This weekend , thousands of area residents and visitors packed into the Center City Macy’s for yet another chapter in the deep history of 1300 Market Street and Wanamaker’s in Center City Philadelphia. The visit was the last chance for Philadelphia shoppers to frequent this Center City Macy’s , which has been open in that location since 2006.
Before the site of Wanamaker’s at 13th and Market Streets was chosen by John Wanamaker in 1875 to be the location of his Grand Depot — it was the site of the Pennsylvania Railroad Depot — whose railway ran its first passenger train between Pittsburgh and Philadelphia in 1848. John Wanamaker’s Department store new location — whose business dates in Philadelphia back to the Civil War in 1861 — was a site to behold with many of the its most prominent architectural features shining as brightly today as they did during the Centennial Celebration of 1876.
After Wanamaker’s was sold in 1978 and a series of different owner’s — the location at 13th and Market was consolidated to only five floors and would be re-branded as Strawbridge and Clothier in 1996. In August of 1997 the store opened as Lord and Taylor.
The flagship Wanamaker’s Store in Center City was famous for more than just history. The store hosted the Christmas Light Show since 1956 — which was an annual tradition in Philadelphia — and would be accompanied by the Dicken’s Village in later years. Wanamaker’s was the first department store to have electrical illumination, pneumatic tubes to move cash and documents, and was even the first shopping destination with a telephone. Parts of the store were designated as a historic location in 1978.
But for those of us who had the opportunity to walk through the building one last time this past weekend — with the hope that TF Cornerstone will preserve it’s most iconic features — it was a chance to see the other historically big draws of Wanamaker’s. The large bronze Eagle in the lobby who casted a gaze down on thousands of visitors decked out in green Eagles memorabilia, a last peak at the Crystal Tea Room that played host to so many meals. The highlight was a final performance on the Wanamaker Grand Organ — purchased from the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair — expertly played one last time by organists such as Richard Peter Conte. For all of us who had the pleasure of going this weekend, it was a last chance to visit the past , with a hope for the future.
Michael Thomas Leibrandt is member of the York Road Historical Society and lives and works in Abington Township.
