A QUIET HOURPainted by John W. AlexanderCourtesy of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
A QUIET HOURPainted by John W. AlexanderCourtesy of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
A QUIET HOUR
Painted by John W. AlexanderCourtesy of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
P.M., Sundays, 1.00P.M.to 5.00P.M.; fee for special exhibitions; was the first art institute in America, founded, 1805; its history is in no small measure the history of American art itself, and dates back to 1791, when Charles Willson Peale attempted to organize in Philadelphia a school of art; from this grew, in 1794, the Columbianum, which held the first exhibition of paintings, in 1795, in Independence Hall. The permanent collection of paintings and sculpture now includes the Gallery of National Portraiture, with the largest number of portraits by Gilbert Stuart to be seen in any museum; and notable works by other early American painters—Benjamin West, Washington Allston, Matthew Pratt, the Peales, Sully, Neagle, Inman, Eichholz, Trumbull, and Bass Otis; the Gibson Collection, largely composed of the Continental schools; Temple collection of modern American paintings; important works by many of the world’s greatest artists; and the Phillips collection of about forty thousand etchings and engravings. Annual exhibitions are, miniatures, water colors, illustration, and etchings in November and December; oil painting and sculpture in February and March, considered the salon of living American artists; also special exhibitions and lectures on art. The Academy coöperates with the system of International Catalogue Exchange.
Since the beginning of the Academy’s existence, men and women whose names have become illustrious in the annals of American art have been enrolled as students. The schools are equipped in every way to teach the technique of painting and sculpture, the faculty is composed of representative artists of the day; collections, galleries, classrooms, models, and casts are admirably fitted to afford instruction fully equal to that obtainable in Europe. Many substantial prizes are awarded annually to students upon the merits of their work. The William Emlen Cresson Travelling Scholarships send, on an average, sixteen students abroad yearly for four months, and enable them to return to the Academy and continue their studies without payment of tuition fee. The Fellowship of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, organized 1897, sends out annually two exhibitions of original oil paintings by notable artists; one to other cities, the other to the Philadelphia public schools, where they remain one month in each school; while there, the paintings are explained by a member of the Fellowship to school children, thus teaching them true appreciation of art. A Picture Purchase Fund was established in 1912, with which pictures have been bought, from Fellowship Exhibitions, and placed in Philadelphia libraries and public schools.
John Graver Johnson Museum of Paintings, 510 South Broad Street, left by bequest April, 1917, to the City of Philadelphia, is open to the public; throughout Europe and America this vast collection of old and modern masters is famous for extent and merit. “No other American collection has so wide a range and so even a quality,” says F. Mason Perkins; it contains scores of examples which could not be duplicated at any price. Noted for the completeness of different schools of painting.
Philadelphia School of Design for Women, southwest corner of Broad and Master Streets; firstindustrial art school in this country; similar to the “Ecoles Professionelles des Femmes,” in Paris; was founded in 1844 by Mrs. Sarah Peters, the American wife of the British Consul in Philadelphia, in her own house; later, the Franklin Institute assumed charge of the classes until 1853, when it was incorporated, and a Board of Directors elected. Its aim is to put art students in touch with business demands, as well as to cultivate, to the highest degree, their artistic ability. The Normal Art Course embodies all the special studies required by modern educators for teachers of art and design, and with courses in the fine arts, illustration, and costume illustration; has trained many women, now earning handsome emoluments and winning distinction. The residence on Broad Street, forming entrance to the school, which occupies large buildings in the rear, was the home of Edwin Forrest, a famous tragedian; the fine gallery which he erected to house his collection of paintings, now at the Forrest Home for Actors at Holmesburg, is used for annual exhibitions of the school’s painting classes. Edwin Forrest died here in 1872 and John Sartain in 1897; John Sartain was celebrated as a mezzotint engraver, and lived here with his daughter, Miss Emily Sartain, then principal of the school, herself a skilled painter, and engraver in mezzotint; who with her well chosen faculty of eminent artists, carried to a prosperous fulfilment Mrs. Peters’ initiative effort.
Pennsylvania Museum and School of Industrial Artwas founded in 1876, as a concrete embodiment of the lessons taught by the Centennial Exhibition, and has developed forms of artistic craftsmanshipthat were practically unknown in America. The Museum is housed in Memorial Hall, Fairmount Park, memorial of the Centennial; Modern Renaissance; architect, Herman J. Schwarzmann. Open free, Mondays, 12.00M., other days 9.30A.M., closing 5.00P.M., Sundays, 1.00P.M.to 6.00P.M.Established as a museum of art in all its branches and technical application, with a special view to the development of the art industries of the state. Among its important collections are the W. P. Wilstach paintings, about five hundred old masters, with their schools; and contemporary international paintings, belonging to the City of Philadelphia; with $700,000 endowment, interest to be used for their care and increase, by the Commissioners of Fairmount Park; among the many brilliant artists represented are, Whistler, Munkácsy, Sorolla, Zuloago, Velasquez, the Barbizon, Italian, and Dutch Schools of Landscape. The famous Bayeux tapestry is here; laces; vestments; porcelains; enamels; carved ivories; period furniture; some of the Edwin Atlee Barber collection of American pottery and porcelains; Lewis collection of Swiss stained glass, sixteenth and seventeenth centuries; Frishmuth collection of colonial antiquities. A Bureau of Identification is maintained where art objects may be classified.
The school is at the northwest corner of Broad and Pine Streets; porch of this building, facing Broad Street, is a fine example of Tuscan architecture, erected, 1828. The school has forty instructors. Free scholarships are given in each county of this state. This is the leading school in America in associating the study of art with practical training; through its equipmentstudents not only design, but actually manufacture; it includes a complete textile plant with looms, dye house, and all related appliances which make possible the production of most artistic fabrics; other courses are cast and wrought metal; furniture; leather work; pottery; garden furniture in cement; mosaic; also the Normal Art Courses, illustration; architectural drawing; modeling; interior decoration; book binding. Classes are attended by men and women, who pursue exactly the same studies. Graduates are sought to fill lucrative positions as designers; artistic craftsmen; and art teachers.
Drexel Institute, Thirty-second and Chestnut Streets. A day and evening technical school of Art, Science, and Industry for men and women; founded by Anthony J. Drexel, 1891; Renaissance, brick; architects, Wilson Brothers. The leading American and European current periodicals relating to art, science, and technology are in the library. Art Gallery contains collections owned by John D. Lankenau, works by modern German masters, and Anthony J. Drexel, works of International, contemporary, modern painters. The Museum, open free 10.00A.M.to 5.00P.M.daily, except Sundays, includes examples of Industrial Art and the Decorative Arts of India, Egypt, China, Japan, and Europe.
Graphic Sketch Club, 719 Catharine Street, founded by Samuel S. Fleisher in 1899, to provide, free, an art center which should give the culture craved by many intelligent young people, to whom it had been denied by circumstances. The Club House is open only at night, Saturday afternoons, and all day Sundays. This is an Art Club in effect, as well as name; rooms are artistically furnished in beautiful color harmonies, and embellished with choice bronzes bought at our Academy exhibitions, and fine porcelains. Students are educated in art, for the practical good it will do them, and cultural growth; all are day workers. The faculty is composed of well known artists; classes include portrait and still life painting; illustration and sculpture. From this school have gone some of the most original workers in the schools of the Academy of the Fine Arts. Landscape classes are in session during the summer. Lectures are given on art or musical topics. Membership in the Club is attained by attendance in the classes for three years.
Public Art School, Park Avenue and Master Street, founded by Charles G. Leland, now under the direction of the Board of Public Education; open to pupils in grammar grades of public schools. A course of study was planned, including drawing, clay modeling, and wood carving, to train students to originate design, and do the manual work as well, so that the designer should be the artisan also.
Art Club, 220 South Broad Street. Annual exhibition of paintings and sculpture, gold medal awarded; and special shows by individual artists.
Art Jury, City Hall, Philadelphia, created by Act of Legislature, 1907, providing, “That in every city of first class, there shall be an Art Jury, composed of the Mayor and eight others, of whom shall be, one each, painter, sculptor, architect, and Park Commissioner, to pass upon design and location of all buildings; bridges; arches; fountains; or fixtures to be erected in the city.”
City Parks Association, City Hall.
Darby School of Painting, Fort Washington, Montgomery County. Outdoor classes. Hugh H. Breckenridge, 10 South 18th Street, Philadelphia.
Fairmount Park Art Association, organized, 1871. 320 S. Broad Street.
Pennsylvania Society of Miniature Painters, organized, 1901. Annual fall exhibition, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts.
Philadelphia Chapter, American Institute of Architects, 1301 Stephen Girard Building; organized, 1869.
The Philadelphia Sketch Club(men), 235 South Camac Street, organized, 1860. Annual fall exhibitions of members’ work; also special exhibitions.
Philadelphia Water-Color Club, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, annual international exhibitions; also Traveling exhibitions of members’ work.
Plastic Club, women, 247 South Camac Street; organized, 1897. Annual and special exhibitions; lectures, and sketch classes.
T-Square Club, 204 South Quince Street, founded, 1881. Annual architectural exhibition; drafting; decorative painting; modeling; and architecture in coöperation with Society of Beaux-Arts Architects, New York City.
TheD’Ascenzo Studios, for Stained Glass, 1604 Summer Street, founded twenty years ago, include designing; painting; firing; and glazing; work is begun and completed, in both modern and antique, with preference for the antique school, for architectural fitness and conventionality; also glass mosaic andmural decoration. D’Ascenzo’s art may be seen in many important churches and buildings in this country; in the Chapel at Valley Forge, and in Philadelphia may be mentioned St. Mark’s Protestant Episcopal Church, Frankford; St. James’ Protestant Episcopal Church, Twenty-second and Walnut Streets; St. Patrick’s Roman Catholic Church, Twentieth and Locust Streets; Synagogue Rodeph Shalom, Philadelphia.
William Willet and Annie Lee Willet Studios, for Stained Glass, 226 South Eleventh Street, formerly of Pittsburgh. While all the world is deploring the loss of the magnificent old glass in the cathedrals of Europe, here the art of fused glass has been raised to such perfection that their great windows have all that the old work has, of depth, glow, and shadow, under modern conditions of stability; among their notable windows are, the Sanctuary Window, West Point Military Chapel, New York; Proctor Hall, the Graduate School, Princeton, New Jersey, great west window; many in the churches and public buildings of Pittsburgh, Chicago and elsewhere; in and near Philadelphia, in Summit Presbyterian Church, Carpenter and West View Streets, Germantown; St. Michael’s Sanctuary window, High Street, Germantown; John Chambers Memorial Church; The Buchanan Memorial, St. Nathaniel’s Church, Kensington; the Harrison Memorial; Holy Trinity Church, Nineteenth and Walnut; the Leta Sullivan in the Assumption, Strafford.
Notable private art collections in Philadelphia, that may sometimes be seen by writing for permit, which for variety and value, have few peers are:
THE TRAGIC MUSEFrom the Edward Hornor Coates Memorial CollectionPainted by Violet OakleyCourtesy of the Pennsylvania Academy of theFine Arts
THE TRAGIC MUSEFrom the Edward Hornor Coates Memorial CollectionPainted by Violet OakleyCourtesy of the Pennsylvania Academy of theFine Arts
THE TRAGIC MUSE
From the Edward Hornor Coates Memorial Collection
Painted by Violet OakleyCourtesy of the Pennsylvania Academy of theFine Arts
P. A. B. Widener’s, several hundred choice and rare paintings, mostly masterpieces of great artists of the Renaissance, and modern.
TheW. L. Elkins; many fine examples of medieval and modern portraiture, landscape and genre painting.
TheJohn McFadden, best collection of solely eighteenth century English paintings in this country.
TheEdward T. Stotesbury, masterpieces of the English School and international contemporary art.
Should these collections accompany theWilstach, now in Memorial Hall, to the Municipal Art Museum in Fairmount Park, now under construction, it would begin its career with a wealth of paintings, more comprehensive and valuable than any that ever inaugurated a similar institution, not excepting the Louvre, Pitti, Dresden, National in London, and Metropolitan, New York, which grew from small beginnings, thus placing the highest products of art within equal and easy reach of all classes. This Museum will constitute the central feature of a comprehensive plan in progress, at the head of the Parkway, for a real art center, more imposing in scale and impressive in its entire effect than any similar art center in any American City. ThePennsylvania Academy of the Fine Artshas been granted a site facing the Fairmount Plaza, also thePennsylvania Museum and School of Industrial Art.
The First City Troop, Armory, Twenty-third Street, above Chestnut; founded in 1778. An exclusive social organization. Oldest military command inthe United States in continuous active service; its traditions of active service are as loyally preserved as its rights as escort of the President, and other distinguished men. In the Spanish-American War in 1898, “The Troop” was the first body of cavalry landed at Porto Rico. The “Gentlemen of Philadelphia” met in Independence Hall, November 17, 1774, and formed a company of cavalry called, “The Light Horse of the City of Philadelphia”; they were dismissed by Washington after the Revolution in 1778, and reorganized immediately as the First City Troop; the Troop voted to give the certificate of dismissal, signed by Washington, to their captain, Samuel Morris; the paper is now in possession of the decendants of Elliston P. Morris, of Germantown.Frankford Arsenal, Bridge and Tacony Streets; local station, Bridesburg; open, free, daily, 7.45A.M.to sunset. Established, 1814; President Madison was at the opening exercises. Lafayette stopped at the Arsenal in 1824. Here are complete small arms cartridge factory equipment; artillery cartridge factory equipment; and machine plant for the manufacture of inspecting instruments; sights for cannon; range finders; and other instruments for fire control at the fortifications, etc.Philadelphia Navy Yard, League Island, about 1000 acres; junction of Delaware and Schuylkill Rivers; deeded to the National Government by the City of Philadelphia in 1868. Open to the public daily between 9.00A.M.and 4.00P.M.Established about 1794 on the Delaware River front, at Prime Street. A large number of the old wooden ships of the Navy were built here, such as the ships of the line,Franklin,PennsylvaniaandNorthCarolina; frigates,United States,Raritan, andGuerriere; sloops of war,Vandalia,Germantown, andDale; screw steamers,Princeton,Wabash, andLancaster; side wheel steamers,MississippiandSusquehanna. At present there are two dry docks; shops employ 2000 men; three large barrack buildings for the use of marines stationed at the Yard accommodate 1400 men. Admiral Benson, former Commandant, considers this the best Navy Yard in the Government’s possession, being in the center of coal and iron industries, within short haul, both by rail and water, for all material required by a great navy yard; its nearness to great private shipyards on the Delaware provides skilled mechanics in the art of ship-building, and the fresh water feature, being unique, is of great importance; barnacles accumulated in salt water drop off in fresh water, simply by docking here for short periods. There is also a large Reserve Basin called the Back Channel, where ships out of commission can be laid up until wanted. The berthing facilities may be indefinitely extended by constructing additional sea wall and piers.Fort Mifflin, below mouth of the Schuylkill, has casement dungeons, and earthen banks of early warfare, and was prominent in the Revolutionary War; designed and built by Major Louis de Tousard in 1798. Now, in the magazines, ammunition from government battleships is stored, before they enter the Navy Yard; the magazines are surrounded by poles, on each pole is a lightning rod.United States Naval Asylum, Gray’s Ferry Avenue below Bainbridge Street, classic, marble; has Museum of Uniforms.
The earliest were connected with churches; some date almost from the beginning of the city.
Baptist.Blockley Cemetery, Meeting-House Lane, between Lancaster Avenue and Haverford Street; ground given, 1804. Church is at Fifty-third Street and Wyalusing Avenue.Dunker, Germantown, on Germantown Avenue above Sharpnack Street; oldest meeting-house of the German Baptists, or Dunkers, in America; erected, 1770. Burial ground opened, 1793; in it lie Alexander Mack, founder of the sect, and Harriet Livermore, the “Pilgrim Stranger” of Whittier’s “Snow Bound.”Mennonite, Germantown Avenue above Herman Street; church was built, 1770; many early Germantown settlers are buried in the yard.Pennypack, orLower Dublin, Krewston Road near Pennypack Creek, one mile from Bustleton; here is oldest Baptist church edifice in Pennsylvania, built about 1707; in the old time graveyard are many curious moss covered tombstones.
Friends.When the graves are marked the stones are always small and inconspicuous.Fairhill Meeting, Germantown Avenue and Cambria Street; ground granted by William Penn; a large and beautiful old cemetery and near “Fairhill,” the great Norris estate.The Meeting House, Fourth and Arch Streets, was built in 1804, but the ground was used for burials many years before; it is one of the oldest cemeteries in Philadelphia. Some of the most prominent citizens of very early days lie here with nothing to mark their resting-place; it is computed that twenty thousand persons are interred here.
Jewish.Mikveh Israel, on Spruce Street, near Ninth; ground was granted to Nathan Levy by John Penn in 1738; here lies the beautiful Rebecca Gratz, original of Rebecca in Scott’s “Ivanhoe.” In August, 1913, the little burial ground was opened for the interment of her grandniece, the first burial for thirty years.Mount Sinai, Frankford Avenue, near Bridge Street, has imposing entrance, erected, 1854.
Lutheran.St. Michael’s, Germantown Avenue and Phil-Ellena Street, joins the church built about 1730; a notable grave, with flat marble stone resting on four columns, is that of Christopher Ludwig, “baker general” to the American army during the Revolution.
Methodist.St. Paul’s, Catharine Street near Sixth. Church is now used as an Italian mission; has a small graveyard.
Presbyterian.Of First and Third Churches, Southwest corner of Fourth and Pine Streets, First Church, Seventh and Locust Streets, has the eastern section. When the First Church abandoned its old Market Street site for the present locality, the bodies were moved whenever possible, and many of the old headstones were inserted in the south wall of the new graveyard. The Third Church, called “Old Pine,” divides the grounds, using the west section; both are most interesting, with many people of note interred, including David Rittenhouse; William Hurry, who is said to have rung the Liberty Bell when proclaiming independence; Dr. William Shippen, Director General of Hospitals during the war for Independence; many Revolutionary soldiers; and Captain Charles Ross of the First City Troop.
Protestant Episcopal.All Saints, Bristol Turnpike, Torresdale. Established 1772-73, when the first church edifice was built.Christ Churchhas two burialgrounds, one attached to the church on Second Street, North of Market, dating from the earliest days of the church, the other southeast corner of Fifth and Arch Streets, where first interment was made in 1730; graves of Benjamin Franklin and Deborah, his wife, are in the northwest corner; may be seen from Arch Street through an iron railing set in the brick wall; in these graveyards are buried many distinguished Americans; among them Peyton Randolph, first President of the Continental Congress; Commodores Truxton, Biddle, Bainbridge, and Dale; Robert Morris; several signers of the Declaration of Independence; Dr. Benjamin Rush, Dr. Philip Syng Physick, Bishop White, and Dr. William Augustus Muhlenberg.Gloria Dei(Old Swedes’), Front and Swanson Streets, south of Christian; church built, 1700, being the oldest church building in Philadelphia; a most interesting graveyard surrounds it; the celebrated ornithologist, Alexander Wilson, is buried here.St. James, Kingsessing, Sixty-eighth Street and Paschall Avenue; church erected, 1762; General Josiah Harmer, of the Revolution, is buried in the graveyard.St. James the Less, Hunting Park Avenue and Clearfield Street; this beautiful little Gothic church, brownstone, built 1847, has a number of fine monuments in the burial ground; John Wanamaker is buried here.St. Luke’s, Germantown Avenue and Coulter Street, church dates from 1818; the famous Philadelphia annalist, John Fanning Watson, is interred in the churchyard.St.Peter’s, southwest corner of Third and Pine Streets; in the graveyard lies the body of Commodore Stephen Decatur, the grave surmounted by an Ionic column supporting an American eagle; other notable names here are Chew, Cadwalader, Mifflin, Binney, Biddle, Peale, Waln, Meade, McCall, Duché, Norris, Kuhn, Montgomery.Trinity, Oxford, near Fox Chase, east of old Second Street Pike; present church dates from 1711; began as a log meeting house, 1698; tombstones date as early as 1708; the inscriptions on some are quaint and original.
Roman Catholic.Holy Trinity, northwest corner of Sixth and Spruce Streets, dates from 1789; on the old tombstones may be deciphered names of many of the early German and French inhabitants of Philadelphia. Stephen Girard was buried here until 1851, later his body was removed to Girard College.Most Holy Redeemer, Richmond Street, opposite Hedley Street, Bridesburg; many of the Redemptorist Fathers are buried here.
North Cedar Hill, Frankford Avenue corner of Foust Street, incorporated, 1857; a soldiers’ monument to the Civil War soldiers from Frankford is in the older part.Crispin, Holmesburg; contains grave of Thomas Holme, who laid out the city of Philadelphia; plot is under care of the Crispin Association, formed of descendants of Holme.Glenwood, Ridge Avenue and Twenty-seventh Street, opened, 1850, has notable monument of the Scott Legion Association, formed among the surviving soldiers of the Mexican War.Greenwood, Asylum Pike and Arrott Street, Frankford; established, 1869, by the benevolent order of the Knights of Pythias, as a burial place for members and their families; occupies the “Mount Airy” estate, once residence of Commodore Stephen Decatur.Hood, or “The Lower Burial Ground,” on Germantown Avenue at Logan Street, opened in 1693, having been presented to the borough of Germantown by Jan Streepers. Many early settlers of Germantown lie here; among them Frederic William Post, the Moravian missionary to the Indians, and Condy Raguet, founder of the Saving Fund in Philadelphia; in 1847, William Hood built the front entrance, of Pennsylvania marble, the wall and railing.Ivy Hill, East Mount Airy Avenue, above Stenton Avenue, chartered, 1867; about 80 acres; the Second Baptist Church has removed to Ivy Hill about 300 bodies from its old burial place on New Market Street; an imposing monument is here in memory of David Lyle, Chief Engineer of the Volunteer Fire Department from 1859-67.North Laurel Hill, East bank of Schuylkill River and Ridge Avenue, organized, 1835; formerly “Laurel,” country seat of Joseph Sims. “Fairy Hill,” seat of Pepper family, nowCentral Laurel Hill, and “Harleigh,” William Rawle’s place, nowSouth Laurel Hill; historic dead and artistic monuments fill these cemeteries; Commodores Murray and Hull, General George Gordon Meade, and Mrs. Cornelius Stevenson, “Peggy Shippen” of theLedger, are among those who lie here; the Lea Memorial, sculptor A. Sterling Calder, is very beautiful, the chapel is early English. Just across the Schuylkill River, on Belmont Avenue, at PencoydStation, isWest Laurel Hill, opened in 1869. General Herman Haupt is among those buried here.Monument, Broad Street and Montgomery Avenue, was laid out by Dr. John A. Elkinton in 1836; an obelisk monument, on a pedestal, erected, 1859, in honor of Washington and Lafayette, was designed by John Sartain, artist, who is buried near base of shaft.Mount Moriah, Sixty-second Street and Kingsessing Avenue, opened, 1855; has grave of Betsy Ross, over which a flag floats perpetually.Mount Peace, Lehigh Avenue and Thirty-first Street, was originally country seat of the Ralston family, known as Mount Peace estate.Mount Vernon, Ridge and Lehigh Avenues, opposite Laurel Hill, chartered, 1856; the Gardel monument was long considered handsomest in the country.National Cemetery, Haines Street and Limekiln Pike, land acquired by the United States Government in 1885, it is well wooded, and the grounds are laid out with flowering plants; about 2700 Union soldiers are buried here; their graves marked by long rows of small granite slabs, bearing their names and the States from which they came. Soldiers of three wars lie here; a granite monument, erected by the United States, marks the burial place of 184 Confederate soldiers and sailors.Palmer, at Palmer, Belgrade, and Memphis Streets, owes its origin to Anthony Palmer; in 1730, he purchased a large tract of land in “The Northern Liberties,” on which he laid out a town and named it Kensington; his daughter carried out his wishes, and bequeathed ground for a burial place for those living in Kensington.Ronaldson’s, Tenth and Fitzwater Streets, now neglected, wasfounded by James Ronaldson in 1826 as a burial place in which persons of moderate means could find a grave without any of the restrictions which attended interments in the churchyards; he gave the ground, almost a city square, decorated it with trees and shrubbery; so beautifully was it kept that it was considered “The model burial place of the City,” until the opening of Laurel Hill.Upper Burial Ground, orAx’s, Germantown Avenue near Washington Lane. John Frederick Ax was caretaker from 1724-56; many early settlers are buried here, the oldest known grave being that of Cornelius Tyson, who died in 1716; there are also graves of some American soldiers and officers, killed in the Battle of Germantown; over them, John Fanning Watson placed a marble headstone.Woodlands, Thirty-ninth Street and Woodland Avenue, was in early times the country seat of William Hamilton, known as “The Woodlands”; acquired by Woodlands Cemetery Company in 1840. Many distinguished men and women are buried here, among them Commodore Thomas Stewart, who commanded theConstitutionin 1812; General John Stewart, Major Generals D. B. Birney and Abercrombie of the Civil War; Rembrandt Peale; William K. Hewitt and P. F. Rothermel, Artists; John Davenport, Actor; Colonel Thomas A. Scott and J. Edgar Thomson; Frank and Louise Stockton; Dr. S. Weir Mitchell and Anthony J. Drexel.
Among the eight hundred and five churches in Philadelphia, are:
The PhiladelphiaBaptist, whose Association celebrated its two hundredth and tenth anniversary in 1917.First Church, Seventeenth Street below Chestnut, open daily, is a consistent example of Byzantine architecture with American modifications; stone; architect, Edgar V. Seeler. Windows made by Heinecke & Bowen are copies of the Byzantine leaded glass; lights and shadows in drapery are all done with leaded strips of glass, not painted.Temple, Broad and Berks Streets, famous on account of its pastor, Rev. Russell H. Conwell, was dedicated, 1901; at that time it was the largest church edifice in the United States, excepting the Mormon Temple at Salt Lake City; auditorium seats 3135 people: Romanesque, with two low towers on the front, surmounted by large copper domes, which give an Oriental touch; architect, Thomas Lonsdale. Fine rose window in front, said to have been made by John LaFarge; other windows are by J. & R. Lamb and R. S. Groves: the Hope-Jones organ, built by the Rudolph Wurlitzer Company, is one of the largest in this country; it has all the orchestral accompaniments.Tabernacle, Chestnut and Fortieth Streets, Gothic, stone, has a window by William Willet. There are about one hundred Baptist churches in Philadelphia.
Christian Science.First Church of Christ Scientist, Walnut Street near Fortieth; Spanish architecture.
Congregational.Central, Eighteenth and Green Streets, Gothic, stone, built in 1872; architect, D. Supplee; organized in 1864; first services were held in old Concert Hall, 1217 Chestnut Street, afterwards used as first Free Library Building; sermon “Recognition,” was preached by Rev. Henry Ward Beecher; othersermons of early days, by Richard S. Storrs, D.D. About nine or ten churches of this denomination are in Philadelphia.
Friends’ or Quaker Meeting-Houses.
“What dignity breathes from the lofty spaceAnd amplitude of hospitalityIn these old-fashioned Quaker shrines!Most friendly seems the long, high, sturdy roof,Most friendly the all-welcoming old wallsSeen through the sheltering trees.O mighty oaks and noble sycamores,With trunks moss-silvered and with lichened limb,Breathe soft to me the storied memoriesAnd treasured records of the long rich yearsThat blessed the meeting-houses.”(From “Old Meeting-Houses,”by John Russell Hayes.)
“What dignity breathes from the lofty spaceAnd amplitude of hospitalityIn these old-fashioned Quaker shrines!Most friendly seems the long, high, sturdy roof,Most friendly the all-welcoming old wallsSeen through the sheltering trees.O mighty oaks and noble sycamores,With trunks moss-silvered and with lichened limb,Breathe soft to me the storied memoriesAnd treasured records of the long rich yearsThat blessed the meeting-houses.”(From “Old Meeting-Houses,”by John Russell Hayes.)
“What dignity breathes from the lofty spaceAnd amplitude of hospitalityIn these old-fashioned Quaker shrines!Most friendly seems the long, high, sturdy roof,Most friendly the all-welcoming old wallsSeen through the sheltering trees.O mighty oaks and noble sycamores,With trunks moss-silvered and with lichened limb,Breathe soft to me the storied memoriesAnd treasured records of the long rich yearsThat blessed the meeting-houses.”(From “Old Meeting-Houses,”by John Russell Hayes.)
For more than one hundred years there has been no change in the general style of architecture; before that time, the earliest meeting-house in Philadelphia, at Second and Market Streets, was built with a central lantern or cupola; probably copied from a meeting-house of similar form in Burlington, New Jersey, built, 1682; where the yearly meeting for New Jersey and Pennsylvania was first held: later it met alternately at Philadelphia and Burlington, but since 1750 in Philadelphia, Fourth and Arch Streets. One of the most interesting old meeting-houses, built in 1696, is atMerion, near Narberth Station, Pennsylvania Railroad, in which William Penn preached; another, that he attended, is the oldHaverford, built in the early eighteenth century, near Cobb’s Creek, opposite St.Dennis Roman Catholic Church.RadnorandPlymouthare also interesting old houses; all these last named are now owned by theHicksite Branchof Quakers, who also own over seventy other meeting-houses throughout the state. Among those owned by theOrthodox Branchwithin Philadelphia are the Fourth and Arch Streets, not only the most important, but of great charm architecturally; it is very large and stands on ground originally given by William Penn to George Fox, and by the latter to Friends in America; and may be taken as typical of the later and best Quaker architecture; built in 1804, following the style of the pre-Revolutionary days of the houses just named, but adapted in material and size to the increased numbers worshiping within; it is of brick, set in ample grounds, with abundant shade; the ground about it, and much also covered now by the building and by Arch Street, is a very old burial ground, filled over several times. James Logan is buried under the pavement of Arch Street.Twelfth Street Meeting-House, brick, built in 1812, is second in importance, and one of the most beautiful bits in old Philadelphia. The oak timbers in its roof are said to have come from the “Great Meeting-House,” which succeeded that with the cupola at Second and Market Streets; oak timbers are also exposed with good effect in the upper room of the Arch Street house; the two houses are of the same general type and severely plain, but form, together with that at Sixth and Noble Streets, a most dignified trio of places for worship; remarkable for true proportion and dignity of outline, they are typical of the wealth and solidity of the Friends at their most flourishing period.The Meeting House, Sixth and Noble Streets, known as “North Meeting,” once accommodating a large congregation, has been reduced in members by removals; the Yearly Meeting has therefore taken over its use as an adjunct to the settlement work, carried on by Friends at “Noble House.”
Jewish.Rosh Hashana, or the Jewish New Year’s Day, is the oldest festival celebrated in the civilized world, 1917 will usher in the year 5678; it commences the great series of fall holidays: ten days later is “Yom Kippur,” the Day of Atonement, most sacred of the year, when the Jews fast from sunset to sunset and attend the synagogues, and a week later “Succoth,” corresponding to our Thanksgiving Day, which lasts a week. The principal synagogues areAdath-Jeshurun, Broad Street above Diamond, Egyptian; limestone and brick; architects, Churchman, Thomas & Molitar, has leaded glass windows by Nicolo D’Ascenzo.Keneseth Israel, Broad Street above Columbia Avenue, Italian Renaissance, brick with limestone trimmings; architect, Hickman.Mikveh Israel, Broad and York Streets, organized, 1747; moved from Seventh Street near Arch; French Renaissance, limestone; architects, Pitcher & Tachau.Rodeph Shalom, southeast corner of Broad and Mt. Vernon Streets, Moorish, sandstone; built, 1869; architects, Furness & Evans; has leaded glass windows by Nicolo D’Ascenzo.
Lutheran.TheTheological Seminaryof Philadelphia, 7301 Germantown Avenue, was founded in 1864; removed to present location, 1889; site, residence of Chief Justice Allen; afterwards a military school of some distinction, “Mount Airy College.” The administration building was erected by James Gowen for a residence in 1848, and adapted to the wants of the Seminary; on the grounds are twelve buildings, including Krauth Memorial Library, perpendicular Gothic, stone, built, 1908; contains portraits; the Refectory, once residence of the Miller family, built, 1792, colonial; and the Ashmead-Schaeffer Memorial Chapel, Gothic, stone.St. Michael’s, Germantown Avenue and Phil-Ellena Street, first church, built, 1730; British soldiers took refuge in the church and demolished the organ during the Battle of Germantown; corner-stone of present church laid, 1896.Old St. Johns, Race Street between Fifth and Sixth, first English Lutheran Church in America, colonial, brick; congregation organized in 1806, largely through efforts of General Peter Muhlenberg; contains a fine oil portrait by John Neagle, painted in 1853, of Dr. Philip F. Mayer, first pastor 1806-58; and woodcarvings in front of the gallery by William Rush.Zion(German), Franklin Street above Race, Romanesque, brownstone, built, 1870, moved from southeast corner of Fourth and Cherry, founded 1766; a memorial service was held here for Washington in 1799, by General Charles Lee.The Mary J. Drexel Home and Philadelphia Motherhouse of Deaconesses, Twenty-first Street and South College Avenue, modified Gothic with numerous towers, brick trimmed with sandstone, built, 1888; provides a training school for Deaconesses of the Lutheran Church; home for the aged and a children’s hospital; a Gothic chapel on the second floor, has altar cloths from Neuendettelsau, Bavaria; and stained glass by Meyer, Munich; portraits of theLankenau and Drexel families are here, and an Italian marble bust of Mr. Lankenau by Moses Ezekiel of Rome.
Methodist.Saint George’s, 229 North Fourth Street, oldest Methodist church in the world, used continuously for worship; dedicated, 1769; Bishop Francis Asbury preached his first sermon in America here; three memorial tablets mark the front: to John Dickens, founder of the Methodist Book Concern, buried rear of the church, in 1798; to Ezekiel Cooper, his successor, buried in front, and one commemorating the first Methodist Conference in America, held in this church July 14, 1773.Calvary, Forty-eighth Street and Baltimore Avenue, Gothic, stone, has mural painting, “Sermon on the Mount,” by H. Hanley Parker, and two Tiffany windows. Other Methodist Episcopal churches with good architecture are,Arch Street, Broad and Arch Streets, Gothic, white marble, andGrace, Broad and Master Streets, Renaissance.
Presbyterian.First Church, Seventh and Locust Streets, facing Washington Square; oldest Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia, founded, 1699; present building erected, 1820, classic, brick, rough cast; with Ionic porch; architect, Theophilus P. Chandler: contains Paxton memorial window by Frederick Wilson, interesting old tablets, and a copy of Calvin’s “Institutes.”Second Church, Twenty-first and Walnut Streets, French Gothic, with early English detail; erected, 1872; architect, Henry Sims; Richmond granite is used in the base, the walls are of Trenton stone, Cleveland sandstone for tracery of windows and moulding of doors, with red sandstone, blue sandstone,and green serpentine for special parts, in contrasts of color and decorative effects: interior is faced with buff-colored brick imported from Raubon, Wales: the richly ornamented pulpit is of Caen stone. Windows, a double one, by John LaFarge; seven representing old Testament subjects, by Tiffany; and five apse windows from England.Scotts, Broad Street below Morris, founded, 1766: third oldest organization in the Philadelphia Presbytery; is still under its original charter; original church was at Fourth and Bainbridge Streets, later on at Spruce Street above Third; Louis Philippe lived in the parsonage during his residence in Philadelphia in 1796; John Purdon, father of Purdon’s Digest, was its first elder; President John Adams attended the church.Old Pine Street Church, Fourth and Pine Streets, classic, brick, rough-cast, with Corinthian porch; erected, 1857, one of the walls being that of the original church built in 1768; the first pastor, George Duffield, was chaplain of all the Pennsylvania militia, and also served as chaplain of the First Continental Congress after Jacob Duché; he was with Washington during the retreat through New Jersey; was in the battles of Princeton and Trenton, and the British offered a price of 50 pounds sterling for his head; he is buried under the central aisle of the lecture room, and his portrait is in Independence Hall: John Adams, when President, was a communicant here; when the British occupied the city, they used this church as a hospital; pews and other woodwork were burned as fuel, and later the church was used by the dragoons to stable their horses.Holland Memorial, Broad and Federal Streets, Romanesque; buffMassillon stone, with red sandstone trimmings, from the Ballaclunyle quarries of Scotland; architect, David S. Grendell; windows by Tiffany, in the south arcade, are from originals by Frederick Wilson; other windows are by Alfred Godwin and Maitland & Armstrong; there are four large rose windows, in one, the patriarch Joshua stands in the center, clad in full armor; color scheme is based upon the rose window of Saint Chapelle, Paris; makers, William and Annie Lee Willet: under each window is a group of five arcade windows, some of them copies from originals of Sir Edwin Burne-Jones, for windows in Brighton and Salisbury Cathedrals.Tabernacle, Thirty-seventh and Chestnut Streets, is one of the finest Gothic church edifices in Philadelphia, in decorative English style, with tower 130 feet high, erected, 1886; granite, with Indiana limestone for tracery of windows and doors; no wood being used in its construction, it thus resembles the cathedrals of the old world; chapel is connected with the manse by a cloistered porch.West Arch Street, Eighteenth and Arch Streets, Roman classic, with dome 170 feet above the ground, stone, plastered; has fine Corinthian porch.Market Square, Germantown, founded, 1738: President Washington worshiped here, while living opposite in the old Morris house, during the yellow fever epidemic in Philadelphia in 1793; during the battle of Germantown, a battalion of Virginians, prisoners of the English, were lodged in this church; the old bell, cast, 1725, which was in the shingle roof steeple of the old church, is still intact, and preserved as a relic; also the “Trumpet angels in their gold array,” part of the original organ from Holland:present building, French Gothic, stone, was erected in 1886.
TheWitherspoon Building, Walnut Street below Broad, has sculpture by A. Stirling Calder and Samuel Murray.
Protestant Episcopal.St. Alban’s, Olney, consecrated, 1915; decorated French Gothic; buttresses run up to above the cornice line, ending in gables with crockets and finials; there is a belfry tower and porch; interior lines are very beautiful; the high arches and lofty piers give an impression of great dignity and simplicity, well adapted for rendering the services, with all the accompaniment of advanced churchmanship; architect, George T. Pearson.Christ Church, Second Street north of Market; first Protestant Episcopal Church in the province; hours of service, September to July, Sundays 10.00A.M., 11.00A.M., 3.30P.M., open daily 9.00A.M.to 3.00P.M.; founded in 1695, under a provision in the original charter of King Charles II to William Penn. John Penn, last male member of this line, is buried near the steps of the pulpit. Present building, Georgian, erected 1747; Dr. John Kearsley, Building Director; the old roof, its wooden balustrade with carved spindles, and the steeple are ever of interest to architects and antiquarians.
Here the colonial governors had their state pew, marked by coat of arms, bearing the monogram of William and Mary; the parish was subsidized by King William III, William of Orange; Communion silver presented in 1709 by Queen Anne; baptismal font dates from 1695, and was used for the baptism of Bishop White in infancy. The chime of bells pealed forth theDeclaration of Independence, in response to the Liberty Bell, July 8, 1776; they were made in England, and came over in the same ship with the Liberty Bell, were taken to Allentown with the Liberty Bell, and subsequently rehung; are referred to by Longfellow in “Evangeline.” George and Martha Washington regularly occupied pew 58 from 1790-97; it was also the official pew of John Adams while President, and was used by Lafayette in 1824; Franklin had pew 70, still used by his descendants; Robert Morris’ pew was 52; Francis Hopkinson’s, 65. General Charles Lee, of the Continental Army, is interred beside the southwest door, and near by is General Hugh Mercer; Rt. Rev. William White, D.D., first Bishop of Pennsylvania and long Presiding Bishop of the United States, is interred before the chancel rail, and his Episcopal chair is beside the altar. The church was organized; its constitution framed; and the amended Prayer Book adopted in this church, in 1785; Bishop White and Provost William Smith, D.D., were the Committee for revising and altering the liturgy of the English Prayer Book, for use in America. Rev. Jacob Duché was rector for many years. Windows illustrate the history of the Christian Church; made by Heaton, Butler and Bains.St. Clement’s, Twentieth and Cherry Streets, Norman Gothic, brownstone, built, 1857; architect, John Notman; new roof of nave, apse, and high altar; choir and lady chapel; architect, Horace Wells Sellers; the sanctuary is beautifully designed, with effect heightened by a magnificent reredos; artist, Frederick Wilson of Briarcliff, New York, leaded glass of apse, and lady chapel, by Alfred Godwin,