FROM EDGE TO CENTER: MOVIN'WEST

Maps and other records suggest that, at the close of the 18th century, this part of Philadelphia west of 11th Street presented an unprepossessing landscape defined by isolated frame structures set down among blocks traversed by fields, watercourses, and probably dumping grounds. Over the next few decades, this ephemeral landscape would be overtaken by one marked by institutions, mansions, and brick rowhouses rising in neat lines that extended the patterns of the developing neighborhoods just to the east.

The first substantial buildings that would commend themselves to viewmakers and commentators were institutions and large individual houses claiming large parcels of land in the anticipated direction of future development. The major streets south of Market soon became a showplace for major structures in modern styles, several of them designed by the country's earliest professional architects, including William Strickland, John Haviland, and T. U. Walter. Built among these was a procession of speculatively built brick rowhouses, the larger of them three windows across, with a frontage of 18 to 25 feet. They deferred to the special, custom-built mansions with doorways centered among their five-bay widths, the latter claiming an image of social and economic leadership.

By the late 1830s this newly built quarter was distinct from the older parts of the city by the Delaware. The houses were bigger, "set up" over marble stoops, and "set back" from the building line for greater privacy. Fashionable blocks presented longer uniform rows and were initially almost exclusively residential, a condition that would erode beginning from the north over the course of the 19th century. As the major streets of this quarter of the city filled before mid-century, rows of smaller houses with narrower frontages -- many of them only two windows wide and two stories tall -- rose in lesser streets and alleys. While some were built speculatively in extended rows, other houses, often with only one-room footprints 13 to 16 feet on a side, were built by lesser entrepreneurs in smaller groupings on courts reached by narrow passages from the streets. Most of the smaller houses appear to have been intended for rental rather than sale. The resulting neighborhood accommodated a remarkable range of buildings and with it a remarkable degree of social integration within most blocks, setting patterns in brick and in people that would persist to the present.

 

Instructions: Click on the small image to bring up a full-screen view. This will appear in a second window.

  • A1. Plat of the lot between Locust and Spruce, 13th and [Camac] streets.
    Pencil, ink, and watercolor on paper, ca. 1810-20?
    Historical Society of Pennsylvania (Of 609a).
Plate of the lot between Locust and Spruce, 13th and [Camac] streets
  • A2. Gothic Mansion, Chesnut Street, 1217 Chestnut Street (built 1809-10, John Dorsey, architect).
    Wood engraving by George Gilbert, from The Casket (Philadelphia) 5, no. 10 (October, 1830).
    Library Company of Philadelphia.

    For a later view of the site, see item C11.
Gothic Mansion, Chestnut Street
  • A3. South East Corner of Walnut and Quince Streets, Formerly the Davis & Harvey Auction House -- now (1914) Vacant, 1112 Walnut Street.
    Watercolor by J. Riegel, Jr., 1914.
    Bryn Mawr College, gift of Joseph M. Fox, 1975.

    For a later view of the site, see item E7.
South East Corner of Walnut and Quince Streets
  • A4. U.S. Mint, northwest corner of Chestnut and Juniper streets (built 1829-33, William Strickland, architect).
    Albumen print by Robert Newell, ca. 1870.
    Library Company of Philadelphia.

    For a later view of the site, see item C17.
U.S. Mint
  • A5. Map of area, 1830.
    Detail from Plan of the city of Philadelphia and adjoining districts…, engraving after surveys by W. Allen (Philadelphia: H. S. Tanner, 1830).
    Historical Society of Pennsylvania.

    A key to this map was published as a pamphlet by H. S. Tanner, titled Index to the New Plan of Philadelphia and Adjoining Districts (Philadelphia, 1830). Numbered items on this part of the map were identified as:

    2. Academy of Natural Sciences
    350. 10th Presbyterian Church
    284. Sansom Street Baptist Church Burial Ground
    117. 12th Street Meeting House
    152. Horse Market
    340. State Armory
    199. Medical Society's Hall
    257. Prosperous Alley
    263. Locust Street Public School
    359. Tin Alley
    282. Salem Methodist Episcopal Church
    106. 4th Presbyterian Church Burial Ground
    10. Associate Presbyterian Church Burial Ground
    330. St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church Burial Ground
     

 map detail, 1830
  • A6a. Parlor of Dundas-Lippincott mansion (built 1840-41, Thomas U. Walter, architect), northeast corner Broad and Walnut streets.
    Albumen print by Frederick Gutekunst, ca. 1875.
    Library Company of Philadelphia.
Parlor of Dundas-Lippincott mansion
  • A6b. Dundas-Lippincott mansion, view from the northwest, showing grounds.
    Albumen print by Frederick Gutekunst, ca. 1875.
    Library Company of Philadelphia.
Dundas-Lippincott mansion, view from the northwest, showing grounds
  • A6c. Front Elevation, Jas. Dundas Mansion, northeast corner Broad and Walnut streets (built 1840-41, Thomas U. Walter, architect).
    Ink and watercolor on paper by Joseph C. Koecker, 1841.
    Art Department, Free Library of Philadelphia.
Front Elevation, Jas. Dundas Mansion
  • A6d. Dundas-Lippincott mansion, ground-floor plan.
    Ink and watercolor on paper.
    Athenaeum of Philadelphia (WTU*022*001).
Dundas-Lippincott Mansion, ground-floor plan
  • A7. Hartman Kuhn residence, 1118 Chestnut St., First Union League Club House, Feb. 1863 to May, 1865.
    Watercolor by Frank H. Taylor, ca. 1910-20.
    Bryn Mawr College, gift of Joseph M. Fox, 1975.
Hartman Kuhn residence
  • A8. Southwest corner Thirteenth and Locust Street, General Patterson's Mansion (built 1832-36 for John Hare Powel, William Strickland, architect).
    Watercolor by Benjamin R. Evans, Oct. 1882.
    Library Company of Philadelphia.

    For a slightly later view of the building adapted for use as the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, see item D5.
General Patterson's Mansion
  • A9. Antebellum mansions, 1107-11 Walnut Street.
    Photograph, 18 April 1913.
    Philadelphia City Archives (1708/ #6981).

    The upper facade of the mansion on the left is still visible today.
Antebellum mansions, 1107-11 Walnut
  • A10. South East corner of 12th & Chestnut.
    Watercolor by David J. Kennedy, ca. 1867.
    Historical Society of Pennsylvania (K 1-50).

    A view taken just before the construction on this site of a marble-clad building for S. S. White, a manufacturer of dental supplies (erected 1867-68 to designs by Sloan & Hutton, architects). This is one of the few structures reorded in the 1879-80 panoramic directory views for this part of Chestnut Street (see item C13b) to be seen on the street today.
South East corner of 12th & Chestnut
  • A11. North west corner of Chestnut and 12th Streets, showing, at left, Boston Row (built 1830, John Haviland, architect).
    Watercolor by David J. Kennedy, 1839.
    Historical Society of Pennsylvania (K 1-64).
North west corner of Chestnut and 12th Streets
  • A12a. Mid-19th-century townhouses, 1301-09 Locust Street.
    Photograph, 14 December 1916.
    Philadelphia City Archives (903/ #3555-T).
Mid-19th-century townhouses, 1301-09 Locust Street
  • A12b. Fire insurance survey of dwelling, 1305 Locust Street for John McCrea, 16 November 1850 (photoreproduction).
    Historical Society of Pennsylvania, Franklin Fire Insurance Co. Records (policy 100: 12741).
Fire insurance survey of dwelling, 1305 Locust Street
  • A13. Row of houses, 1237-47 Lombard Street (built ca. 1829).
    Photograph, 2 March 1959.
    Philadelphia City Archives (922/ #37470).

    Similar in appearance to the elite rowhouses of Spruce and Walnut streets, these houses are narrower, and the fashionable lintels with inset circles are rendered here in wood rather than marble. For an earlier view of the corner house, see item C4a.
Row of houses, 1237-47 Lombard Street
  • A14. South east corner of Twelfth and Locust Streets.
    Watercolor by Benjamin R. Evans, 1883.
    Library Company of Philadelphia.
Southeast corner of Twelfth and Locust Streets
  • A15. Map of area, 1849.
    Detail from Map of the City of Philadelphia, Together with All the Surrounding Districts…, colored lithograph, after surveys by J.C. Sidney (Philadelphia: Smith & Wistar, 1849).
    Library Company of Philadelphia.

    A key to the map was printed along its left edge. Numbered items on this part of the map were identified as:

    57. Presbyterian Church
    49. Catholic Church
    24. First Independent Church
    64. Presbyterian Church
    28. St. Luke's Protestant Episcopal Church
    50. Baptist Church
    [6]9. Methodist Episcopal Church
    26. Presbyterian Church
    27. Protestant Episcopal Church

 Map of area, 1849
  • A16. Map of area, 1862.
    Photocomposite from Samuel E. Smedley, Smedley’s Atlas of the City of Philadelphia… (Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott & Co., 1862), section 4.
    Library Company of Philadelphia.
Map of area, ca. 1860

CASE

  • A17a. Fire insurance survey of dwelling, 1203 Spruce Street for Henry Cash, 26 May 1858.
    Historical Society of Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania Fire Insurance Co. Records (policy 13: 7236).
Fire insurance survey of dwelling, 1203 Spruce Street
  • A17b. Row of houses, 1203-13 Spruce Street (part of "Dugan's Row," 1201-17 Spruce Street, built ca. 1822-29).
    Photograph, January 2000.
    Library Company of Philadelphia.
Row of houses, 1203-13 Spruce Street
  • A18a. Row of houses, 1104-14 Spruce Street (part of "Linden Place," 1100-14 Spruce Street, built ca. 1832-38, Thomas U. Walter, architect).
    Photograph, January 2000.
    Library Company of Philadelphia.

    For an earlier view of these houses, see item D6.
Row of houses, 1104-14 Spruce Street
  • A18b. Fire insurance survey of dwelling, 1102 Spruce Street, for Morgan Ash, 25 June 1833.
    Historical Society of Pennsylvania, Franklin Fire Insurance Co. Records (policy 0: 682).
Fire insurance survey of dwelling, 1102 Spruce Street
  • A19. Plans, sections, and elevations for an unidentified city house, ca. 1810-30.
    Pencil, ink, and watercolor on paper.
    Historical Society of Pennsylvania (Bb 615 R727a [Am 8898]).
Plans, sections, and elevations for an unidentified city house, ca. 1810-30 Plans, sections, and elevations for an unidentified city house, ca. 1810-30
  • A20a. Row of houses, 1110-18 Pine Street.
    Photograph, January 2000.
    Library Company of Philadelphia.
Row of houses, 1110-18 Pine Street
  • A20b. Fire insurance survey of row of ten dwellings, 1100-18 Pine Street, for Israel Van Horn, 8 July 1850 (photoreproduction).
    Historical Society of Pennsylvania, Franklin Fire Insurance Co. Records (policy 93: 11936).
Fire insurance survey of row of ten dwellings, 1100-18 Pine Street
  • A21a. 1302-14 Drury Street.
    Photograph, January 2000.
    Library Company of Philadelphia.
1302-14 Drury Street
  • A21b. Fire insurance survey of two dwellings south side Diamond Street, west of 13th [1300 block Drury Street, south side], for Thomas Kelly, 5 November 1831 (photoreproduction).
    Historical Society of Pennsylvania, Franklin Fire Insurance Co. Records (policy 0: 389).
Fire insurance survey of two dwellings south side Diamond Street, west of 13th
  • A22a. 251-53 South Quince Street.
    Photograph, January 2000.
    Library Company of Philadelphia.
251-53 South Quince Street
  • A22b. Fire insurance survey of four dwellings, 251-53 South Quince Street and 234-36 Prosperous Alley [South Jessup Street], for James Gray, 5 November 1866 (photoreproduction).
    Historical Society of Pennsylvania, Franklin Fire Insurance Co. Records (policy 239: 34312).
Fire insurance survey of four dwellings, 251-53 S. Quince Street and 234-36 Prosperous Alley
  • A23. Fire insurance survey of five dwellings, northwest corner 12th and Cedar streets [1201-11 South Street], for Griffith Evans, 26 April 1836.
    Historical Society of Pennsylvania, Franklin Fire Insurance Co. Records (policy 0: 1514).
Fire insurance survey of five dwellings, northwest corner 12th and Cedar streets
  • A24a. 1134 Waverly Street
    Photograph, January 2000.
    Library Company of Philadelphia.

    This array of smaller houses was built at the rear of MacBride's townhouse facing Lombard Street (item A25a).
1134 Waverly Street
  • A24b. Fire insurance survey of four dwellings and stable, 1134 Waverly Street, for Andrew MacBride, 6 November 1832 (photoreproduction).
    Historical Society of Pennsylvania, Franklin Fire Insurance Co. Records (policy 0: 608).
Fire insurance survey of four dwellings and stable, 1134 Waverly Street
  • A25a. 1133 Lombard Street
    Photograph, February 2000.
    Library Company of Philadelphia.
1133 Lombard Street
  • A25b. Fire insurance survey of dwelling, Lombard Street, fourth house east of 12th Street [1133 Lombard Street], for Andrew MacBride, 21 August 1833.
    Historical Society of Pennsylvania, Franklin Fire Insurance Co. Records (policy 0: 826).
Fire insurance survey of dwelling, Lombard Street, fourth house east of 12th Street
  • A26a. Fire insurance survey of dwelling, "west side of Truxton Street, in the rear of house no. 23 Perry Street" [318 South Fawn Street], for Charles Williams, 21 June 1834.
    Historical Society of Pennsylvania, Franklin Fire Insurance Co. Records (policy 0: 979).
Fire insurance survey of dwelling,
  • A26b. 318 South Fawn Street
    Photograph, January 2000.
    Library Company of Philadelphia.

    The house's exterior today accords almost precisely with its form as described more than a century and a half earlier.
318 South Fawn Street
Introduction | From Edge to Center: Movin' West | Communities | Commerce |Enclave
Persistence and Ambition in the Twentieth Century | The Cassatt House | Prospects

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