Statue of Matthias W. Baldwin


Matthias William Baldwin
The statue in 2007
Map
39°57′11″N 75°9′50″W / 39.95306°N 75.16389°W / 39.95306; -75.16389
LocationPhiladelphia City Hall, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
DesignerHerbert Adams
TypeStatue
MaterialBronze
Pink granite
Length58 inches (150 cm)
Width58 inches (150 cm)
Height204 inches (520 cm)
Completion date1905
Dedicated dateJune 2, 1906
Dedicated toMatthias W. Baldwin

Matthias William Baldwin is a monumental statue located outside Philadelphia City Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. The statue honors industrialist and philanthropist Matthias W. Baldwin and was designed by sculptor Herbert Adams. It was dedicated in 1906 and moved to its present location in 1921.

Baldwin was an industrialist who was an early developer of steam locomotives in the United States during the early 19th century. His company, the Baldwin Locomotive Works, was founded in Philadelphia and was one of the largest locomotive manufacturers in the world during the 1800s. Baldwin was also a philanthropist who donated to the Franklin Institute and supported causes intended to help African Americans, including suffrage and abolitionism. He died in 1866. Efforts to erect a statue in his honor began in the early 1900s, with Philadelphia's city government passing an ordinance allowing the Fairmount Park Art Association to erect a statue on public property near the locomotive works. The statue itself was a gift from the company to the city, and it was completed by Adams in 1905. It was officially dedicated on June 2, 1906, in a ceremony attended by Philadelphia Mayor John Weaver and other politicians and businessmen.

In 1921, the statue was relocated to the north property of the city hall, and, following another move in 1936, the statue has stood near Broad and Market Street. In 2020, the statue, along with several other monuments in the city, was vandalized during the George Floyd protests in Philadelphia.