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- Title
- [Broad Street Station fire, Philadelphia, June 1923]
- Description
- Scene showing smoke filled interior of the burnt train shed. Depicts laborers, including African Americans, clearing debris from a row of tracks upon which two burnt out train cars rest. Wires hang down from the skeletal framework ceiling. Fire hoses are strewn across the tracks. A camera and tripod rest on a walkway near the damaged trains. In the background, a group of well-dressed men and a group of firemen consult amongst debris. The fire, started by a short circuited cable, was at the time considered one of the worst fires in the city's history with an estimated $1,500,000 worth of damage. By the second day, despite the fire continuing to burn in areas, 2000 laborers began to clear debris and set up umbrella shelters to prepare for the station's planned reopening by the end of that week., Title supplied by cataloger., Date inferred from content., Purchase 1981., Description revised 2022., Access points revised 2022., 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 Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014.
- Date
- [June 1923]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department photo - unidentified - transportation [P.8683.13]
- Title
- [Aftermath of the Broad Street Station fire, Philadelphia, June 1923]
- Description
- Scene showing a large crowd of men and women commuters on a makeshift walkway stretching to the back of the interior of the train shed. Depicts the crowd, including African Americans, milling about on the landing overseen by a railroad conductor. Two laborers with a plank, one an African American, wait at the front of the crowd. Labor crews on either side of the commuters repair the destroyed platforms and tracks upon which burnt out train cars rest. Under a sign pointing left "To Filbert Street," a conductor and two men consult near a telephone box. The Broad Street Station fire started on a Monday and burned for three days. The fire was still burning when 2000 laborers began repairing the station to reopen that Friday., Title supplied by cataloger., Date inferred from content., Purchase 1981., Description revised 2022., Access points revised 2022., 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 Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014.
- Date
- [June 1923]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department photographs- unidentified - transportation [P.8683.19]
- Title
- [Broad Street Station fire, Philadelphia, June 12, 1923]
- Description
- View of the interior of the burnt out train shed during the fire of June 11-13, 1923. Depicts several workers, including African Americans, building a new train platform and clearing debris from the tracks near the destroyed row of gates. Slightly damaged train cars and engines trapped by the fire, including "Al G. Barnes Wild Animal Circus," rest on the tracks. Large burnt pieces of the destroyed ceiling lay under a "Baggage Claim" sign. The Broad Street Station fire, started Monday, June 11, 1923 by a short circuited cable, was at the time considered one of the worst fires in the city's history with an estimated $1,500,000 worth of damage. By the second day, despite the fire continuing to burn in areas, 2000 laborers began to clear debris and set up umbrella shelters to prepare for the station's reopening at the end of that week., Title supplied by cataloger., Date inferred from content., Manuscript note on verso: Tues. noon., Reproduced in Harry Albrecht. Broad Street Station.... (Harry P. Albrecht: Philadelphia: 1976), p.30. (LCP Ok A1026.O.5), Purchase 1981., Description revised 2022., Access points revised 2022., 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 Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014.
- Date
- [June 12, 1923]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department photo - unidentified - transportation - railroad [P.8683.9]
- Title
- [Looking east on the 1600 block of Market Street, Philadelphia]
- Description
- View showing street construction by the Philadelphia Rapid Transit Company of the Market Street Subway across from the Broad Street Station (built 1879-1882). In the foreground, a number of African American construction workers stand in a pit. In the background is another pit with more construction workers. Pedestrians and spectators look on at the scene. Several businesses on the south side of the 1600 block of Market Street, including "Cronin's," are visible. Also shows several horse-drawn wagons traveling past the rail station, and theater advertisements adorning construction equipment., Title supplied by cataloger., Date inferred from a closely-numbered photograph in the series with an inscribed date., Inscribed in negative: 555., Gift of Steven Dorfman, 2013., Description revised 2022., Access points revised 2022.
- Date
- [1904]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department photo - unidentified - Construction [P.2013.6.5]