Item Info

Items 1 and 2, top:  A pair of albumen (stereograph mount) photographic prints, showing images of buildings on Smith's Island (on the Delaware River), c. 1850s.  In 1838, when a canal was cut through Windmill Island, to provide a more direct ferry route between Philadelphia and Camden, NJ, Smith's Island was created.  It was developed as a summer resort, in a lovely, natural setting.  The image on the left shows two men at a picnic area, which included a place to buy lager and (likely) a food concession.  The image on the right shows an elegant hotel.  Two albumen prints, each measuring 8 x 8.5 cm, c. 1850s.

Item 3, center left:  Image of Ridgeway Park, on what used to be Smith's Island.  In 1879, Jacob Ridgeway bought Smith's Island and created an inexpensive amusement park for Philadelphians seeking a respite from the City and the summer heat.  Seen in the image are ferries and the facades of the bathhouses, concert hall, and hotel.  There were many other recreational facilities there as well.  The park continued to operate until 1890, when plans to remove both Smith's Island and Windmill Island were about to be underway, in order to provide better navigation for the growing shipping industry on the Delaware River.  Engraving by David Scattergood for an unidentified publication, 11.5 x 11.5 cm, c. 1880.

Item 4, center right:  Image of the steamer "John Smith", named after Captain John Smith, who lived with his family on Smith's Island.  This early steamer likely ferried people between Philadelphia and the resort that had developed on Smith's Island, in the 1840s-1870s.  Albumen photographic print, 11.5 x 9 cm, c.1850.

Item 5, bottom left:  Image of Philadelphia Harbor Police, patrolling the Delaware River at night, sometime in the 1860s-1870s.  Reproduction of a lithograph by F. C. Schell, for an unidetified publication, 9 x 7 cm, undated.

Item 6, bottom right:  Caption reads, "The Elm Tree Kensington. Under which William Penn made his Treaty with the Indians in 1682."  This image was created c. 1850 by lithographer Cephas G. Childs, taken from an original 1794 drawing by artist George Parkins.  The iconic elm, also called the Treaty Tree at Shackamaxon, was knocked down in a storm in 1810, but cuttings from the tree were transplanted to Pennsylvania Hospital, the University of Pennsylvania, and Haverford College.  An obelisk was placed at the site of the elm in 1827, and Penn Treaty Park was created in 1894.  The "Indians" referred to in the above caption were the Lenni-Lenape, and Shackamaxon was on the west bank of the Delaware River, in today's Fishtown neighborhood.  Lithograph, 10.5 x 11 cm, c. 1850.