| Contributor |
Nevil, Thomas, 1721-1797, architect. |
|
Imprint PA. Philadelphia. 1892. |
| Title |
[Exterior view of Mount Pleasant Mansion built 1761-1765 for Captain John Macpherson after the designs of Thomas Nevil in
Fairmount Park, Philadelphia, Pa.] [graphic].
|
| Publisher |
[Philadelphia] |
| Date |
[1892] |
| Physical Description |
1 photograph : gelatin silver mount on board ; mount 16 x 21 cm (6.25 x 8.25 in.) |
| Description |
Exterior view of Mount Pleasant Mansion built 1761-1765 for Captain John Macpherson after the designs of Thomas Nevil in Fairmount
Park, Philadelphia, Pa. Shows the Georgian mansion, outbuildings, and surrounding grounds of the estate that was a working
plantation 1762-1765. The two-story mansion is designed with several windows; stairs leading to a front entrance adorned with
a lunette window and a pediment supported by Doric columns; and a roof with a balustrade that has dormers and two large chimneys.
Flanking the mansion are two smaller, symmetrical outbuildings of an office and a summer kitchen. Smaller out-buildings flank
the office and kitchen. In the right of the view, a structure, possibly a covered, water-pump, is visible. In the foreground,
several park benches line the lawn in front of the mansion. Several trees, without foliage, stand in-between the buildings.
Macpherson, a privateer during the Seven Years’ War, purchased the estate with profits from these operations. Free white and
Black laborers, indentured servants, and at least four enslaved people of African descent, whose names are unknown, worked
on the plantation. In 1779, General Benedict Arnold purchased Mount Pleasant for his wife Peggy Shippen, but they never occupied
the house. In 1792, General Jonathan Williams purchased the mansion. The City of Philadelphia purchased the property from
the Williams family in 1869. On behalf of the city, the Philadelphia Museum of Art restored the house in 1926.
|
| Notes |
Title supplied by cataloger. |
|
Date from manuscript note on verso: “Mount Pleasant” built by Macpherson and once owned and occupied by Benedict Arnold, but
[?] now called the “Dairy” in Fairmount Park, Philadelphia 1892.
|
|
Purchase 1989. |
|
Description revised 2022. |
|
Access points revised 2022. |
|
Retrospective conversion record: original entry, edited. |
| Subject |
Arnold, Benedict, 1741-1801 -- Homes and haunts. |
|
Macpherson, John, 1723-1792 -- Homes and haunts. |
|
Williams, Jonathan, 1750-1815 -- Homes and haunts. |
|
Dwellings -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia. |
|
Mansions -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia. |
|
Pediments -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia. |
|
Plantations -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia. |
|
Slavery -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia. |
| Geographic subject |
Fairmount Park (Philadelphia, Pa.) |
|
Mount Pleasant (Philadelphia, Pa. : Estate) |
| Genre |
Gelatin silver prints -- 1890-1900. |
| Associated name |
Nevil, Thomas, 1721-1797, architect. |
| Associated name |
Imprint PA. Philadelphia. |
| Location |
Library Company of Philadelphia| Print Department| photo - unidentified - residence [P.9260.472] |
| Accession number |
P.9260.472 |
