View of the neoclassical-style, marble pump house completed in 1800 after the designs of architect Benjamin Henry Latrobe, in the tree and fence-lined public square at High (Market) and Broad Streets. In front of the pump house stands enclosed within a circular fence, the ornamental fountain ("Allegory of the Schuylkill River" or "Water Nymph & Bittern") depicting a female water nymph holding a bittern, designed by sculptor William Rush and installed in 1809. A man and woman admire the fountain from outside the fence. In the foreground, on the outer grounds, a man and woman ride in a sulky past two imposing trees and behind a man mounted on the horse of a team pulling a conestoga wagon. Two dogs chase each other nearby. Opposite the sulky, a boy plays with a dog as a man passes by with a bundle over his shoulder. Also shows a man and woman approaching the gate to the outer fence of the pump house. The city’s first waterworks delivered water from the Schuylkill River to subscribers and city hydrants until 1815, when superseded by the Fairmount Waterworks. The pump house was razed in 1827., Title supplied by the cataloger., Date inferred by content., Manuscript note written on mount below image: Drawn and presented by Geo. Lewis to George Schaeffer, Esq., Copied after a Cornelius Tiebout engraving made after a John James Barralet drawing. See related: Freedman Collection - Oversize - View [P.2013.87.9]; ***Ph Pr - Parks & Squares - Centre Square [P.9379]., Gift of David Doret and Linda G. Mitchell, 2022.
Creator
Lewis, George, artist
Date
[ca. 1850]
Location
Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department *Doret and Mitchell Collection – Drawings & Watercolors [P.2022.62.3.14]
Watercolor depicting the Robeson House, also known as Shoomac Park, built ca. 1759 at Ridge Ave. and Wissahickon Drive, Philadelphia, PA. Shows the two-and-a-half story house with a gabled roof and chimneys. A white fence lines the road in front of the property. Pedestrians and horse-drawn carts, carriages, and covered wagons travel along the road. A train crosses the Philadelphia & Reading Railroad bridge in the background. Andrew Robeson purchased Shoomac Park in 1690 and operated a flour mill on the land. Rudiman Robeson likely built the house. Peter and Jonathan Robeson bought the park and mill in 1789. The Fairmount Park Commission purchased Shoomac Park in 1872 and demolished the house in 1961. The railroad bridge, known as the Wissahickon Creek Viaduct or High Stone Bridge, began construction in 1874 and was completed in 1882., Title supplied by the cataloger., Date inferred by the active dates of the artist., Gift of David Doret and Linda G. Mitchell, 2022.
Date
[ca. 1880]
Location
Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Doret and Mitchell Collection – Drawings & Watercolors [P.2022.62.3.6]
