Philadelphia Saving Fund Society.
Title
Philadelphia Saving Fund Society
Description
Exterior view from the southeast of the building at 700-710 Walnut Street, built 1868-69, designed by Sloan & Hewitt. Includes partial view of rear addition built 1885-6, designed by Addison Hutton., Title printed on mount., Yellow mount with rounded corners., Gift of Robert M. Vogel., Reproduced in The Print and Photograph Department of the Library Company of Philadelphia's Center City Philadelphia in the 19th century (Portsmouth, N.H.: Arcadia Publishing, 2006), p. 93., Arcadia caption text: Founded in 1816 as the first savings bank in the United States, the Philadelphia Savings Fund Society (PSFS) commissioned several architecturally significant buildings in the city, the most famous of which is the Art Deco skyscraper at Twelfth and Market streets. This photograph shows the granite-faced Italianate structure designed for the bank by Addison Hutton in 1868, which still graces the northwest corner of Washington Square. Savings banks served the needs of “tradesmen, mechanics, laborers, and domestics” rather than wealthy businessmen and investors. In order to serve of a diverse working-class population, PSFS was open for business in the evening and hired multi-lingual tellers., Digitization funded by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (PW-506-19-10), 2010-2012.
Date
[ca. 1886]
Location
Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department stereo - unidentified - banks [P.9058.171]
Drinking fountain, Washington Square.
Title
Drinking fountain, Washington Square
Description
View of the first public drinking fountain erected by the Philadelphia Fountain Society in the spring of 1869 on the sidewalk at 7th and Walnut Streets near Philadelphia's Washington Square. An eagle with outstretched wings perches on a tablet at the top of the fountain inscribed: Philadelphia Fountain Society, Instituted A.D. 1869. Below the tablet are an upper and lower water troughs for the use of horses and dogs. A high wrought iron fence separates the trees and benches of the park from the sidewalk. The Society paid William H. Radford $70.00 for his work on the fountain's plumbing; $100 to Robert Wood & Co. iron workers for making the eagle; and $242.75 to Broders Walsh & Co. for their stonework., Philadelphia Fountain Society records at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania (Manuscript collection #2045 Fairmount Park Art Association, boxes 49-50.), Reproduced in The Print and Photograph Department of the Library Company of Philadelphia's Center City Philadelphia in the 19th century (Portsmouth, N.H.: Arcadia Publishing, 2006), p. 119., Arcadia caption text: This c. 1870 view subtly captures a defining element of Washington Square. The square, bounded by Sixth, Eighth, Walnut, and Spruce streets, was known for its superior variety of trees. The grounds, once a potter’s field, had been transformed by the mid-19th century into a city arboretum of over 60 species. The square also held the distinction of being the site of the first public drinking fountain. Erected by the Philadelphia Fountain Society in the spring of 1869 at Seventh and Walnut streets, the fountain contained an eagle by the prominent Philadelphia ironwork firm, Robert Wood & Co., as well as provided water troughs for horses and dogs., Digitization funded by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (PW-506-19-10), 2010-2012.
Date
ca. 1870
Location
Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department stereo - unidentified - Parks & squares [P.9644.29]