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Reading Terminal and Trainshed

Address: Philadelphia, PA 19107

Neighborhood: Center City

Website: http://readingterminalmarket.org/

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Contact: 215-922-2317

Description: Completed in 1893, this is the largest single-span (259-foot, 8-inch), arched-roof train shed in the world. A monument in engineering history, it once covered 13 tracks and 8 platforms. Utilitarian in the extreme, it is attached to the rear of the more florid, eight-story “head house” terminal that contained a waiting room and offices above. Joseph M. Wilson designed the shed for the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad, and because viaducts brought trains into the station’s second floor level, was able to incorporate a large market at street level. The market still exists, but the rest of the complex now serves as part of the Philadelphia Convention Center.

Resources for Researchers

Information for Visitors

  • Hours
    • Monday – Sunday from 8 am to 6 pm

Subthemes

  • First in the nation – Philadelphia’s “firsts”
  • Architecture and design – iconic, famous, or representative
  • Business of life – stories of daily life, business, industry, commerce

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