Insurance Company of North America (INA) Building

building photo

The Insurance Company of North America (INA) Building was erected 1922-25 as the headquarters of the nation’s first shareholder-owned stock insurance company, founded in 1792. Designed by Emlyn L. Stewardson and George B. Page, the new building was conceived by Benjamin Rush (1869-1948), president and then Chairman of the board, who convinced the company to move from the city’s traditional banking and insurance district to a site on the new Benjamin Franklin Parkway.

Rush required that the architects collaborate with an efficiency expert in designing the skyscraper, but the building’s modernity was cloaked in a Georgian Revival skin of brick and limestone. Rush explained that he wanted to “preserve a colonial atmosphere, so as to take advantage of the past history of the Company, which [we] have found to be of considerable value in the securing of business.”  

An expert in maritime insurance, Rush oversaw the expansion of INA’s line of products, helping to secure Philadelphia’s continued leadership in the insurance industry. In 1982, INA joined Connecticut General Corporation to form CIGNA, which, after further mergers, created the Chubb Corporation in 2016. The building was converted into condominium apartments in 2002 and rechristened “The Phoenix,” alluding to the mythological bird that was reborn from its own ashes—a favorite symbol of fire insurance companies.

NHL nomination 1977

Address: 1600 Arch Street Philadelphia, Pennsylvania


Photo Credit: By Jim.henderson - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0