National Historic Landmark · academic library · Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Furness Library

Academic library in Pennsylvania, US in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Added to the National Register in 1972, and a National Historic Landmark.

Open to visitNational Historic LandmarkListed 1972Venetian Gothic architectureFrank Furness
US-PA(1891) p734 PHILADELPHIA, LIBRARY BUILDING, UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIACampus - FisherFineArtsLibrary001College and Universities - University of Pennsylvania - University of Penn, students drilling on college grounds - NARA - 26429865College and Universities - University of Pennsylvania - University of Pennsylvania students drilling on the University grounds, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. April 1917 - NARA - 26429809
Photos via Wikimedia Commons · 6 in the Commons category

What it is

Wikipedia · Fisher Fine Arts Library

The Fisher Fine Arts Library was the primary library of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia from 1891 to 1962. The red sandstone, brick-and-terra-cotta Venetian Gothic giant, part fortress and part cathedral, was designed by Philadelphia architect Frank Furness (1839–1912).

Text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

The record

National Register of Historic Places
Property typeBuilding
Address34th St. below Walnut on University of Pennsylvania campus, Philadelphia, PA
CountyPhiladelphia County
ListedMay 19, 1972
Reference number72001154
ArchitectFrank Furness
Type of placeacademic library, library building
StyleVenetian Gothic architecture
DesignationsNational Historic Landmark
Contributing resources1 buildings
StandingYes

The nomination form, the document that argues why this place matters, is in the National Archives: Read the nomination ↗

Visiting

Open to the public
Address34th St. below Walnut on University of Pennsylvania campus, Philadelphia, PA
Websitelibrary.upenn.edu/finearts ↗
Coordinates39.95158, -75.19277 · Directions ↗
Nearest national park unitEdgar Allan Poe National Historic Site · 2 mi · on Park Atlas
This one you can go inside. Hours and admission change with the season; the website above has the current schedule.

Explore

Why you would stay

Map

4 nearby listings

Reference

Exists because it is true

Sources

Location, dates, type and contributing counts come from the National Park Service's National Register spatial data. Construction date, architect, style, photograph and encyclopedia link come from Wikidata and Wikimedia Commons, matched on reference number 72001154. Nothing here is transcribed by hand. The description under "What it is" is the opening of the Wikipedia article, CC BY-SA.