Item Info

Historic Street Address: 104 S 5th Street
Historic Street Address: 12th Street, between Market & Chestnut Streets
Historic Street Address: 16-18 S. 10th Street
Historic Street Address: NE corner of Broad & Vine Streets
Historic Street Address: Race Street, from Broad to 15th Street
Media Type: Scrapbooks
Source: Print and Picture Collection
Notes:

Item 1, top left:  View of the American Philosophical Society's hall, 104 S. 5th Street. Founded in 1743 by Benjamin Franklin to promote "useful knowledge", the American Philosophical Society is the oldest learned society in the United States. The Philosophical Hall was built in 1789, by architect Samuel Vaughan, to provide a meeting place for the Society as well as a home for its growing library. In this photograph, the hall has a third floor, added in 1890 to solve a critical space problem. The addition detracted from the Federal Style of the original building, and was removed in 1949.  The Hall was restored to its original appearance, as part of the creation of Independence National Historical Park, and declared a national historic landmark in 1965.  In 2001, the Philosophical Hall was opened to the public as a museum.  Reproduction of a photograph for an unidentified publication, 10 x 11 cm, undated. 

Item 2, top right:  Image of Hahnemann Medical College and Hospital, founded in 1848 as the first homeopathic hospital in the country.  As the school grew, this large Gothic style building was erected in 1886, on Race Street, from Broad to 15th Street.  It was designed by the architectural firm Hewitt and Hewitt, but demolished in 1928; a new, more modern hospital was built on the same site.  Reproduction of a photograph for an unidentified publication, 10 x 11 cm, undated.

Item 3, center left:  Image of the William Penn Charter School, a grade school founded in 1689 at the direction of William Penn, and is the oldest Quaker school in the world.  This photograph shows the school's second location, at 12th & Market Streets, to where it was moved in 1874; it moved again in 1925 to its present location, in East Falls.  The 12th Street building no longer exists. Reproduction of a photograph for an unidentified publication, 10 x 11 cm, undated.

Item 4, center right:  Image of the second location of the Mercantile Library, at 16-18 S. 10th Street.  Although founded in 1821, the Mercantile Library moved its contents in 1869, to the building pictured here--the former Franklin Market, built in 1845 by William L. Johnston.  The library ultimately became the Mercantile Branch of the Free Library of Philadelphia, in 1944.  The building was demolished in 1959, after the library branch moved. Reproduction of a photograph for an unidentified publication, 10 x 11 cm, undated.

Item 5, bottom left:  Image of Roman Catholic High School, on the NE corner of Broad & Vine Streets. Built in 1890, for young men only, the white marble building was designed by architect Edwin Forrest Durang.  The 150-foot high tower, topped in copper, was destroyed by fire in 1959, but Roman Catholic High is still there. It was the first Catholic high school in the country.  Reproduction of a photograph for an unidentified publication, 11 x 8 cm, undated.

Item 6, bottom right:  Image of the Library Company of Philadelphia (LCP), at the NW corner of Juniper & Locust Streets.  The LCP was founded by Benjamin Franklin and others in 1731, as a subscription library of cultural, educational, and historical collections.  In its earliest years, it operated out of a succession of several Center City locations, before its collections were split between the in-town branch in this photograph--designed by architect Frank Furness in 1880--and the more distant Ridgway Library, at Broad & Christian Streets.  This building was demolished in 1940, and the Library Company eventually moved to its present location at 1314 Locust Street.  Reproduction of a photograph for an unidentified publication, 10 x 8 cm, undated.

Creation Year: 1845
Geocode Latitude: Geocode Longitude:-75.157260
Geocode Latitude:39.948758

Call Number: A917.481 P536 v.17
Creator Name: Castner, Samuel, Jr., 1843-1929 - Compiler
Samuel Vaughan - Architect
Hewitt and Hewitt - Architect
William L. Johnston - Architect
Edwin Forrest Durang - Architect
Frank Furness - Architect