Witherspoon Building is a historic

office An office is a space where the employees of an organization perform Business administration, administrative Work (human activity), work in order to support and realize the various goals of the organization. The word "office" may also denote a po ...

building located in the Market East neighborhood of

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

. It was designed by architect Joseph M. Huston (1866–1940) and built in 1896. It was built for the Presbyterian Board of Publications and Sabbath School Work. It is an 11-story, steel frame E-shaped building, faced with brick and granite. It has

terra cotta Terracotta, also known as terra cotta or terra-cotta (; ; ), is a clay-based Vitrification#Ceramics, non-vitreous ceramicOED, "Terracotta""Terracotta" MFA Boston, "Cameo" database fired at relatively low temperatures. It is therefore a term used ...

decorative elements. Its exterior features

Corinthian order The Corinthian order (, ''Korinthiakós rythmós''; ) is the last developed and most ornate of the three principal classical orders of Ancient Greek architecture and Ancient Roman architecture, Roman architecture. The other two are the Doric or ...

and

Ionic order The Ionic order is one of the three canonic classical order, orders of classical architecture, the other two being the Doric order, Doric and the Corinthian order, Corinthian. There are two lesser orders: the Tuscan order, Tuscan (a plainer Doric) ...

columns, statues, medallions, seals of various boards and agencies of the Presbyterian Church and of related Reformed churches. It is named for

John Witherspoon John Witherspoon (February 5, 1723 – November 15, 1794) was a Scottish-American Presbyterian minister, educator, farmer, slaveholder, and a Founding Father of the United States. Witherspoon embraced the concepts of Scottish common sense real ...

(1723–1794), a president of

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...

. ''Note:'' This includes It was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 1978.

Sculpture

Several statues and some of the medallions were designed by sculptor

Alexander Stirling Calder Alexander Stirling Calder (January 11, 1870 – January 7, 1945) was an American sculpture, sculptor and teacher. He was the son of sculptor Alexander Milne Calder and the father of sculptor Alexander Calder, Alexander (Sandy) Calder. His best-kn ...

(1870–1945), including statues of six historically prominent Presbyterians, Francis Makemie, John Witherspoon, John McMillan, Samuel Davies, James Caldwell and Marcus Whitman. These sculptures were removed in 1961 and later moved to the courtyard of the

Presbyterian Historical Society The Presbyterian Historical Society (PHS) is the oldest continuous denominational historical society in the United States.Smylie, James H. 1996. ''A Brief History of the Presbyterians.'' Louisville, Kentucky: Geneva Press. Its mission is to coll ...

in Philadelphia. File:Francis Makemie AS Calder PHS.JPG,

Francis Makemie Francis Makemie (1658–1708) was an Ulster Scots clergyman, widely regarded as the founder of Presbyterianism in the United States. Early and family life Makemie was born in Ramelton, County Donegal, Ireland part of the province of Ulster. ...

File:John Witherspoon AS Calder PHS.JPG,

File:John McMillan AS Calder PHS.JPG, John McMillan File:Samuel Davies AS Calder PHS.JPG, Samuel Davies File:James Caldwell AS Calder PHS.JPG, James Caldwell File:Marcus Whitman AS Calder PHS.JPG,

Marcus Whitman Marcus Whitman (September 4, 1802 – November 29, 1847) was an American physician and missionary. He is most well known for leading American settlers across the Oregon Trail, unsuccessfully attempting to Christianize the Cayuse Indians, and wa ...

References

{{National Register of Historic Places in Pennsylvania Properties of religious function on the National Register of Historic Places in Philadelphia Commercial buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Philadelphia Office buildings completed in 1897 Market East, Philadelphia Skyscraper office buildings in Philadelphia