia. During the Civil War (1861-1865), Widener won a $50,000 ($1.5 million in 2024) government contract to provide meat to the Union Army. He then began investing in steel, oil, tobacco, and real estate, which catapulted his net worth to $100 million ($3.5 billion in 2024), and put him in close proximity to other infamous businessmen like J.P. Morgan.

P.A.B. Widener, 1902

In 1912, P.A.B. was offered a ticket on the maiden voyage of the Royal Mail Ship Titanic, of which he held 20% stake. Because of his age, he turned down the trip, but offered his tickets to his son and grandson who were in France on an errand. Neither heir survived the shipwreck, which deeply affected P.A.B.; he never fully recovered from his loss and died three years later. Widener’s last visit to Philadelphia was to celebrate the building’s completion.

Newspaper clips detailing P.A.B. Widener's death, 1915

Before the Widener building, this half of the block held the second U.S. Mint. The mint moved from this location in 1901 to increase its capacity and efficiency, as it had also begun making coins for other nations.

Philadelphia's second U.S. Mint, 1901

The U.S. Mint building was demolished in 1902 to make way for a shopping center, then often called 'arcades.' The Mint Arcade stood for 7 years before it was demolished in 1910 to make way for the Widener building.

Mint Arcade, 1903

Introduction Citations

Grimm, C.R., "The Tower of the New City Hall at Philadelphia, Pa.", ASCE Transactions, Paper No. 694, Vol. XXXI, March 1894.

Username “Oljamu”. Philadelphia City Hall. Photograph. October 7, 2022. https://pixabay.com/photos/philadelphia-city-hall-building-7503268/.

U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places Nomination, dated August 11, 1976.

Widener Building Citations

Adnitt, Josie. Fiorillo, Chiara. Inside 110-room mansion with links to Titanic tragedy left abandoned for 25 years. Mirror. August 26, 2021. https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/us-news/inside-110-room-mansion-links-24844364.

Burciaga, Stephen. U.S. Mint (Philadelphia). The Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia. August 25, 2015. https://philadelphiaencyclopedia.org/essays/united-states-mint-philadelphia/.

Detroit Publishing Co. United States Mint, Philadelphia, Pa. US Library of Congress. 1900. https://lccn.loc.gov/2016808322.

Meredith, Mark. Peter Arrell Browne Widener (1834-1915). House Histree. October 17, 2018. https://househistree.com/people/peter-arrell-browne-widener-1834-1915.

Peter A. B. Widener, Financier and Art Collector, is Dead. The Philadelphia Inquirer. November 7, 1915.

Sargent, John Singer. Peter A. B. Widener. Oil on canvas. 1902.

The Rotograph Co. Mint Arcade. Photograph. 1903. The Library Company of Philadelphia. https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/digitool%3A96838.

Takacs, Adrienn. Office Building of the Week: The Widener Building. Commercial Cafe. August 21, 2019. https://www.commercialcafe.com/blog/office-building-week-widener-building/#:~:text=Situated%20at%20the%20conjunction%20of,433%2C959%2Dsquare%2Dfoot%20interior.

Thomas, George E. Widener Building. SAH Archipedia. April 21, 2024. https://sah-archipedia.org/buildings/PA-02-PH48.

Warrant Follows Epistolary Shots in Traction War. The Philadelphia Inquirer. October 24, 1908.

Wild, John Caspar. Lithograph on stone. Philadelphia U.S. Mint. 1838. Library Company of Philadelphia. https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/digitool%3A35919?olr_nav%5Bid%5D=06e029392003774451c5&solr_nav%5Bpage%5D=0&solr_nav%5Boffset%5D=0.

John Wanamaker's Grand Depot Store, Philadelphia, PA, circa 1880. Photograph. Pennsylvania State Archives.