Street scene on Chestnut Street below Sixth Street with views of Independence Hall (completed in 1748), and the adjacent Congress Hall (Town Hall), completed in 1789 as a county courthouse, and used by Congress from 1790 to 1800. Depicts several men convened outside Congress Hall; couples strolling the sidewalk; and horse-drawn carriages, a man on horseback, and a boy with a dog traversing the street. Includes view of the building originally built as a city hall, and used as the seat of the Supreme Court from 1790 to 1800., Retrospective conversion record: original entry, edited.
Creator
Birch, William Russell, 1755-1834
Date
[1804]
Location
Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Birch's views [Sn 33/P.2276.69]
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., 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.
Creator
W. Birch & Son
Date
1800
Location
Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Birch's views [Sn 20/P.2276.45]
