Sure got a lot of globes on those street lights. I wonder if any were saved.

The original portion of the Broad Street Station, at the far right hand corner in this image, was designed in the Victorian Gothic style by the Wilson Brothers of Philadelphia and completed in 1881. The newer portion, which is front and center, was designed by the great maverick architect of Philadelphia, Frank Furness, and built 1892-1893. By the way, neither firm designed the late, great Pennsylvania Station in New York; that monumental piece of Beaux-Arts Classicism was designed by McKim, Mead and White of New York City, with Charles F. McKim in charge of the design.

The station was demolished (not burned) in 1953 but the train shed (visible at the left of the photograph) had a disastrous fire in 1923. This website has some photographs including an image after the carnage was cleared away and the platforms covered in wood and restored to service as soon as possible.

The building on the right is Philadelphia City Hall, and you are correct to praise it!

Building on the right is Philadelphia's City Hall. View is looking north and west from the mid-block (top of a building?) west of Broad Street and north of Chestnut.

Trains would enter and leave the station from the left (west) and travel to the main line tracks on the other side of the Schuylkill river, roughly where 30th Street Station is today, and the continue north, south or west.

The problem with the station was that it was essentially a terminal on stub line and trains had to turn to leave the station or be turned in West Philadelphia, which made through service inconvenient.

PRR replaced the commuter service with the nearby Suburban Station and inter-city service was moved to 30th Street, and the station became unnecessary and was demolished. The site became a number of large office buildings and open plazas where, e.g., the LOVE sculpture now is.

I was wondering if the deck area above the sidewalk was used as one. While looking for an access point I found two men walking back through different window-doors. So yes it was.

Any ideas of what they might be selling from the cart across the street?

The building on the extreme right edge isn't all that shabby, either. Anyone know what is is/was?

Such an magnificent piece of architecture. Look at the sculpted stone details! Nearly every surface is embellished.

This was constructed when Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) stock was an absolute "blue chip" that brokers could recommend to widows and orphans. (That's an old expression for a "low-risk" stock.)

This is the same firm which constructed the magnificent Pennsylvania Station in New York city, also demolished!

On that occasion, the NY Times editorialized that "Our civilization will not be known for the monuments it has constructed, but for those it has destroyed."