Search results

Title: The Old Morris Brew House
Description: View of a large brick brew house on a street corner. A wagon on the street is being loaded with kegs., The original Morris brewery in Philadelphia was built by Anthony Morris, 2nd, the son of an English sea captain. He came to Philadelphia, in 1682, from Barbadoes, and, in 1687, erected his malt house and brewery on Front Street below Walnut Street. The business remained in the family and in 1745 Anthony Morris, 4th, built the structure here depicted. It was located at Dock and Pear Streets, where a good spring provided water which made the Morris beer the finest in town. The building was removed in 1900. The several generations of the Morris family figure honorably in the civil and military history of the city. The union of the Morris and the Perot families accurred through the marriage of Elizabeth M. Morris to Francis Perot in 1823. The malting concern continued by the descendants of this union is said to be the "oldest business house in America.", Taylor Catalog Number: 70
Creator: Taylor, Frank H. (Frank Hamilton), 1846-1927, creator
Date: ca. 1922

Title: The Old Grist Mill, Holmesburg
Description: Depicts a stone mill and outbuilding. A wagon rests in the foreground and two children and a man stand in front of the buildings., The ruin of the Lewis Pennock' or "Old Swedes" mill has stood upon the margin of Pennypack Creek, near Holmesburg, for many years. It was built in 1697. It was eighty years old when it ground its grists for the soldiers of Washington and of the British forces alternately. The drawing here presented was made from a photograph taken prior to its destruction by fire in 1885. The site is now included in the Pennypack Park., Taylor Catalog Number: 172
Creator: Taylor, Frank H. (Frank Hamilton), 1846-1927, creator
Date: ca. 1922

Title: The Academy in Locust Street
Description: Depicts a very large four-story brick building on Locust Street, home of the Academy of the Protestant Episcopal Church., The Academy of the Protestant Episcopal Church was founded in 1785 through the efforts of the Rev. William White D.D., first bishop of Pennsylvania. Its early trustees included many distinguished citizens. The Academy first occupied the dwelling which had been the home, in Franklin Court, of Benjamin Franklin. The institution was chartered in 1787. After several removals it established its home, in 1849, here upon Locust Street east of Broad Street. The original structure at this site was subsequently enlarged and a gymnasium was built in the rear. The Academy abandoned its historic location in 1921 for a more spacious home in Merion beyond the City line., Taylor Catalog Number: 258
Creator: Taylor, Frank H. (Frank Hamilton), 1846-1927, creator
Date: ca. 1922

Title: The Academy of Fine Arts on Chestnut Street
Description: Busy street scene in front of the Academy of Fine Arts on Chestnut Street., When the artists and other interested citizens who were the fathers of the first American art institution built their structure, in 1805, upon the north side of Chestnut Street, west of Tenth Street, it was environed by a pleasant garden space. The original structure was burned in 1845. It was rebuilt and, as the encroachments of business forced economics of space, stores were erected in front. The old academy was the alma mater of many artists of note and the repository of a valuable collection of art works. The building was vacated in 1870 and later became "Fox's Varieties," destroyed by fire in 1877. The site is now covered by the Chestnut Street Opera House., Taylor Catalog Number: 40
Creator: Taylor, Frank H. (Frank Hamilton), 1846-1927, creator
Date: ca. 1922

Title: The Franklin Institute
Description: View of a former home of the Franklin Institute on Seventh Street., This time-honored society is a practical example of local tenacity. Ever since its organization, in 1824, it has held to its original home in Seventh Street, although its removal, at no distant time, is now expected. The activities of the Institute include the encouragement of inventions and the preservation, in a great library collection, of records of scientific research and progress. In 1824 the Institute held, in Carpenters Hall, the first exhibition of American manufacturers. Its semi-centennial exhibition was held, in 1874, upon the site of the present Wanamaker store as a prelude to the Centennial., Taylor Catalog Number: 334
Creator: Taylor, Frank H. (Frank Hamilton), 1846-1927, creator
Date: ca. 1922

Title: The Original Occupant of the Union League Site
Description: View of a building on a cobblestone street corner. The building has signs that read, "Plumbing & Gas Fitting, Furnaces, Cooking Ranges," and frieght train cars wait on the track in the foreground., Round about this structure, lined up boldly beside the solemn old home of the Academy of Natural Sciences, soldiery camped, barracked and drilled in Civil War days. Broad street, in front, was but little more than a cobble strewn freight yard where, also, market wagons were parked at nightfall. Then, in 1864, the Union League cleared the ground for its new building, which was completed and occupied in may, 1865, just in time to fittingly celebrate the triumphant close of the great war which led to the formation, in 1863, of this patriotic body of citizens., Taylor Catalog Number: 47
Creator: Taylor, Frank H. (Frank Hamilton), 1846-1927, creator
Date: ca. 1922

Title: The Colosseum and Offenbach Auditorium
Description: Image with two panels. The left half contains a view of the Centennial building "The Colosseum" on a busy street corner. The right half shows a market building with a sign that reads, "D.P.S. Nichols' Broad St. Horse & Carriage Bazaar.", These structures were features of Broad Street in the Centennial period. The Colosseum building was located upon the site now covered by the Hotel Walton. It was built by Nixon & Zimmerman, who exhibited a cyclorama of "Paris by Night" within it through 1876. The building on the right was erected at the southeast corner of Broad and Cherry Streets in 1876, as a concert hall for Offenbach's famous French orchestra and comedy company. It stood upon the site of an old market building used, during the Civil War, as an United States Military hospital. Following the close of the Centennial it was utilized as a sales bazaar for vehicles and horses. It was finally removed when, in 1893, work was commenced upon the modern building still generally spoken of as the "Odd Fellows' Temple.", Taylor Catalog Number: 175
Creator: Taylor, Frank H. (Frank Hamilton), 1846-1927, creator
Date: ca. 1922

Title: St. John's English Lutheran Church
Description: Front view of a church with stained-glass windows and wrought iron fence. People walk out of the entrance and wait outside of the gate., The beautiful portal of old St. John's, which still dignifies the block upon Race Street east of Sixth Street, quite justified the popular opinion of old residents that it was the finest in the city. St. John's was built in 1808 by the English-speaking element of the older Zion and St. Michael's Churches in which the German language was used. It is surrounded by the graves of many who worshipped here. Immediately in front of the doorway is a tomb wherein rest the bodies of Bohl Bohlen and his distinguished son, Gen. W. Henry C. Bohlen. The former coming from Germany became a prominent mercant of the city and the founder of the Philadelphia branch of the Bohlens. Gen. Henry Bohlen, as he preferred to be called, was the ideal soldier among his local compatriots. Having served in the Crimean and Mexican Wars, he became the logical colonel of the Seventy-fifth Regiment of Pennsylvania Vols. in 1862, which was composed of German citizens. Soon after attaining the rank of Brig. General, he was kiled, on August 22nd, 1862, at Freeman's Ford, Va. His widow was a member of the Borie family. Their grandson, Dr. Gustave von Bohlen and Halbach, is the husband of Bertha Krupp, of Essen, Germany., Taylor Catalog Number: 159
Creator: Taylor, Frank H. (Frank Hamilton), 1846-1927, creator
Date: ca. 1922

Title: Old "Redemption" Now Removed
Description: Street view of a corner church and the adjacent row of houses. The congregation walks from the building and horse-drawn carriages wait outside., One of the most notable structures removed in the course of the Parkway operation was that of the Church of the Redemption (Protestant Episcopal). This building, located at the northwestern corner of Twenty-second and Callowhill streets, was erected for this congregation in 1847 and was, with its enlargements, occupied by them sixty-five years. The congregation removed in 1912 to Fifty-sixth and Market streets, merging the St. Anna's Mission, previously located there. Dating from 1845, when this church was founded, the rectors have been the Reverends George A. Durborow, John P. DuHanel, Thomas R. List and Albert E. Clay. Rev. Dr. List, who was a veteran soldier of the Civil War, became Rector Emeritus in 1912, after thrity-seven years of ministrations., Taylor Catalog Number: 63
Creator: Taylor, Frank H. (Frank Hamilton), 1846-1927, creator
Date: ca. 1922

Title: The Epiphany Protestant Episcopal Church
Description: View of a neo-classical style church on the busy corner of Fifteenth and Chestnut Streets. Pedestrians and horse-drawn carriages populate the area., Built in 1834, this church continued to be a popular place of worship through more than sixty years. When established, upon the northwest corner of Fifteenth and Chestnut Streets, it was environed by the substantial homes of prominent families, nearly all of which have long been displaced or converted to the uses of business. THe old church building was bought, in 1901, from the congregation by Mr. John Wanamaker, who eventually resold it. The larger portion is now covered by the lofty Pennsylvania Building., Taylor Catalog Number: 25
Creator: Taylor, Frank H. (Frank Hamilton), 1846-1927, creator
Date: ca. 1922

Title: A Patriotic Shrine
Description: View of a large church on a cobblestone street corner, built in 1796., Zion Church, built by the second congregation of the German Lutherans in Philadelphia in the year 1766, was located at the southeastern corner of Fourth and Cherry Streets. The original structure was burned in 1794 and rebuilt, two years later, as shown in the drawing. It was considered to have been the largest and finest church in America. Like a number of other of the city churches, Zion was occupied in 1777-8, as a hospital, by the British Army. At the close of the Revolution, Congress met here in a service of thanksgiving for the surrender of Lord Cornwallis, and, in the restored building, Congress again assembled to mourn the death of Washington. It was upon this occation that General Henry Lee gave the nation the immortal tribute to the father of his counry in the words, "First in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen!" Zion congregation removed to their new church on Franklin Street above Race Street in 1870., Taylor Catalog Number: 75
Creator: Taylor, Frank H. (Frank Hamilton), 1846-1927, creator
Date: ca. 1922

Title: A Famous Church and Noted Tavern
Description: View of a large, neo-classical building and the adjacent small, brick tavern. Pedestrians on the sidewalk wear 18th century-style clothing., White Horse alley, now Bank street, at its conjunction with High street, was flanken, a century ago, by the Frist Presbyterian Church and the Indian King tavern. The former upon the east, a beautiful edifice, was built in 1795 upon the site of the old "Buttonwood Church." The congregation abandoned it in 1822 because of the encroachements of the market traffic, removing to Seventh and Locust streets. The tavern on the western side is much older. It was, in 1735, the meeting-place of the Grand Lodge, F. and A.M., of Pennsylvania, of which, at the time, Benjamin Franklin was the Grand Master. Here also met the brethren of St. John's Lodge, of which Franklin was a member, and who were active in the erection of Independence Hall., Taylor Catalog Number: 87
Creator: Taylor, Frank H. (Frank Hamilton), 1846-1927, creator
Date: ca. 1922

Title: The Tabernacle, Broad and South Penn Square
Description: Depicts a Presbyterian church built in the style of a Classical temple., The congregation of the Seventh Presbyterian Church was organized in 1804 under the title of the Independent Tabernacle, having its place of worship in Ranstead Court, west of Fourth Street. For a short period, following 1816, it was identified with the reformed Dutch denomination. The Sixth Church was organized in 1814 in Independence Hall. The first-named church merged with the Sixth in 1819. The progressive element in this dual congregation built the much-admired Grecian temple here illustrated in 1842. It was usually known as the "Penn Square Church," and often as "Dr. McCook's Church." The Rev. Henry C. McCook was the last of a series of pastors who preached in the structure. He was installed in 1870. His final sermon here was delivered on June 30th, 1884. Soon afterward the building was removed and the Bets Building erected on the site. The congregation removed to its present location, at Thirty-seventh and Chestnut Streets, in October of that year., Taylor Catalog Number: 150
Creator: Taylor, Frank H. (Frank Hamilton), 1846-1927, creator
Date: ca. 1922

Title: Venerable Neighbors of Independence Hall
Description: View of the Philadelphia Library, Mercantile Library, and Philadelphia Dispensary near Independence Hall., The Philadelphia Library, the Mercantile Library, and Philadelphia Dispensary buildings formed a notable trio of dignified examples of the old-time architecture of the city. The first-named was removed to make room for the Drexel building about 1880. The others are still in situ. When the Library Company of Philadelphia was organized by Benjamin Franklin and some of his fellow bibliophiles in 1731, it was content with humble quarters but, at the age of fifty-nine years, it was able to erect the fine building here depicted. It became the custodian of the priceless Loganian Library. The system of loaning books without charge originated with this institution. The library is now located upon Locust Street east of Broad Street. The costly building and collection of rare books bequeathed by Dr. James Rush is administered as the Ridgway Branch. The Mercantile Library Company was founded in 1820. The building, in the centre of this group, was erected in 1845. The Library removed, in 1868, to the more spacious structure on Tenth Street below Market Street, which had been built some years before by the Franklin Market Company. The beneficent little Dispensary, built in 1801, still remains to minister freely to sick and injured applicants of the poor, the oldest and one of the most worthy charities of its kind in the United States., Taylor Catalog Number: 191
Creator: Taylor, Frank H. (Frank Hamilton), 1846-1927, creator
Date: ca. 1922

Title: Billy Wigglesworth's Toy Shop
Description: Depicts a corner shop with a sign displayed over the door that says, "Wigglesworth - Toys.", Here, along about the year 1790, was the home of Santa Claus. It stood at the northeast corner of Second and Chestnut Streets, a joy to the children, generations of them, from the near-by homes of our "first families" who lived in Front Street. The site is now covered by the modern building of the Corn Exchange National Bank. This drawing has been made from a contemporary sketch by an unidentified artist., Taylor Catalog Number: 356
Creator: Taylor, Frank H. (Frank Hamilton), 1846-1927, creator
Date: ca. 1922

Title: "Matt" Baldwin's First Locomotive Shop
Description: View of a row of buildings on a cobblestone street, one of which has a bay where a horse-drawn carriage is parked., The above structure was occupied by Matthias W. Baldwin from 1831 to 1835. It stood upon the north side of Grand Lodge Alley (now Ranstead Street), west fo Seventh Street. Here Mr. Baldwin built five locomitives, beginning with "Old Ironsides," which was operated with success upon the Germantown and Norristown Railroad, starting from Ninth and Green Streets, on November 23, 1832. Mr. Baldwin began his business life as a jeweler, later he conducted a shop for engraving book-binders' dies. Early in 1831 he constructed a miniature locomotive for Mr. Franklin Peale, which was run upon a circular track in Peale's Philadelphia Museum, in the Arcade, on Chestnut Street, drawing cars with passengers. "Old Ironsides" was the fifth practical locomotive built in America and the first employed in regular service in Philadephia. The shop shown in this drawing had a frontage of 53 feet on Grand Lodge Alley and extended through to Market Street, with a frontage thereon of about 29 feet, at No. 714. In 1835 the requirements of the business induced Mr. Baldwin to remove to Broad and Hamilton Streets. His estate held the title to the old shop until 1907, when it was bought by William Steele & Sons Co., who have since erected a warehouse on the site., Taylor Catalog Number: 54
Creator: Taylor, Frank H. (Frank Hamilton), 1846-1927, creator
Date: ca. 1922

Title: Those Troublesome Old Toll Houses
Description: Shows sketches of five different toll houses from the Philadelphia area, labeled according to their location., These several typical toll-houses will be remembered by every cyclist of days gone by. They were survivals of a system of highways leading outward from the city which were extended and maintained by private corporations which provided the capital State of local authorities were unable to do. Some of these "stand and deliver" stations are still doing business (in 1918), but they are gradually disappearing after a long time of prosperity by reason of the purchase of the turnpike franchises with public money., Taylor Catalog Number: 144
Creator: Taylor, Frank H. (Frank Hamilton), 1846-1927, creator
Date: ca. 1922

Title: Some Second Street Stores
Description: Row of shops on a cobblestone street, displaying goods and advertisements., Second Street was once accounted "the longest business street in the world." Its retail shops, of which this group are typical examples, extended for miles above and below Market Street. Its modern traffic, however, is dependent largely upon the city's foreign elements which now people this crowded river-front quarter of the old city., Taylor Catalog Number: 322
Creator: Taylor, Frank H. (Frank Hamilton), 1846-1927, creator
Date: ca. 1922

Title: The Herkness Bazaar
Description: View of a rotunda-shaped building, identified as the Herkness Bazaar, and adjacent buildings. A sign on the building beside the rotunda advertises the Walnut Street Theatre., The interesting structure upon Ninth Street, adjoining the Walnut Street Theatre, known for generations as the Herkness Bazaar, has been removed in the present year (1915). This building was erected prior to 1847 for the exhibition of a Cyclorama of Jerusalem. In that year it was bought by Alfred M. Herkness as a sales mart for horses and vehicles, and the business was continued by a surviving son until 1913. This bazaar is supposed by many persons to have been the old Baptist building, erected in 1812 and long popular as "Dr. Stoughton's church," which was also a rotunda in form. There is conclusive evidence, however, to show that the latter stucture was situated in the middle of the block, upon Sansom Street below Ninth Street., Taylor Catalog Number: 37
Creator: Taylor, Frank H. (Frank Hamilton), 1846-1927, creator
Date: ca. 1922

Title: Where Thomas Jefferson Wrote the Declaration of American Independence
Description: Large four-story building where businesses are housed. Identified as being the place where Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence., For many years local historians were at odds concerning the location of the house in which he maintained his lodging in 1776 and where he penned the immortal document which is the basis of our national freedom from foreign control. Nearly half a century after the signing of this Declaration by those assembled at Philadelphia upon behalf of the thirteen States then existent, Jefferson wrote from his home at Monticello stating that his rooms, in 1776, were in a house owned by a young married man named Graff. This property, at the southwest corner of High and Seventh streets, was purchased in the following year by Jacob Hiltzheimer, the diarist, who kept store here until his death, of yellow fever, in 1801. The building was then bought by Simon Gratz. An examination of the records cleared the doubt and, although the old structure housed many small industries in later times, it stood high among the historical assets of the city and nation. The drawing herewith was made from a photograph, taken in 1859, just prior to the removal of the market houses. The old relic was torn down in 1882, being replaced by the present modern building of the Penn National Bank, upon the front of which a bronze tablet is affixed, testifying to the historical connection of the site with the genesis of our National Independence., Taylor Catalog Number: 61
Creator: Taylor, Frank H. (Frank Hamilton), 1846-1927, creator
Date: ca. 1922

Title: Two Historic Chestnut Street Houses and the Brown Building
Description: Shows a row of buildings on the corner of Fifth and Chestnut Streets with stores of various types on the first floor., A pair of fine old Colonial structures stood for the greater part of a century at Fifth and Chestnut streets. One of them, upon the northeast corner, held for a number of years, prior to 1800, the offices of the Secretary of War and of the Postmaster-General. In the house adjoining, upon the east, Joseph Hopkinson, who wrote the inspiring words of "Hail, Columbia!" had his law office. In later times the stores of Frederick Brown, druggist, and Pepper & Son, jewelers, were upon the street floor of the corner house, and the adjoining structure had become the Rubicam saloon (originally upon Sixth street, near Jayne street). This establishment was afterward locally noted as the Cafe Tortoni. In 1854 Mr. Brown covered these sites with his large five-story iron building, the upper floors of which contained the publishing business of Evans' Gift Emporium and suites of offices for many tennants. Two properties now covered by the Lafayette Building, were acquired by Stephen Girard in 1827 and 1828. They were situated on Fifth street, above Chestnut street, and were purchased from Joseph Hopkinson and Thomas Fletcher. In 1872 the city of Philadelphia, as Trustee of the Girard Estate, acquired from Mrs. Elzabeth Blake the Fifth street building, formerly containing Blake's music store. The Frederick Brown building was bought by the city upon account of the Girard Estate in 1903. The Lafayette Building was erected in 1907, when the Board of City Trusts established its offices here., Taylor Catalog Number: 82
Creator: Taylor, Frank H. (Frank Hamilton), 1846-1927, creator
Date: ca. 1922

Title: The Yellow Mansion
Description: Aerial view of a mansion featuring columns in the front and a large garden behind it. Pedestrians stand outside on the sidewalk near a busy, tree-lined intersection., Taylor Catalog Number:
Creator: Taylor, Frank H. (Frank Hamilton), 1846-1927, creator
Date: ca. 1922

Title: The Jayne Residence
Description: Depicts a four-story upscale residence on the corner of Eleventh and Chestnut Streets, identified as having been owned by David Jayne., Notable among the many once admired and spacious mansions, in a section once exclusively residential, is this building, long the home of David Jayne, at the South East corner of Nineteenth and Chestnut Streets, which was, in 1922, removed to make was for a highly illuminated "movie" palace., Taylor Catalog Number: 289
Creator: Taylor, Frank H. (Frank Hamilton), 1846-1927, creator
Date: ca. 1922

Title: A Noted Home of the Wistars
Description: Depicts the northeast corner of Third and Market Streets where a market is being held. The building on the corner is identified as being the former residence of Richard Wistar., This sketch, drawn in 1924 from a somewhat older photograph, portrays the greatly changed mansion at the northeast corner of Third and Market Streets. It was built, in 1795, by Richard Wistar, a brother of Dr. Casper Wistar, whose home yet remains in South Fourth Street. Richard Wistar was a merchant in iron. Having prospered he became a liberal supporter of the Philadelphia Library and other worthy undertakings. At one time, in 1814, Dr. Micheal Leib conducted the post office in the Wistar residence here., Taylor Catalog Number: 346
Creator: Taylor, Frank H. (Frank Hamilton), 1846-1927, creator
Date: ca. 1922

Title: The Home of John Fries, Merchant
Description: View of the former residence of John Fries on the southwest corner of Third and Market Streets. It is depicted as a commercial building featuring signs and an awning., This venerable structure, which yet stands, in 1924, at the southwest corner of Third and Market Streets, after many changes, was built before 1790. It was the home of John Fries. It covers the site of the city's second prison, of tragic repute, which was erected there in 1732, the location being then at the western limit of the town. Prisoners of war were confined there by the British authorities during the War of the Revolution. Adjoining, upon the west, was the city residence of John Bartram, the noted botanist., Taylor Catalog Number: 347
Creator: Taylor, Frank H. (Frank Hamilton), 1846-1927, creator
Date: ca. 1922

Title: The Cope Residence, Lancaster, Pa.
Description: Depicts a two-story brick home in Lancaster, Pa. identified as having been owned by a Quaker family during the Revolutionary War., This typical Colonial homestead, which remained a notable local feature of Lancaster until June, 1904, was the house of Caleb Cope, a member of the Society of Friends, and prior to the Revolution a Burgess of the town. In the fall of 1775 a number of British officers who had been captured by the Americans in the Canadian operations were sent to Lancaster and placed on parole. Among them was Captain John Andre, then twenty-four years old. Having difficulty in securing lodgings, young Andre was invited by Caleb Cope to his home, despite the prejudice of the townspeople. Like a large proportion of the Quakers, the Copes were passively loyalists. Andre and another officer abode here some months, being then removed to Carlisle. Andre, talented and agreeable, gained many friends. He employed his leisure in instructing young Thomas P. Cope in drawing. Two bricks from the wall of the house have been preserved which bear the initals of Andre and his boy associate. After his exchange Andre became Adjutant General of the British force. His death, by execution as a spy, at Tappan on the Hudson, is a tragic memory. The Cope Homestead was bought in 1851 by the Hon. A. Herr Smith, and his daughter, Eliza D. Smith, resided there up to the time of its demolition., Taylor Catalog Number: 125
Creator: Taylor, Frank H. (Frank Hamilton), 1846-1927, creator
Date: ca. 1922

Title: The Woodlands and Bartram's Mansion
Description: Contains two panels of country mansions. The top panel depicts a home with a neo-classical porch, identified as having been owned by Andrew Hamilton. The bottom panel depicts a home covered in ivy and surrounded by trees and identifired as having been built by John and Mary Bartram., There was a time when the unpolluted tide-water Schuylkill River was bordered by fine country seats and the embowered road leading from the town down the George Gray's ferry was a populat drive. The two well-preserved examples of COlonial homes here shown are the Woodlands and Bartram's Mansion. The first-named was established by Andrew Hamilton, an eminent jurist, in 1735, devised to his son, Andrew, designer of the State House, in 1741, and then passed to a grandson, William, in 1747. The latter erected the existing mansion about the time of the Revolution. The property covered 356 acres. It was devoted to cemetery purposes in 1835. Bartram's Mansion and garden are now city property. The interesting stone house was built by John and Mary Bartram in 1731, and, in time, the botanist and his rare garden became famous. The children of the worthy couple maintained the garden beyond a century. It then became the property of Andrew Eastwick, whose large residence formerly stood nearby. The Bartram Association of Descendants meet, here, annually., Taylor Catalog Number: 99
Creator: Taylor, Frank H. (Frank Hamilton), 1846-1927, creator
Date: ca. 1922

Title: Mount Pleasant, East Fairmount Park
Description: Depicts a large, elaborate home and two outbuildings, as well as people and early automobiles. The house had been owned by Cpt. John McPherson, Benedict Arnold, Baron von Steuben, and Gen. Jonathan Williams., Mount Pleasant Mansion in East Fiarmount Park was built by Captain John McPherson prior to the Revolution, with prize money gained in privateering during the French and English War. John Adams is said to have pronounced this the finest country seat in Pennsylvania. Its chief historic interest rests in its purchase by Benedict Arnold, military governor of Pennsylvania, upon his marriage with the beautiful Miss Shippen. It was here that the couple sojourned in brief happiness prior to the act of Arnold's treason. After the Revolution the Baron von Steuben lived here for a time. The property was purchased in 1796 by General Jonathan Williams, a member of Congress and the first commandant of West Point Military Academy. It was acquired by the city in 1867, when Fairmount Park was extended to include this suburban section., Taylor Catalog Number: 154
Creator: Taylor, Frank H. (Frank Hamilton), 1846-1927, creator
Date: ca. 1922

Title: The Caspar Wistar House
Description: Depicts a row of elegant townhomes at the intersection of Fourth and Locust Streets, occupied by Caspar Winstar, John Cadwalader, and Louis Phillippe., Chiefly notable, in its vicinity among the old homes of historic families thereabout, is the residence of Dr. Caspar Wistar, at the southwest corner of Fourth and Locust Streets. This and the house adjoining, upon the south - long the residence of the Hon. John Cadwalader - are now owned by the Mutual Assurance Company and are occupied as offices. The site of these houses was, with other land adjoining, granted by the Penns to Joseph and William Shippen. Dr. Wistar bought the ground and built in 1798, living here to the end of his life, in 1818. Dr. Caspar Wistar was eminent as a scientist and a scholar. He succeeded Thomas Jefferson as president of the American Philosophical Society, the members of which formed the coterie, famous as the "Wistar parties," which met here. Subsequent to the death of Dr. Wistar the house was sold to Job R. Tyson, Esq., and later became the office of James Dundas and of the Pratt estate. The royal exile, Louis Phillippe, lived, for a time, in the house shown upon the right of the picture. This dwelling was removed about 1898., Taylor Catalog Number: 139
Creator: Taylor, Frank H. (Frank Hamilton), 1846-1927, creator
Date: ca. 1922

Title: The Keene Mansion and Franklin Market
Description: Depicts a three-story brick residence on the corner of Eleventh and Chestnut Streets. Adjacent is a busy market building with people and horse-drawn carriages in front., A Scotch carpenter, John Fimeton, began the rearing of this fine residence at the northwest corner of Tenth and Chestnut Streets in 1790. His widow, a daughter of John Hart, one of the signers of the "Declaration," sold the partly built structure to Colonel Peter L. Berry, who in turn sold it to David Lenox in 1815. The greater part of the estate of the widow, Lucy Lenox, was willed to her niece, Sallie Lukens Keene, daughter of Genral Lawrence Keene, who served in the Revolution. Succeeding members of the family, including the wife of Coloner S.B. Wylie Mitchell, sold the property to the Mutual Life Insurance Company, who built here in 1874, the first modern office structure in the city. The Franklin Market, upon Tenth Street, was built in 1860. The enterprise was not profitable and the building was sold to the Pennsylvania Railroad Company in 1867. Two years later the Mercantile Library Company purchased and altered the structure to suit its purpose. The statue of Franklin, which long adorned the front, now occupies a similar place at the Ledger Building., Taylor Catalog Number: 34
Creator: Taylor, Frank H. (Frank Hamilton), 1846-1927, creator
Date: ca. 1922

Title: Where Robert Morris Closed His Eventful Life
Description: Depicts a row of townhomes on South Twelfth Street, one of which was the house where Robert Morris died., The residence, No. 32 South Twelfth Street, was located upon the site now covered, in part, by the building of the Commonwealth Title and Trust Company. It was the home of Henry Nixon, a son of Col. John Nixon, second President of the Bank of North America, and who first read in public, on July 8th, 1776, the Declaration of Independence. Henry Nixon married Maria, youngest daughter of Robert Morris, and it was here, in her home, that the aged financier found refuge after his long imprisonment for debt, and here he died, on May 7th, 1806., Taylor Catalog Number: 32
Creator: Taylor, Frank H. (Frank Hamilton), 1846-1927, creator
Date: ca. 1922

Title: The "Monastery"
Description: Shows a three-story stone residence with a wraparound porch surrounded by trees. It is identified as having been built by Joseph Gorgas., A well-preserved residence known to local history by the above title is located upon Kitchens' Lane near the Wissahickon stream. It is said to have been built about 1745 by Joseph Gorgas, upon the site of an older structure occupied by a sect of German pietists - led by Johan Kelpius. After the death of this recluse, at the age of 38 years, his followers became scattered., Taylor Catalog Number: 265
Creator: Taylor, Frank H. (Frank Hamilton), 1846-1927, creator
Date: ca. 1922

Title: A Peep at Humble Homes
Description: Depicts a narrow cobblestone alley of homes slated for demolition in 1922 for the construction of the Benjamin Franklin Bridge., One of almost countless hid-away nooks of the city, squalid, perhaps, but yet "sweet home" to somebody, is this brief court, opening upon Florist Street, to the northward. It had, when snap-shotted, in 1922, just before it was swept out of the way of the bridge approach, that saving-grace of the picturesque which is so well worth depiction; so appropriate for preservation in any scrapbook scenes in gone or passing Philadelphia., Taylor Catalog Number: 256
Creator: Taylor, Frank H. (Frank Hamilton), 1846-1927, creator
Date: ca. 1922

Title: Two Walnut Street Homes Now Gone
Description: Contains two sketches of residences on Walnut Street. The top sketch depicts a residence at the corner of Sixteenth and Walnut Streets, which has since been replaced by the Medical Arts Building. The lower sketch shows a residence at the corner of Eighteenth and Walnut Streets that was the former home of Alexander J. Drexel and later William Warren Gibbs., These spacious homes, not long ago notable features of a seemingly well-entrenched and exclusive residential section, are no longer. The upper residence, at the northwest corner of Walnut and Sixteenth streets, was, in turn, the home of Dr. D. Hayes Agnew, Dr. De Forrest Willard and George Albert Huhn. The site is now covered by the Medical Arts Building, erected in 1917. The lower sketch depicts the former residence of Alexander J. Drexel. For some years it was occupied by William Warren Gibbs, the site at the northeast corner of Walnut and Eighteenth streets is now that of a lofty but nameless apartment structure., Taylor Catalog Number: 118
Creator: Taylor, Frank H. (Frank Hamilton), 1846-1927, creator
Date: ca. 1922

Title: A Garden of Climbing Wistaria
Description: Shows a back view of the Wistar and Cadwalader mansions where a garden of Wistaria grows., This rear view of the locally noted Wistar and Cadwalader mansions, at 238 and 240 South Fourth Street, is of interest, especially, as it portrays the original creeping vine, shown, at the left, which was presented, early in the last century, to Dr. Caspar Wistar, by his guest, the French naturalist Michaux, who named it the Wistaria in honor of his host and friend. This is the parent vine of its species of all those now so plentiful in America., Taylor Catalog Number: 240
Creator: Taylor, Frank H. (Frank Hamilton), 1846-1927, creator
Date: ca. 1922

Title: The Randolph House on North Second Street in 1923
Description: Depicts a small corner home on North Second Street, marked for removal due to the construction of the Benjamin Franklin Bridge., An interesting survival of the old days is the building at 212 North Second Street which was the home of Edward Randolph, and which, being within the area of the Delaware river bridge approach, will soon be removed. Mr. Richard P. Tatum has directed attention to this sturdy old mansion which, in 1786, was bought by Mr. Randolph from Charles Julian De Longchamps together with an addition owned by Benjamin Mershon., Taylor Catalog Number: 385
Creator: Taylor, Frank H. (Frank Hamilton), 1846-1927, creator
Date: ca. 1922

Title: At the Foot of South Street
Description: Shows a busy pier near South Street bustling with the activity of carriages and locomotives. A schooner rests in the water., Old-timers of the river wards yet recall the days when the Delaware River front was fringed with a forest of loft spars and intricate cordage; when the jib-booms and bow hamper of ships-of-sail projected far inshore from every wharf. This scene, drawn at the foot of South Street, hints of the survival, in the battle with steam, of the hardy schooner type of sea-going craft, a fine example of which has poked its nose in among iron treighters, demanding a share of the business with which fussy locomotives, drays and motors constantly clutter piers., Taylor Catalog Number: 35
Creator: Taylor, Frank H. (Frank Hamilton), 1846-1927, creator
Date: ca. 1922

Title: In Little Quince Street
Description: Depicts the busy intersection near 11th and Chestnut surrounded by residences and tall commercial buildings. The street is filled with pedestrians, as well as an early automobile and a horse-drawn carriage., The factory and warehouse builders have tumbled the aged walls of much that bordered the eastern side of Quince Street, in that section of the little thorofare south of Walnut Street, but his quaint well cared-for trio of houses still hold their place as does, also, the neat little home of Mrs. J.M. Mays and her daughter, at 208, opposide. The group here sketched has come into the possession of Dr. Eugene Pettit who has expended upon them the artistic care of an enthusiast and found space, within, for a wealth of rare furnishings thus providing an interesting example of what may be done, by way of intelligent restoration, in other like hid-away by-ways of this long neglected section of old Philadelphia., Taylor Catalog Number: 249
Creator: Taylor, Frank H. (Frank Hamilton), 1846-1927, creator
Date: ca. 1922

Title: Along Lower Chestnut Street - 1845
Description: Cobblestone street lined with stores and residences. Horse-drawn carriages and pedestrians populate the street., A sixty-year-old daguerreotype was the basis of this drawing portraying the quaint jumble of buildings facing southward upon Chestnut street eastward from Second street. Note how the determined, yes, indignant little houses of an earlier era are being elbowed by heartless warehouses. Note, also, the then typical wooden awning posts and the quaint street lamp of the time. When Mason, with his camera, saved this bit of old Philadelphia for us he did a good day's work., Taylor Catalog Number: 404
Creator: Taylor, Frank H. (Frank Hamilton), 1846-1927, creator
Date: ca. 1922

Title: Old Resorts in Library Street
Description: Depicts men outside Military Hall and Isaih Bryan's Our House on Library Street., Military Hall and "Our House: were features of Library (now Sansom) Street, west of Fourth Street, for many years. The first-named faced the rear of the U.S. Custom House. In the early months of the Civil War several regiments of the Pennsylvania Volunteers were recruited and had headquarters here. The structure was composed of a group of remodeled residences of the colonial era which commanded a view of the noted gardens of the Norris homestead, a portion of which was afterward covered by the United States Bank building, know, since 1845, as the Cutom house. The site of Military Hall and the adjoiing tap-house above mentioned is now occupied by the building of the American Bank Note Company., Taylor Catalog Number: 193
Creator: Taylor, Frank H. (Frank Hamilton), 1846-1927, creator
Date: ca. 1922

Title: Southward from Ninth and Market Streets in 1870
Description: View of Ninth and Market Streets in the 1870s lined with trees and filled with pedestrians. Two businesses display signs saying, "Cooper and Conard" and "John E. Burke Gents' Furnishing Goods.", This drawing portrays the appearance of Ninth Street prior to 1874 when the old college buildings, vacated by the University of Pennsylvania two years before, were removed and work on the present Federal building was commenced. In the early days of the Republic (1798) the State of Pennsylvania caused the erection, on this site, of a spacious residence for the President, but it was not so occupied. The structure was replaced in 1829 by the U. of P. The Gimbel store now includes the site of Cooper & Conard store at the left., Taylor Catalog Number: 189
Creator: Taylor, Frank H. (Frank Hamilton), 1846-1927, creator
Date: ca. 1922

Title: Lawyers' Row Upon Walnut Street West from Sixth Street
Description: Tree-lined street containing well-kept homes and lawyers' offices., These structures, orignially built for residential purposes, housed, in later times, many noted attorneys. The Loganian Library was established upon the site in 1790, in which was deposited the valuable collection of rare books bequeathed to the Library Company of Philadelphia by Chief Justice James Logan, of Stenton. The small street extending northward to George or Sansom Street, was named in honor of George Swanwick, who bought the tract from the Gilpin and Fisher families in 1794. The small arched structure in the drawing gave access to the Ludwich Institute, and beneficence for the education of the boys established by Christopher Ludwich, a German cake baker, of Letitia Street, a friend of Washington and baker-general of the Revolutionary Army. It is worthy of mention that one of the journeymen employed in Ludwick's bakery was Frederick Fraley. Ludwick's home was in Germantown. He gave much of his savings to the Revolutionary cause. His legacy of $8000.00 was carefully fostered by the trustees, and some part of it is still administered. All of these buildings, as well as the substantial residences to the westward, in the same block, among them the homes of three of our mayors, were razed to be replaced by the great structure of the Curtis Publishing Company., Taylor Catalog Number: 143
Creator: Taylor, Frank H. (Frank Hamilton), 1846-1927, creator
Date: ca. 1922

Title: Where Sky-Scrapers Now Rise
Description: Shows the corner of Broad and Chestnut Streets. Pedestrians and vehicles are in the street., Not so long ago the space upon which the Real Estate Trust Building and the North American Building now rise held the structures here portrayed. At the corner of Chestnut and Broad streets there yet remained the large mansion wherein Harmer served good dinners to particular people, where the Pennsylvania Railroad Company sold tickets and where Benjamin Franklin (not the philosopher, mind you!) kept his sleuths where they were not on the track of evil-doers. Just below, on neighborly terms with other residences. Hallowell & Son sold choice fruits, and, at the corner of George street, the old Independent Church still recalled the eloquence of Dr. Chambers., Taylor Catalog Number: 43
Creator: Taylor, Frank H. (Frank Hamilton), 1846-1927, creator
Date: ca. 1922

Title: Where Sky-Scrapers Now Rise
Description: Shows the corner of Broad and Chestnut Streets. Signs are visible on buildings for B. Franklin's Detective Agency, Pennsylvania Railroad, and Henry M. Hallowell & Son Fruits., Not so long ago the space upon which the Real Estate Trust Building and the North American Building now rise held the structures here portrayed. At the corner of Chestnut and Broad streets there yet remained the large mansion wherein Harmer served good dinners to particular people, where the Pennsylvania Railroad Company sold tickets and where Benjamin Franklin (not the philospher, mind you!) kept his sleuths when they were not on the track of evil-doers. Just below, on neighborly terms with other residences. Hallowell & Son sold choice fruits, and, at the corner of George street, the old Independent Church still recalled the eloquence of Dr. Chambers., Taylor Catalog Number: 44
Creator: Taylor, Frank H. (Frank Hamilton), 1846-1927, creator
Date: ca. 1922

Title: On Front Street Below Chestnut Street
Description: Depicts a residential street of townhomes. A horse and carriage wait outside of one home while a trolley rides by., As late as the Civil War perios the scions of some of the old families continued to occupy the spacious residences along Front Street, which, in earlier times, was distinctly a home section. Those sturdy houses, such as one shown in this drawing, have long since been converted into warehouses or altogether replaced. There is a tradition that in the middle building of this group the first "stove coal" was burned successfully in a grate, at a time when few people were convinced that anthracite would ever replace wood as domestice fuel., Taylor Catalog Number: 149
Creator: Taylor, Frank H. (Frank Hamilton), 1846-1927, creator
Date: ca. 1922

Title: New Market House, Second and Pine Street
Description: View of a busy street corner with fruit stands, pedestrians, and horse-drawn carriages., Taylor Catalog Number: 201
Creator: Taylor, Frank H. (Frank Hamilton), 1846-1927, creator
Date: ca. 1922

Title: Colonnade Row
Description: View of the Colonnade Hotel on Chestnut Street. Pedestrians are on the sidewalk and ornate carriages pass on the street., Colonnade Row was built upon the south side of Chestnut street, between Fifteenth and Sixteenth streets, in the year 1830. The Epiphany Church, opposite, was erected four years later. The present Colonnade Hotel covers part of the site and derives its name from this group of once modern houses, which were novel in design and one of the earliest residential operations west of Broad Street. They were removed in 1868., Taylor Catalog Number: 107
Creator: Taylor, Frank H. (Frank Hamilton), 1846-1927, creator
Date: ca. 1922

Title: In the Path of the Parkway
Description: View of a grassy area with benches and people sitting with residences and skyscrapers in the background., The foreground of this vista, sketched from a window of the U.G.I. building, was once covered by the Arch Street Prison. In later days there stood here the Lutheran Church of the Holy Communion, razed some years ago. The picturesque huddle of rear-buildings, in process of removal in the spring of 1917, reveal all that was then left of the former dignified homes of families once of businesses and social prominence, but which the present generation will recall only as an unregretted succession of saloons, restaurants and shops more bizarre than attractive., Taylor Catalog Number: 91
Creator: Taylor, Frank H. (Frank Hamilton), 1846-1927, creator
Date: ca. 1922

Title: South of Rittenhouse Square
Description: View of Rittenhouse Square and apartment buildings surrounding it., These notable residences of South Rittenhouse Square are now, in 1923, marked for removal to make space for another lofty apartment building. Their history is well recorded in an excellent book of the old square prepared by Mr. Charles J. Cohen to which those who are interested in the identity of their successive occupants are referred. The buildings date from the decade following 1850., Taylor Catalog Number: 303
Creator: Taylor, Frank H. (Frank Hamilton), 1846-1927, creator
Date: ca. 1922

Title: Westward of Centre Square
Description: Busy intersection lined with both commercial and residential buildings. Horse-drawn carriages and trolleys are in the street and pedestrians move down the sidewalk., Taylor Catalog Number: 3
Creator: Taylor, Frank H. (Frank Hamilton), 1846-1927, creator
Date: ca. 1922

Main menu

Pages