The building at 239 Arch Street, now known as the Betsy Ross House, was built over 250 years ago. The front portion was built around 1740, with the stair hall (or piazza) and the rear section added 10 to 20 years later.
Mummers at City Hall (New Year’s Day 1909 & today) The Mummers parade traces back to mid-17th-century roots, blending elements from Swedish, Finnish, Irish, English, German, and other European heritages, as well as African heritage. The parade is related to the Mummers Play tradition from England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales. Revivals of this tradition are still celebrated annually in South Gloucestershire, England on Boxing Day and in parts of Ireland on St. Stephen's Day and also in the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador around Christmas. (Wikipedia)
Marines mobilizing at League Island, Philadelphia Naval Shipyard, before going to Guantanamo, Cuba, in response to the Mexican Revolution.
Looking North towards City Hall from Broad and Locust with the Academy of Music on the left.
The Walnut Street Theatre first opened its doors on February 2, 1809. The Walnut's first theatrical production, The Rivals, had President Thomas Jefferson and the Marquis de Lafayette in attendance on opening night.
Located on Third Street, between Chestnut and Walnut Streets. Built: 1795-97
The Philadelphia Club, founded in 1834 is one of the oldest gentlemen's clubs in the United States. Notable members have included General George Meade, author Owen Wister, and many members of the Du Pont and Biddle families.
Rear of the Art Museum (1928 & today) The large fountain set in the center of the circular drive is the "Fountain of the Sea Horses". It is a reproduction of one built for Rome's Villa Borghese around 1740 and was a gift from the Italian dictator Benito Mussolini in 1926 to celebrate America's sesquicentennial. The fountain just underwent a $1.7 million restoration.
Construction of the Main Building began in 1919, when Mayor Thomas B. Smith laid the cornerstone in a Masonic ceremony. Because of shortages caused by World War I and other delays, the new building was not completed until 1928. The facade and columns are made of Minnesota dolomite. (Wikipedia)
Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Station, Philadelphia (also known as 24th St. Station) was the main passenger station for the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Designed by architect Frank Furness, it stood at 24th Street and the Chestnut Street Bridge from 1888 to 1963. The station was demolished in 1963. (Wikipedia)
Opened in 1882, the Bellevue Hotel soon became popular as a meeting place for socialites and fashionable clubs. It later merged with the Stratford. In 1904, only 19 hours after the Bellevue's ceremonious closing, the Bellevue-Stratford opened across Walnut Street on the site of the old Stratford.
Ben Franklin died on April 17, 1790, with his grandsons William Temple and Bennie at his side. Benjamin Franklin was 84 years old. He was buried beside his wife Deborah, who had preceded him in death by 25 years. His beloved son Francis Folger, who had died at age 4 from smallpox, was also in the family plot. (ushistory.org)
The building at 239 Arch Street, now known as the Betsy Ross House, was built over 250 years ago. The front portion was built around 1740, with the stair hall (or piazza) and the rear section added 10 to 20 years later.
The old part of this photo is from 1876. The tower you see was built to overlook the Centennial Exposition in Fairmount Park.
The history of Boathouse Row begins with the construction of the Fairmount Dam and the adjacent water works. The Dam was built in 1810 as part of a lock at the Falls of the Schuylkill to transport coal downriver.
It was built for the oldest title insurance company in the world, the Land Title Bank and Trust Company. The two-building complex, joined at the first floor, was built in two phases. The earlier, northern one of the building's two towers, erected in 1898 of 15 stories, was designed by Chicago-based architect Daniel Burnham, who was an early pioneer in the development of tall buildings. The southern, 22-story, 331-ft tower, added in 1902, was also designed by Burnham in collaboration with Philadelphia architect Horace Trumbauer; it was built on the site of the former Lafayette Hotel. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978. (Wikipedia)
The Broad Street Theatre was built in 1876 at Broad & Locust Streets. An ornate building designed in the Moorish style with two domes, it began life as Kiralfy's Alhambra Palace.
Founded in Philadelphia in 1724, the Carpenters' Company was organized to share information about the art of building, determine the value of completed work, hone architectural skills, and help indigent craftsmen.
Looking West up Chestnut Street from 9th.
The Curtis Publishing Company was founded in 1891 by publisher Cyrus Curtis, who published the People's Ledger, a news magazine he had begun in Boston in 1872 and moved to Philadelphia in 1876. In 1910 the company built its headquarters building at the intersection of S. 6th and Walnut Streets near Independence Hall, designed by Edgar Viguers Seeler (1867-1929) in the Beaux Arts style.
Delaware Ave. & South Street looking North with the beginning of the raised Delaware Ave. train. Yes, there was a raised train on Delaware Ave.! Old photo is circa 1900.
Designed by Frederick Graff, the Water Works was initially constructed between 1812 and 1815 on the east bank of the Schuylkill River. The Water Works initially consisted of a 3 million gallon earthen reservoir atop Faire Mount (now site of the Philadelphia Museum of Art), and a pump house with two steam engines to pump water. Between 1819 and 1821, a 1,600-foot-long dam was built across the Schuylkill to direct water to a Mill House with three water wheels that replaced the steam engines in 1822.
Gimbel Brothers (Gimbels) was an American department store corporation from 1887 until 1987. The company is known for creating the Gimbels Thanksgiving Day Parade, the oldest parade in the country.
The sculpture of Ulysses S. Grant, executed by Daniel Chester French, the sculptor of the Lincoln Memorial, was dedicated on the 75th anniversary of Grant's birth (April 27th, 1899). President McKinley came for a military parade which preceded the unveiling. Thousands of Philadelphians turned out for the dedication of this statue. (ushistory.org)
Build in 1901, the Hamilton Court Apartments and other multi-story modern brick hotels became popular buildings into West Philadelphia.
Head House New Market, as it was originally known, later also known as Head House Market and Second Street Market, is a historic street market on S. 2nd Street between Pine and Lombard Streets.
The Water Works in back of the Art Museum and the water holding tank which is now a parking lot!
Construction of the Pennsylvania State House, which came to be known as Independence Hall, began in 1732. It was a symbol of the nation to come. At the time it was the most ambitious public building in the thirteen colonies.
The building has undergone many restorations, notably by Greek revival architect John Haviland in 1830, and by a committee from the National Park Service, in 1950, returning it to its 1776 appearance.
Construction of the Pennsylvania State House, which came to be known as Independence Hall, began in 1732. It was a symbol of the nation to come. At the time it was the most ambitious public building in the thirteen colonies.
Construction of the Pennsylvania State House, which came to be known as Independence Hall, began in 1732. It was a symbol of the nation to come. At the time it was the most ambitious public building in the thirteen colonies.
Commodore Barry Statue (1900 & today) John Barry (March 25, 1745 – September 13, 1803) was an officer in the Continental Navy during the American Revolutionary War and later in the United States Navy. He is widely credited as The Father of the American Navy (and shares that moniker with John Paul Jones) and was appointed a Captain in the Continental Navy on December 7, 1775. He was the first Captain placed in command of a US warship commissioned for service under the Continental flag. After the war, he became America's first commissioned naval officer, at the rank of Commodore, receiving his commission from President George Washington in 1797. (Wikipedia)
Looking north from the Girard Avenue Bridge showing the Promontory Rock Tunnel, bored in 1871, on East River Drive (Kelly Drive) in East Fairmount Park. Also shows a section of the New York Connecting Railway Bridge, built for the Pennsylvania Railroad 1866-1867, in the background.
Marines mobilizing at League Island, Philadelphia Naval Shipyard, before going to Guantanamo, Cuba, in response to the Mexican Revolution.
Marines mobilizing at League Island, Philadelphia Naval Shipyard, before going to Guantanamo, Cuba, in response to the Mexican Revolution.
Marines mobilizing at League Island, Philadelphia Naval Shipyard, before going to Guantanamo, Cuba, in response to the Mexican Revolution.
N. Snellenburg & Company, commonly known as Snellenburg's, was a Philadelphia, Pennsylvania based middle class department store and wholesale clothing manufacturer, established in 1869.
N. Snellenburg & Company, commonly known as Snellenburg's, was a Philadelphia, Pennsylvania based middle class department store and wholesale clothing manufacturer, established in 1869.
Newsstand on South Broad Street. (1939 & today) Bellevue Stratford Hotel across the street!
American Street behind Christ Church.
Gloria Dei (Old Swedes') Church, founded in 1677, and built between 1697 and 1700, is a historic church in the Southwark section of Philadelphia. The congregation was originally Swedish Lutheran, but has been Episcopalian since 1845. It’s the second oldest Swedish church in the United States after Holy Trinity Church (Old Swedes) in Wilmington, Delaware.
Claudia Cohen Hall was named in 2008 after the late Claudia Cohen (1950-2007), a Penn alumna, popular journalist, and former wife of trustee Ronald Perelman. Formerly known as Logan Hall (1906-2008) the building was the second building constructed by the University on its West Philadelphia campus and stands adjacent and just west of College Hall.
Located on the 3400 block entrance from Spruce Street to the UPenn campus. In the wrought-iron and stone work are the class numerals “93” and the letters “U of P”. On one of the panels is inscribed, “Erected June MCMIII”. And over the center arch are the words, “In Veniemus viam aut faciemus” which is Latin for “We will find a way, or we will make one”.
Ut sed magna euismod leo laoreet congue. Fusce congue enim ultricies.
Photo taken from Locust Walk looking towards College Hall.
Southwest corner of 36th Street and Locust Walk.
The Anne & Jerome Fisher Fine Arts Library, also known as the Furness Library, is located on the campus of the University of Pennsylvania, on the east side of College Green. Designed by the acclaimed Philadelphia architect Frank Furness (1839–1912), the red sandstone, brick-and-terra-cotta Venetian Gothic giant—part fortress and part cathedral—was built to be the primary library of the University, and to house its archeological collection. The cornerstone was laid in October 1888, construction was completed in late 1890, and the building was dedicated in February 1891. "It is the work of an artist." — Frank Lloyd Wright. (Wikipedia)
Broad Street Station was the primary passenger terminal for the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) in Philadelphia from 1881 to the 1950s. Directly west of City Hall, the office towers of Penn Center now occupy the site.
The headhouse was designed in 1891 by Francis H. Kimball, and the train shed by Wilson Brothers & Company. Construction began that same year, and the station opened on January 29, 1893.
In 1889, the Reading Railroad decided to build a train depot, passenger station, and company headquarters on the corner of 12th and Market Streets.
The Ridgeway Library building was built 1873-78 at 900 South Broad Street, as a late example of Greek Revival architecture, with a bequest by Dr. James Rush to honor his wife, Phoebe Ann Ridgeway, for the Library Company of Philadelphia. Architect was Addison Hutton. Now occupied by the Philadelphia High School for the Creative and Performing Arts with a large 1997 addition in the rear. View from Broad Street. (Wikipedia)
The history of Boathouse Row begins with the construction of the Fairmount Dam and the adjacent water works. The Dam was built in 1810 as part of a lock at the Falls of the Schuylkill to transport coal downriver.
This old warehouse for salt and salt fish, also called a salthouse, was built in 1705, one of the first buildings to be erected on the Delaware waterfront. Its bricks and timbers were brought from England and were still sound when the building was taken down after 1900.
In 1891, Richard Smith (1821-1894), a wealthy Philadelphia electroplate and type founder, created a will which provided $500,000 for a memorial arch to be adorned with portraits of Pennsylvania's Civil War military and naval heroes.
This was just before they took down all the buildings on the right and built the Girard Bank (today's Ritz Carlton).
In 1862, The Union League of Philadelphia was founded as a Patriotic Society to support the policies of Abraham Lincoln. 150 years later, the Union League is a private, members only, Five Star Platinum Club and is ranked #1 in the Country. Membership is in the vanguard of Philadelphia life, counting among the 3,300 members many top leaders in business, academia, law, medicine, politics, religion and the arts.
Intrepid Ave. looking towards Broad Street. USS Indiana was the lead ship of her class and the first battleship in the United States Navy comparable to foreign battleships of the time. Authorized in 1890 and commissioned five years later, she was a small battleship, though with heavy armor and ordnance. The ship also pioneered the use of an intermediate battery. She was designed for coastal defense and as a result her decks were not safe from high waves on the open ocean. Indiana served in the Spanish–American War(1898) as part of the North Atlantic Squadron.
The Walnut Street Theatre first opened its doors on February 2, 1809. The Walnut's first theatrical production, The Rivals, had President Thomas Jefferson and the Marquis de Lafayette in attendance on opening night.
Wooden pipe removal.
The water nymph is an allegorical figure representing the Schuylkill River, which provided the city's drinking water, and on her shoulder is a bittern, a native waterbird related to the heron. Hence, these works are also known as William Rush Carving His Allegorical Figure of the Schuylkill River.
Fairmount Water Works plaza showing the observatory arch with workers in the foreground...well at least one of them was working! The decorative stone distribution arch, built in 1860, served as an observatory tower and a standpipe. The arch was torn down around the time the Water Works ceased operation in 1909.
Originally built between 1687 and 1699, this house was once a residence of William Penn.
4000 Woodland Avenue. The land that would become The Woodlands was originally a 250-acre tract in Blockley Township on the west bank of the Schuylkill River. It was purchased in 1735 by the famous Philadelphia lawyer Andrew Hamilton.