Details
Creator W. Birch & Son.
Contributor Birch, William Russell, 1755-1834.
Birch, Thomas, 1779-1851, artist.
Seymour, Samuel, 1796-1823, engraver.
Title Congress Hall and New Theatre, in Chestnut Street Philadelphia [graphic] / Drawn, engraved & published by W. Birch & Son Neshaminy Bridge.
Publisher Philadelphia : W. Birch & Son
Publisher PA. Philadelphia. 1800
Date 1800
Physical Description 1 print : hand-colored engraving ; sheet 33 x 39 cm (13 x 15.5 in.)
Description Street scene showing Chestnut Street near Sixth Street, including views of Congress Hall and the New Theatre. Depicts white men and women and an African American woman holding an African American baby in her arms and with a white boy at her side, strolling or conversing near a wooden post in front of the hall. In front of the theatre a large crowd is gathered, a white female peddler sells her goods, and a coach travels up Chestnut Street. Congress Hall, completed in 1789 to house the Pennsylvania district and county courts, was the first quarters of the U.S. Congress from 1790 until 1800. Completed in 1793, the New Theatre, or the First Chestnut Street Theatre, was established by actor Thomas Wignell and musician Alexander Reinagle. Modeled after a lavish English theatre, it quickly became the fashionable theatre of the city.
Is part of City of Philadelphia in the State of Pennsylvania, North America, as it appeared in the year 1800.
Is referenced by Snyder, City of Independence 218
Snyder, "William Birch: His Philadelphia Views" 20
Notes Title from item.
Illustrated in Robert Teitelman's Birch's views of Philadelphia (Philadelphia: Free Library of Philadelphia, 1982, rev. 2000), pl. 20.
Accessioned 1979.
Description revised 2021.
Access points revised 2021.
Part of digital collections catalog through a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services as administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Education through the Office of the Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014.
Subject Congress Hall (Philadelphia, Pa.)
Chestnut Street Theatre (Philadelphia, Pa.)
African American children -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia.
African American women -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia.
African Americans -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia.
Children -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia.
Courthouses -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia.
Peddlers -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia.
Peddling -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia.
Pedestrians -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia.
Streets -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia.
Theaters -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia.
Women -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia.
Wood poles -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia.
Geographic subject Chestnut Street (Philadelphia, Pa.) -- 600 block.
Genre Engravings -- Hand-colored -- 1800-1810.
Location Library Company of Philadelphia| Print Department| Birch's views [Sn 20/P.2276.45]
Accession number Sn 20/P.2276.45