854 5530 TIDAL 29
Spatial/elevation data
Coordinates | N 39.95305° W 75.16305° |
Elevation | 45.56 ft. |
Location | Pennsylvania
Philadelphia County Philadelphia Quad |
Mark description
Type | Tidal Bench Mark Disk |
Setting | Granite Foundation |
Monumented | 1922 by NGS |
Description (NGS) | NGS Datasheet |
Narrative and photographs
Rich and I arrived this afternoon in Philadelphia for my graduation ceremony tomorrow. Before supper, we decided to take a short stroll from the Windsor Suites over to City Hall in order to find and log this mark. I had attempted it in 2003, when City Hall was undergoing repairs. The entire area was fenced off at that time, and I had been unable to get anywhere near the station.
On this lovely evening, we had no trouble at all. We stepped out of our hotel and immediately realized that we were looking at the statue of William Penn from “that interesting angle.” We wandered through Love Park—enjoying the spray from the fountain and wondering about all the loose paving stones beneath our feet—and eventually over to the square. We spotted the benchmark easily, just inside the north archway and directly beneath a section of wire fence. It appears to be in good condition, undisturbed by the construction. We were unable to obtain good coordinate readings because the mark is basically under cover.