Active street scene at Sixth and Walnut streets with a view of the Walnut Street Jail, completed in 1776, after the designs of Philadelphia architect Robert Smith. Depicts several individuals, including a child, lining Sixth Street witnessing a large wood shed on wheels, possibly the first edifice of the Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church, being moved by a team of horses. A dog runs in the street and another sits next to a spectator in the right foreground. The prison closed and was razed in 1835, the prisoners relocated to Moyamensing Prison. The first edifice of Bethel Church, a former blacksmith shop, was transported to Sixth and Lombard streets., Retrospective conversion record: original entry, edited., Illustrated in S. Robert Teitelman's Birch's views of Philadelphia (Philadelphia: The Free Library of Philadelphia, 1982, rev. 2000), pl. 24., Accessioned 1979., Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021.
Creator
W. Birch & Son
Date
1799
Location
Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Birch's views [Sn 24/P.2276.56]
