You’ve seen the dome. If you’ve ever driven along I-76 or wandered through West Fairmount Park, that massive iron and glass structure stands out like a relic from another century. Honestly, that’s exactly what it is.
Memorial Hall is the last major survivor of the 1876 Centennial Exposition—the first official World's Fair held in the United States. While the rest of that "White City" was torn down or burned, this granite beast stayed put. But most people driving by don't realize that it wasn't just a building; it was a middle finger to the European architectural establishment and a desperate attempt to prove America wasn't just a land of factories and farms.
The Architect Nobody Wanted
The story of how Memorial Hall actually got built is kinda shady. In 1873, the Centennial Commission held a big design competition. They wanted something permanent to house the nation’s art collection.
Forty-three architects entered. Collins and Autenrieth actually won. But while the committee was bickering over the budget—this was right in the middle of a nasty economic depression—a young German-born engineer named Hermann J. Schwarzmann was working behind the scenes. Schwarzmann was the chief engineer for Fairmount Park, mostly known for laying out paths and planting trees. He hadn't even entered the competition.
Somehow, Schwarzmann convinced the powers-that-be that his design was better and, more importantly, cheaper. He basically "borrowed" the design from a French architect’s project for the Prix de Rome. It worked. For $1.5 million, Schwarzmann gave Philadelphia a Beaux-Arts masterpiece that would eventually inspire the Reichstag in Berlin.
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It’s Totally Fireproof (By Design)
One thing you’ve gotta understand about the 19th century: everything burned. Philadelphia had seen enough fires to be paranoid. So, Memorial Hall was built without a single scrap of wood in the main structure. It’s all granite, brick, iron, and glass.
Standing 150 feet tall, the dome is crowned by a 23-foot-tall zinc statue of Columbia. She’s holding a laurel branch, looking out over a park that used to be filled with 200 other buildings. Today, only Memorial Hall and the tiny Ohio House remain.
What’s Happening Inside Right Now?
Since 2008, the hall has been the home of the Please Touch Museum. It’s a bit of a weird juxtaposition if you think about it. You have this high-brow, "Modern Renaissance" temple to fine art now filled with the sound of screaming toddlers and the smell of juice boxes.
But it’s actually a brilliant use of space. The Great Hall (now Hamilton Hall) is so massive it holds a 40-foot replica of the Statue of Liberty’s arm and torch—made entirely of toys.
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Wait, there’s a renovation?
Yeah, if you visit in 2026, things might look a bit different. To prep for the building's 150th anniversary, the museum is deep into a "Memorial Hall 2026" restoration campaign. They’re currently ripping up and replacing the original marble floors.
Basically, the mortar underneath the white, red, and black marble has disintegrated over the last century and a half. The new tiles are being sourced from the exact same quarries in Italy, France, and Spain where the originals came from in the 1870s. Talk about commitment to the bit.
The Weird History You Didn’t Know
Before it was a children's museum, Memorial Hall had a bit of an identity crisis.
- The First Art Museum: From 1877 to 1928, it was the Pennsylvania Museum and School of Industrial Art. This was the precursor to the Philadelphia Museum of Art on the Parkway.
- The Police Station Era: For a while, the basement actually housed a police station.
- The Gymnasium Phase: In the 1950s, the Fairmount Park Commission turned the wings into a recreation center. There was literally a swimming pool in the east gallery and a basketball court in the west.
Imagine shooting hoops under a 19th-century Beaux-Arts vault. Wild.
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Planning Your Visit (The Practical Stuff)
If you’re heading there, don’t just wing it.
- Hours: As of 2026, they are generally open Wednesday through Sunday, 9:00 AM to 4:30 PM. They’re closed Mondays and Tuesdays.
- Tickets: You need a reservation. It’s about $20–$25 depending on the day. If you have a Pennsylvania or Delaware ACCESS card, you can get in for $2.
- Parking: There’s a gated lot for $18, but honestly, there’s usually free street parking along Avenue of the Republic if you don’t mind a short walk.
- The Carousel: Don’t skip the Woodside Park Dentzel Carousel. It was built in 1924 and spent 40 years in storage before being restored. It’s housed in its own glass pavilion on the side of the hall.
Actionable Next Steps
If you want to see Memorial Hall without paying museum admission, you can actually just walk the grounds for free. The exterior statuary—like the massive bronze winged horses (Pegasus) out front—were originally part of a different exhibit but moved here later.
If you’re a history nerd, look for the "Centennial Exploration" exhibit inside the museum. It features a massive 1:1 scale model of the entire 1876 World’s Fair grounds. It’s the only way to truly visualize how insane this part of Philadelphia looked when ten million people descended on it in a single summer.
Check the Please Touch Museum website before you go to see if any specific galleries are closed for the ongoing floor restoration, especially if you’re hoping to see the Main Hall in all its glory.