University of Pennsylvania, Smith Walk, Bounded by Walnut, Thirty-third, Thirty-fourth & Spruce Streets, Philadelphia, Philadelphia County, PA

Significance: The landscaped walk that is now called Smith Walk preceded the campus plan of 1913 that set the goal of using buildings to frame space. With Hamilton Walk on the south side of the University of Pennsylvania campus, it established the precedent for the modern character of the campus as a series of super-blocks enclosing space from the urban streetscape. Laid out by architects Cope and Stewardson as part of their Towne Building project in 1903, the walk continued the palette of materials of that building's limestone trim and bluestone steps into the adjacent walkway. While all of the original landscape elements including the trees and the walkway materials have been replaced, the character of the original landscape survives. Later additions including the Smith statue (1926) and the War Memorial flagpole (1952) have given the walk additional presence and focus. Smith Walk with its adjacent buildings, including the National Historic Landmark Furness Building, forms a part of the National Register University of Pennsylvania Campus district.
Survey number: HABS PA-6179
Building/structure dates: 1903 Initial Construction
Building/structure dates: 1926 Subsequent Work
Building/structure dates: 1952 Subsequent Work
National Register of Historic Places NRIS Number: 78002457