5928 Germantown Avenue
Old Town Hall
Survey, Franklin Fire Insurance Policy 0 21754
Historical Society of Pennsylvania

Note: Survey includes drawings of two windows as well as floor plans for the cellar and three stories.

"Survey made December 4, 1854 and reported to the Franklin Fire Insurance Company of Philadelphia.

"For the City of Philadelphia

"A three story stone building known as the Germantown Hall... dimensions 56 ft. front by 110 ft. deep. first story brown stone front, other part of building rough cast. 6 wood columns fluted at portico front of 2nd story columns about 24 ft long. iron base. carved caps: alum[..] round. brown stone water table, and show sills at all the windows reveal plank window frames. yellow pine sills, sash all double hung. Floors spruce joists....

Cellar. part finished for cells and divided by 13 in brick walls, the windows square head 16 light glass. 10 x 12 in the inside walls of cells striped at cells windows outside iron bars...cell doors 2 1/2 in 4 panel bead and butt. And lined on the inside with irons....a flight of straight stair to first story, yellow pine step with white pine hand rails and balisters at each side. 2 water closets in cells.

First Story...at front of Hall a square head plank door frame doors 3 in panel'd 2 flights of continued rail stairs to 3rd story. Steps and risers of ash plank, opening 2 1/2 ft. the stairs from 1st to 2nd story 6 ft wide as large octagon posts at bottom Walnut. and Walnut hand rail 6 in wide 2 1/2 in turned maple balisters a large closet under each flight of stairs with 1 1/2 panel'd doors...In Hall a square head plank door frame with side lights and 6 light transoms. At back part of Hall an out door same as front, inside doors 2 in double worked 6 panel'd at the back part as flights of straight closed stairs to 2nd story. A register in floor of Hall and one in each front room, story 12 ft.

Second Story in which is the Main Hall a vestibule in front...windows thus

glass 13 x 22 in the ceiling of Hall finished with 18 large sunk panels. A plaster center piece in each, and ceiling finished with plaster cornice. 2 registers in floor and 2 ventilators in the partition....a gallery at the Southwest end 12 ft wide....

Third Story...at front of vestibule a closed stairs to steeple. Gas Pipes through each story a heater in the cellar, flues in the wall, a double pitch tin roof framed with queen posts the girders and principal rafters white pine 10 by 14 in. 5 frames in roof thus

the frames well secured with iron bars, bolts and burs, the rafters running lengthwise of the building and covered with 1 in. white pine boards. the eaves of roof extending over the walls about 4 ft and finished with a heavy gutter cornice with blocks under the eaves the cornice finished square around the building. An Octagon steeple on the front of roof about 135 ft high...a platform around the bottom of the steeple about 4 ft wide with white pine hand rail and baluster lower part weatherboard sides with large circular head blinds part of [] tined and the remainder weatherboarded in imitation of shingles. Wood carved brackets at the steeple spear with ball and vane and the letters N.E.S.W. the building new and wood work well painted. Workmanship and materials of the best."

See original for more details.


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