The Public Ledger Building, Philadelphia. Opened in 1867, torn down in 1920 for a replacement that still stands. The building showed the power (and profit) of the press in a print era (the Ledger went bust in 1942).
Scientific American, July 27, 1867
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Public buildings have always been so much more than a utilitarian pile of building materials. Their design and construction self-consciously encompass the aspirational values of the builder, the user, and the society of which it is part. Technology-driven utility may be at the heart of these structures, but their final form is an artistic expression of a desire to awe, inspire, ennoble or educate. We may look back and think of them as quaint or amusing or beautiful, but in 1867 these edifices filled the same needs as their counterparts of the early 21st century.
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