Compass Rose (Restoration)

Located in Philadelphia’s City Hall Courtyard, Compass Rose was a gift to the city from Edmund Bacon, Director of Philadelphia City Planning from 1949-1970, to mark William Penn’s 350th birthday. It was privately funded by Bacon and painted by David Salama and Pat Sprott. The mural is 58 feet across, painted-free hand on the asphalt and brick and lined with 360 black and white squares representing the days of the year. The compass was painted to mark the geographical center of William Penn’s original Philadelphia city plan. Bacon installed a mirrored ball hanging over the large painted compass that allowed one to simultaneously see all four entry portals to the courtyard aligning with city streets bound north, south, east, and west. However, the alignment of the compass is off axis due to 17th C. cartographic anomalies.

The idea was for visitors to find on the compass the squares that correspond to the month and date of their birthdays. That location, Bacon liked to say, will give people their own sense of place while reminding them of their relationship to everyone and everything else, across time. However, the 2015 restoration omitted the dates.

This ground mural has been restored by Mural Arts Philadelphia in 2004, 2015 and 2022. Each time it was re-painted it was also re-envisioned and updated. The 2015 iteration, for instance, includes a blue and gold color scheme that references the official city blue and yellow colors and was not in the original design. The site will continue to be restored periodically as needed.