Wanamaker Organ in Macy's
Posted by: 
TubaTwo+Lou
N 39° 57.081 W 075° 09.714
18S E 486170 N 4422370
The World's largest operating pipe organ.
Waymark Code: WM1VEH
Location: Pennsylvania, United States
Date Posted: 07/13/2007
Views: 220
Entering Philadelphia's Center City Macy's, one gets the sense that this is no ordinary department store. At the center of the store is the "Grand Court," a 149' high atrium that houses the Wanamaker Organ.
Originally built to fill the Festival Hall at the 1904 World's Fair in St. Louis, Missouri, the organ had more than 10,000 pipes and cost $105,000 to build. In 1909, it was purchased by John Wanamaker for installation in his grand Philadelphia department store. When it was first played in the store on June 22, 1911 it was decided that although the instrument was huge, its sound did not adequately fill the colossal department store Wanamaker had built. As a result, Wanamaker opened his own pipe organ factory and began producing additional pipes. Between 1911 and 1930, the number of pipes nearly tripled. Today the organ has 28,500 pipes and weighs 287 tons.
The organ is controlled by a six keyboard console featuring 729 stops. It is played Monday-Saturday at noon. Additional recitals are held on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday at 5:30 PM and also on Wednesday at 7 PM. During the Christmas season, the organ features prominently in the store's light display and can be heard at many times throughout the day.
For more information, visit the Friends of the Wanamaker Organ website or the organ's Wikipedia entry.