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- Title
- To the Hose Companies of Philadelphia this plan of the city is inscribed
- Description
- Plan of the city of Philadelphia east of Broad Street showing the location of fire stations for nine volunteer hose companies founded between 1803 and 1806 including Philadelphia, Good Intent, Resolution, Humane, Neptune, Perserverance, Hope, Columbia, and Southwark. Contains a vignette of the Centre Square Waterworks, and a key providing the names of many small courts and alleys., Gift of Maxwell Whiteman.
- Creator
- Strickland, William, 1787-1854, delineator
- Date
- ca. 1809
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department *Philadelphia Maps - 1809 [6521.F]
- Title
- The Weccacoe Engine Co's house and the reception of the United Fire Co of Baltimore. [graphic] / Drawn by J. Queen.
- Description
- Wainwright retrospective conversion project., Select link below to view a digital image.
- Creator
- Queen, James Fuller, 1820 or 21-1886 artist., creator
- Date
- n.d.
- Location
- http://www.lcpgraphics.org/wainwright/W398.htm, Library Company of Philadelphia Print Dept. **W398 [6621.F]
- Title
- No. 1 The Empire Hook & Ladder polka
- Description
- Sheet music cover showing two fire fighters with the company hook and ladder truck in front of the Empire Fire House at Franklin Street above Wood Street in Kensington. The volunteers, attired in uniforms, stand near the rear of the vehicle on which at the harness end of the truck two trumpets hang. The volunteer fire company was instituted February 6, 1851., Copyrighted by A. Fiot., Not in Wainwright., pdcp00021, Manuscript note on recto: Philada Franklin above Wood, Price printed on recto: 37 1/2 Cts net., Dedication: Dedicated with esteem to Wm F. Smith esq. President. By his friend Ozeas H. Ramborger., Philadelphia on Stone, Free Library of Philadelphia: Philadelphiana - Fire Companies
- Date
- c1852
- Location
- Free Library of Philadelphia. | Print and Photograph Collection. FLP Philadelphiana - Fire Companies
- Title
- Franklin Fire Co. of the city of Philadelphia [membership certificate]
- Description
- Fire company certificate containing vignettes depicting fire fighters racing down a street on a horse-drawn steam fire engine during the day; firefighters, two with trumpets, drawing a hand-pump fire engine out of the station during the night; and an exterior view of the Franklin Fire station. Fire fighting equipment including a trumpet, ax, and belt are drawn bundled together to form a decorative element below the vignettes. Images are bordered by hoses, including two squirting water into the air, and two entwined around the company number "12." Also contains a vignette showing a firefighter shielding a family from flames as a fellow volunteer is at the ready with an ax. Vignette captioned with the company motto "Assist the Needy.", Name of artist supplied by Wainwright., Signed by Thomas H. Clarke, president., Philadelphia on Stone, POS 275, Atwater Kent Museum: 44.91.2
- Creator
- Queen, James Fuller, 1820 or 21-1886, artist
- Date
- [ca. 1865]
- Location
- Atwater Kent Museum | Print Department AKM AKM 44.91.2
- Title
- [Firehouse scene in Philadelphia showing firemen from the Weccacoe Engine Company pulling a hand-drawn fire engine as other firemen scramble to readiness]
- Description
- Drawing, possibly an artist's study, by James Queen, a Weccacoe volunteer. Nightime view showing Weccacoe volunteers pull the engine from their Southwark station at 119 Queen Street, put on gear, and gather equipment from storage closets within the garage., Philadelphia on Stone, POSP 78, Library of Congress: DRWG/US - Queen (J.F.), no. 3 (C size) [P&P] Firehouse
- Creator
- Queen, James, 1824-ca. 1877, artist
- Date
- [ca. 1857]
- Location
- Library of Congress | Prints and Photographs Division LOC DRWG/US - Queen (J.F.), no. 3 (C size) [P&P] Firehouse
- Title
- Hibernia Fire Engine company, No. 1, of Philadelphia Instituted 1752. Assembling for parade, October 5th 1857
- Description
- View showing members of the volunteer fire company gathering by their hand-powered Philadelphia-style fire engine (built 1843 by John Agnew) in front of their firehouse (built 1852) on Evelina Street between Second, Third, Walnut and Chestnut streets. The members, including company president Colonel James Page, wear their full regalia of hats, capes, and belts. Many of the men also carry horns and a hatchet. A few spectators informally watch the gathering. Women and couples peer from the windows of a neighboring building and boys sit on the brick wall of the courtyard attached to the fire house. The four-story firehouse is painted with a large "1" on the side and friezes are marked with the institution and incorporation dates, 1752 and 1840, respectively of the company. Also shows the company hose truck on the sidewalk and the station dog lying beside the ornately decorated engine. The engine contains painted details including eagles, angels, harps, and the figure of Liberty. On October 5, 1857, over one hundred regional volunteer fire companies participated in the Firemen's Parade that processed through Philadelphia with John F. Gibson as chief marshal. The parade honored the volunteers through the presentation of tokens of appreciation from their constituents, such as banners and horns, and a venue to celebrate the improved apparatus of the various companies., Manuscript note on recto: To Hist Soc from H.W. Smith., Philadelphia on Stone, POS 353, Historical Society of Pennsylvania: Bc 834 H 624, Parade described in The Press (October 7, 1857), p. 1.
- Creator
- Queen, James Fuller, 1820 or 21-1886, artist
- Date
- 1857
- Location
- Historical Society of Pennsylvania HSP Bc 834 H 624
- Title
- America Fire Engine Co. of the city of Philadelphia
- Description
- Fire company membership certificate containing two side panel views, vignettes, and firefighting iconography. The left panel shows firefighters running from the fire house on Buttonwood Street, below Third Street. Two men stand lookout on the tower above the house, as others pull the fire engine from the garage. The right panel shows the fire company attempting to extinguish the January 14, 1869 fire caused by an explosion of a steam boiler at the southeast corner of Ninth and Chestnut Streets. Flames shoot from the top of three adjacent businesses on land formerly occupied by the Burd Mansion including, Howell & Brothers, paper hanging (900 Chestnut Street); J.M. Hafleigh, dry goods (902 Chestnut Street); and J.F. & E.B. Orne, carpets & oil cloths (904 Chestnut Street). The center vignette, below the membership text, depicts a man standing in front of the two horses that are hitched to a carriage pulling the fire company's engine. At the top of the certificate, American and Pennsylvania flags flank the image of lady liberty sitting on the wing of an eagle. With a lightning bolt in her left hand, she floats above a banner that reads "Allways [sic] ready and willing to assist". Fire fighting equipment, including a helmet, engine, and bugles, are drawn as decorative elements interspersed with the side panel views. Also contains the company's number "No. 9" and institution date, April 10th 1790. Incorporated on April 13, 1844., Not in Wainwright., Signed by Thomas F. Moore, president, and Frank Jacoby, secretary., Philadelphia on Stone, POS 16, Historical Society of Pennsylvania: Certificates - Fire Companies - American Fire Engine
- Date
- [ca. 1870]
- Location
- Historical Society of Pennsylvania HSP Certificates - Fire Companies - American Fire Engine
- Title
- The United States Polka
- Description
- Sheet music cover containing two views related to the United States Fire Company, the volunteer fire company instituted in 1811. Upper view shows the company fire station at Wood Street above Fourth. Two men stand in front of the firehouse and neighboring buildings are visible. Lower view shows volunteer firefighters, most in uniform, including an African American man, standing around their Philadelphia-style hand-pumper engine. The men wear capelets and hats. Two hold horns and another two rest their hands on the harness of the engine. Also contains a border containing ivy, ribbon, and fire fighting iconography including ladders, hydrants, hoses, and bells., Not in Wainwright., pdcp00020, Philadelphia on Stone, Free Library of Philadelphia: Philadelphiana - Fire Companies
- Date
- [ca. 1865]
- Location
- Free Library of Philadelphia. | Print and Photograph Collection. FLP Philadelphiana - Fire Companies
- Title
- Fairmount Fire Engine Co. No. 32, of Philadelphia [membership certificate]
- Description
- Honorary membership certificate containing firefighting vignettes, scenes, and pictorial elements. Shows the company horse-drawn steam engine, manned by two volunteers, racing down a street; several firefighters drawing the hose carriage while a man runs in the street beside them; and an exterior view of the station house at Ridge Avenue above Wood Street in Spring Garden. The company engine is parked in front. Also contains, at the top of the certificate, a bust portrait of the “Chief Engineer D.M.L” attired in his fire fighter’s hat and coat. Pictorial elements depict bundles of fire fighting equipment, including hats, horns, ladders, and a rope designed as side borders; eagles holding the American flag in their beaks, and swans gliding on water. Fairmount Company, organized in 1823 and incorporated in 1850, was established after the dissolution of the Whale Fire Company. Butchers comprised much of the early membership., pdcp00030, Not in Wainwright., Manuscript note on recto: Presented by Joseph W. Montgomery 529 York Ave., Issued to William McCormick on March 29, 1852. Signed Joseph S. Baker, President and Henry F. Dibbs, Secretary., Philadelphia on Stone, Free Library of Philadelphia: Philadelphiana - Fire Companies
- Creator
- Kurtz, Henry, ca. 1822, artist
- Date
- [ca. 1850]
- Location
- Free Library of Philadelphia. | Print and Photograph Collection. FLP Philadelphiana - Fire Companies
- Title
- Good Will Hose and Steam Fire Engine Company of Philadelphia [membership certificate]
- Description
- Fire company certificate containing five vignettes bordered by patriotic and firefighting iconography. Vignettes depict the Fairmount Waterworks, including boys fishing on the canal lock; a circular industrial building, possibly the Spring Garden Water Works; company volunteers rushing hand pumps through Fairmount past Reservoir Hill; the station dog sleeping near the company steam engine in front of the firehouse on the 2200 block of Wood Street; and volunteers, surrounded by a crowd of spectators, fighting the fire at a large city building. Iconography includes helmets with the company number "25," fire hoses, trumpets, and belts as well as the American eagle holding the U.S. shield and flanked by flags over the company motto "Our Motto is Our Name, Always Ready for Public Good." Also contains the company institution and incorporation dates (1834 and 1851, respectively)., Signed Quintin Todd, Secy., Philadelphia on Stone, POS 320, Historical Society of Pennsylvania: Certificates - Fire Companies - Good Will Hose and Steam, P.S. Duval & Son was a core partnership between Peter S. Duval and his son Stephen that operated under various names and incarnations between 1857-1869. The firm name P.S. Duval, Son & Co. was cited in city directories 1868-1869.
- Creator
- Bosch, A. H., artist
- Date
- [ca. 1868]
- Location
- Historical Society of Pennsylvania HSP Certificates - Fire Companies - Good Will Hose and Steam
- Title
- Washington Fire Company of Frankford
- Description
- Fire company certificate containing vignettes depicting fire fighters surrounded by spectators, battling the July 12, 1866 fire at the "Tackawana" (i.e., Tacony) Print Works in Frankford; a steam engine parked in the company fire station on Frankford Avenue between Sellers and Oxford streets; and fire fighters rushing a horse-drawn steam engine past a church. Fire fighting equipment including a fire hose, a ladder, an axe, a trumpet and other tools are drawn bundled together to form decorative elements on both sides. A small oval portrait of George Washington adorns an arch at the top. An American eagle rests on top of the portrait and clutches an American flag that is intertwined over the arch that is printed "First in War. First in Peace. First in the Hearts of His Country Men." Also contains the company institution date - 1793. Company was incorporated in 1846 (date visible on the station house)., Not in Wainwright., Philadelphia on Stone, POS 819, Historical Society of Pennsylvania: Certificates - Fire Companies - Washington, Duval and Hunter was a partnership between Stephen Orr Duval (P.S. Duval’s son) and Thomas Hunter that lasted from P.S. Duval’s retirement in 1869 until 1874.
- Creator
- Bosch, A. H., artist
- Date
- [ca. 1870]
- Location
- Historical Society of Pennsylvania HSP Certificates - Fire Companies - Washington
- Title
- Marion Hose Company of Philadelphia
- Description
- Fire company certificate containing a central view, vignettes, and firefighting iconography. Central view shows the company's fire station at Queen Street below Sixth Street. Two men and a dog sit in front of a fenced lot adjacent to the station. Vignettes show volunteers drawing a hand pump past the station in "1857" and a church in "1864"; firefighters battling the "Burning of the Ironsides" at League Island on December 16, 1866; and fighting the blaze from a boiler explosion at "Merrick's Foundry" on April 7, 1864. Fire fighting equipment including a fire hose, helmets, and axes are drawn layered together to form decorative elements in the upper corners. A small oval framed scene of "Marion and the British," semi-draped with an American flag, adorns an arch at the top. The scene shows Continental Army Lieut. Col. Francis Marion's slave Oscar Marion preparing a meal that the officer invited the British to share. Also contains the company institution date, 1833, and incorporation date, 1834., Not in Wainwright., Company seal pasted on recto., Issued to Geo. Jeffries on May 9, 1871. Signed by William Byrnes, Pres. and Alfred A. Mullen, Sec., Philadelphia on Stone, POS 456, Historical Society of Pennsylvania: Certificates - Marion Hose, Duval and Hunter was a partnership between Stephen Orr Duval (P.S. Duval’s son) and Thomas Hunter that lasted from P.S. Duval’s retirement in 1869 until 1874.
- Creator
- Bosch, A. H., artist
- Date
- [ca. 1870]
- Location
- Historical Society of Pennsylvania HSP Certificates - Marion Hose
- Title
- Certificate of Honorary Membership of the Weccacoe Fire Company. Philadelphia
- Description
- Honorary membership certificate containing vignettes of Weccacoe Fire Company engine houses and firefighting equipment between 1840 and 1860 within a decorative border adorned with filigree, bugles, and axes. American flags, laurel wreaths, and an eagle with a shield surmounts the text in the central portion of the certificate, below which is an 1860 view of the fire company’s engine house on the 100 block of Queen Street in Southwark. Fire fighters and wagons loaded with equipment congest the street in the foreground. A large American flag flies atop the roof of the engine house. Left and right panels contain smaller views of the 1840 firehouse and its hand-pumper fire engine and the three-story, enlarged engine house and a steam fire engine from 1850. All scenes include fire fighters dressed in the red and blue Weccacoe uniform., Philadelphia on Stone, POS 98, Library of Congress: PGA - Duval - - Certificate of honorary membership (C size), Atwater Kent Museum: 88.98.685. AKM copy issued to William Schlag. Signed by the [illegible] president and Wm. B. Landon, Secretary.
- Creator
- Queen, James Fuller, 1820 or 21-1886, artist
- Date
- [ca. 1860]
- Location
- Library of Congress | Prints and Photographs Division PGA - Duval - - Certificate of honorary membership (C size)
- Title
- Reliance Steam Fire Engine Company of Philadelphia
- Description
- Fire company certificate containing five vignettes showing the company firehouse and engines, and firefighting scenes bordering text framed as a badge. Vignettes depict firefighters gathered around a hand-pump, and a steam engine, at their stations near New and Second streets; firefighters racing an engine past the Public Ledger Building (built 1866-1867) and Independence Hall en route to a fire; and firefighters using a steam engine to battle a fire aboard a sailing vessel, and a hand pump to battle a fire at buildings opposite piers at the Delaware River. Also contains above the vignettes two American flags draped over a pole; a panoramic view of cityscape; an empty framed oval, probably to be used for a photographic portrait of the fire fighter member; two oval frames surrounding the company's institution and incorporation date, 1786 and 1848 respectively; and the company motto "We Persevere to Conquer." Company originally established by Quakers., Not in Wainwright., Philadelphia on Stone, POS 636, Historical Society of Pennsylvania: Bc 834 R 279, Duval and Hunter was a partnership between Stephen Orr Duval (P.S. Duval’s son) and Thomas Hunter that lasted from P.S. Duval’s retirement in 1869 until 1874., Mifflin fund, November 12, 1959.
- Creator
- Bosch, A. H., artist
- Date
- [ca. 1870]
- Location
- Historical Society of Pennsylvania HSP Bc 834 R 279
- Title
- Cut outs of firefighting scenes from The Fire Insurance Company of the County of Philadelphia advertisement
- Description
- First cutout is captioned "1800" and is within a border containing a banner reading "Incorporated 1832 Charter Perpetual." Shows several volunteers, attired in long coats and top hats, operating a hand-pumper engine near a pond of water and water pump during the day. Other men operate the water pump and use buckets to collect water from the pond as flames shoot from two windows of a building in the background. Two volunteer firefighters, including Joseph Tipler of the United States Engine Company, in uniform flank the scene. The second firefighter's shirt and hat is adorned with "1." Second cutout is captioned "1866" and is surrounded by a border of filigree. Shows several volunteers, during the evening, using steam engines to battle the blaze of two multi-story buildings. Men run and operate hoses from the ground and by ladder, pull equipment, and direct their fellow firefighters. Some volunteers hold an ax or a horn. United States Engine Company was incorporated in 1832., Title supplied by cataloguer., Attributed to Breuker & Kessler from duplicate print in auction catalog., Not in Wainwright., Philadelphia on Stone, POS 169, Historical Society of Pennsylvania: Firefighting Album Am 3989 Cutouts
- Date
- [ca. 1866]
- Location
- Historical Society of Pennsylvania HSP Firefighting Album Am 3989 Cutout 1, Historical Society of Pennsylvania HSP Firefighting Album Am 3989 Cutout 2
- Title
- Cut outs of firefighting scenes from The Fire Insurance Company of the County of Philadelphia advertisement
- Description
- First cutout is captioned "1800" and is within a border containing a banner reading "Incorporated 1832 Charter Perpetual." Shows several volunteers, attired in long coats and top hats, operating a hand-pumper engine near a pond of water and water pump during the day. Other men operate the water pump and use buckets to collect water from the pond as flames shoot from two windows of a building in the background. Two volunteer firefighters, including Joseph Tipler of the United States Engine Company, in uniform flank the scene. The second firefighter's shirt and hat is adorned with "1." Second cutout is captioned "1866" and is surrounded by a border of filigree. Shows several volunteers, during the evening, using steam engines to battle the blaze of two multi-story buildings. Men run and operate hoses from the ground and by ladder, pull equipment, and direct their fellow firefighters. Some volunteers hold an ax or a horn. United States Engine Company was incorporated in 1832., Title supplied by cataloguer., Attributed to Breuker & Kessler from duplicate print in auction catalog., Not in Wainwright., Philadelphia on Stone, POS 169, Historical Society of Pennsylvania: Firefighting Album Am 3989 Cutouts
- Date
- [ca. 1866]
- Location
- Historical Society of Pennsylvania HSP Firefighting Album Am 3989 Cutout 1, Historical Society of Pennsylvania HSP Firefighting Album Am 3989 Cutout 2
- Title
- View of the United States Hose house & apparatus, Philadelphia. [graphic] : To the Independent Fire Co. of Baltimore & the Franklin Fire Co. of Washington, this print is respectfully dedicated, (as a slight token of appreciation of their generous hospitality) by the United States Hose Co. of Philadelphia.
- Description
- Location: York Avenue, from Tammany Street., LCP exhibit catalogue: Made in America #75., Wainwright retrospective conversion project., Select link below to view a digital image.
- Date
- ca. 1855.
- Location
- http://www.lcpgraphics.org/wainwright/W436.htm, Library Company of Philadelphia Print Dept. *W436 [P.2237]
- Title
- New market, in South Second Street Philadelphia
- Description
- Street scene with a view of the New Market shed on South Second Street. Depicts a group of men, women, and children with a dog, possibly a procession of a butcher's trade association, gathered across from the shed and by a bull decorated with garlands of flowers. An African American man fiddle player entertains the group as an African American boy and a dog runs toward them. Attached to the back of the shed is the fire engine house with cupola, known as the "headhouse." The New Market, erected about 1745, was created following a petition by the growing population of South Philadelphia residents who found it a hardship to cross Dock Creek to reach the High Street Market. The shed was razed in 1956 and rebuilt in 1963., Title from item., Illustrated in S. Robert Teitelman's Birch's views of Philadelphia. (Philadelphia: The Free Library of Philadelphia, 1982), pl. 16., 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
- 1799
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Birch's views [Sn 16/P.2276.35]
- Title
- Decatur Fire Company of Frankford
- Description
- Fire company certificate containing vignettes depicting fire fighters rushing a steam engine marked with the company motto down a city street past the Odd Fellows Hall, Frankford; a steam engine parked at the company fire station on Church Street; and fire fighters surrounded by spectators battling a fire of the Frogmore Mills cotton factory, Frankford. Fire fighting equipment including a fire hose, a ladder, an axe, a trumpet and other tools are drawn bundled together to form decorative elements on both sides. A small oval portrait of Commodore Stephen Decatur in a laurel wreath frame above intertwined American flags and the company motto "Ever Prompt to a Call" adorns the top. Also contains eagles, the company number "21," and the institution and incorporation dates (1803 and 1842, respectively). Company named after the Naval hero Decatur whose father purportedly resided in Frankford., Not in Wainwright., Philadelphia on Stone, POS 177, Historical Society of Pennsylvania: Certificates - Fire Companies - Decatur, Duval and Hunter was a partnership between Stephen Orr Duval (P.S. Duval’s son) and Thomas Hunter that lasted from P.S. Duval’s retirement in 1869 until 1874.
- Creator
- Bosch, A. H., artist
- Date
- [ca. 1870]
- Location
- Historical Society of Pennsylvania HSP Certificates - Fire Companies - Decatur