Notes |
In a lower section of Locust street, a step eastward from Washington Square, this aged building, now of the past, was notable.
Orignially a warehouse, it was converted into a playhouse in 1820, as the Winter Tivoli Theatre. Edwin Forrest was, for a
time, its manager. Three years later it was reopened as the City Theatre. Incident to the production at this time of John
Howard Payne's melodrama, "Clare, the Maid of Milan," on October 29th, 1823, Mrs. H.A. Williams, wife of the manager, sang,
"Home, Sweet Home," this being the first time it was hear in America. The song, which has touched the hearts of millions
of wanderers, was written by Payne, an American, then residing in Egypt. The music was composed by Sir Henry Bishop. In
1825 the Jefferson Medical College occupied the building, removing therefrom in 1829. Through the greater part of a century
the old structure was utilized for manufacturing purposes.
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