early Italian, with high Campanile; medieval exterior and interior give
an exact idea of old Italian churches; brick; architects, Bailey and
Bassett; the choir is raised eight steps from the nave, giving view of
the crypt, and dignified elevation of the high altar; over the altar is
a copy of Correggio’s “Marriage of St. Catharine”; fine jeweled door of
the Pyx on the altar; Lady chapel has an altar of richly carved and
gilded wood, finished with a high reredos, copy of an original in Santo
Spirito, Florence; paintings set in are copies of works by Fra Filipo
Lippi. CHURCH OF THE EVANGELIST, now part of Graphic Sketch Club,
Catharine Street above Seventh, brick, is a gem of medievalism; Italian
Basilican style; red brick, relieved by stone trimmings; pillars of
portico rest on backs of lions; architects, Furness & Evans; frescoes by
Nicolo d’Ascenzo and by Robert Henri; original compositions and
adaptations of great paintings in Italy; font, late English Gothic, with
a richly carved stone; above it is the Strasbourg window, containing a
figure of the prophet, Jonas; this piece of glass, before the
Franco-Prussian War, was in the Cathedral of Strasbourg, and was taken
from one of the windows after the Germans had directed their fire on the
church and smashed the glass: paving of the Chapel of the Holy Sepulchre
is of Mercer tiles; Rood screen of polished marble, is modeled after
that at St. Marco, Venice; Altar rail modeled after that in a chapel at
Monreale, Sicily; the reredos, of the high altar, is a copy of a famous
altar-piece by Carlo Crivelli; original now in the National Gallery,
London. GLORIA DEI (Old Swedes’), on land given by Swan Swanson, corner
of Front and Swanson Streets, near Christian Street; formerly Wecacoa
(Indian name for pleasant place); was dedicated in 1700. Georgian
architecture, with steep pitched roof; brick work of walls, Flemish
bond, headers coated with vitreous, blue black glaze, doubtless the arch
bricks in the kiln; great square windows. Erected by the Swedish
Lutherans; after the Revolution, care of the Swedish churches was
committed to the American Church, and became part of the Diocese of
Pennsylvania. This congregation first worshiped in a block house, used
also as a fortress from 1677; the font used then is still in the present
church. HOLY TRINITY, Nineteenth and Walnut Streets; Norman Romanesque;
architect, John Notman; has fine memorial windows. ST. JAMES,
Twenty-second and Walnut Streets, founded, 1807; present building,
English decorated Gothic with sculptured band around the tower, from
which rises the graceful memorial spire; Ohio green sandstone and
granite, built, 1870; architect, G. W. Hewitt: pulpit; altar; reredos of
fine perpendicular work in Caen stone, rich in ornamentation and
sculpture, which also extends around the chancel, with two marble
pilasters having delicately carved capitals; all designed by Cram,
Goodhue and Ferguson; mosaics of the twelve apostles, in the walls of
the nave, suggest those of the Popes in the Church of St. Paul, outside
the walls, in Rome; leaded glass by Nicolo d’Ascenzo; font has a
bas-relief in white marble, angel scattering flowers, made in Florence,
Italy. ST. JAMES THE LESS, near main entrance to Laurel Hill Cemetery;
thirteenth century Gothic; brownstone; once said to be the choicest
specimen of church architecture in the United States. ST. JOHN
CHRYSOSTOM, corner Twenty-eighth Street and Susquehanna Avenue, almost
an exact copy of St. Stephen’s Church, London, designed by Sir
Christopher Wren; Renaissance, granite; architects, Bailey & Bassett;
adapted to a square lot, the interior shows form of Greek cross, with
inner octagon; rosettes and decorations of the dome are graceful and
beautiful; columns, placed on rather high pedestals, are Vermont marble,
with very beautiful veining, surmounted by Corinthian capitals: the
church is almost entirely white, with no stained glass, and gives an
impression of complete harmony. ST. MARK’S, Locust Street above
Sixteenth, built, 1849; fine specimen of fourteenth century, decorated
Gothic, brownstone; plans furnished by the Ecclesiological Society of
Cambridge, England; modified by John Notman; altar and reredos are
richly carved stone; also the pulpit and choir screen; notable features
are the rood beam, with cross and figures; carved sanctuary door; choir
and clergy stalls; the altar at head of north aisle is alabaster. Lady
chapel, erected, 1900, contains a silver altar of elaborate
magnificence, probably finest in the world, of the same style as the one
at Florence, Italy, by Pallajnoli, but richer, containing twelve scenes
from the life of the Virgin, and studded with precious stones, some four
hundred emeralds, sapphires, and opals, a monumental work, which will
remain a very splendid presentation of twentieth century English
ecclesiastical art; altar rail is silver and bronze; stained glass
windows in the church are notable; the sacred vessels and vestments
surpass any in the Anglican Communion, in their extraordinary richness;
silver processional cross is supposed to be that of the Palermo
Cathedral, in 1520; among old vestments are the coronation robes of
Louis XV from Rheims Cathedral, of light blue velvet, heavily
embroidered with twenty-two karat gold bullion. The first curate was the
Rev. Morgan Dix, ordained priest in this church, who became the famous
rector of Trinity Church, New York. ST. MARY’S, 3916 Locust Street, on
ground given by William Hamilton, of Woodlands; first Protestant
Episcopal Church in West Philadelphia, organized, 1820; frame church
erected, 1824; Bishop White laid the corner-stone; present building,
Gothic, consecrated, 1890. Memorial Gothic altar, retable, and reredos
are from famous studios in Rome, Italy, said to be the finest example of
ecclesiastical mosaic work in this country: windows are from London,
Paris, Munich, and Philadelphia. Rev. Thomas C. Yarnall celebrated his
fiftieth anniversary as rector of St. Mary’s in 1894. ST. PAUL’S, east
side of Third Street, below Walnut; classic; erected, 1761; third
Protestant Episcopal Church in Philadelphia and largest in the province;
now headquarters of the City Mission. The General Convention met here in
1814, when Bishop Moore of Virginia was consecrated; Bishop Hobart
preached the sermon. St. Paul’s Club, 411 Spruce Street, makes a
specialty of giving aid to the down and out drunkard, sobering him up,
fitting him for a job, and getting him one; in the five years of its
existence to 1917, it has registered 45,000 transient visitors and
temporary guests on its books. ST. PETER’S, corner of Third and Pine
Streets, second church erected in Philadelphia, fine example of Georgian
architecture, in beauty of line; brick; built, 1761; tower and spire,
218 feet high, were added, 1842; stone finials of gateposts were cut in
England; present wall erected in 1784, after the old wooden fence had
been taken for fuel by the British. Interior still retains the
high-backed box pews, President Washington’s among them, pew 41; the
pulpit, surmounting the clerk’s desk, soars upward at the far end,
opposite the altar; Provost William Smith preached the consecration
sermon; very beautiful stained glass by Myeres, London; remarkable for
richness of color and design; many interesting relics in the church’s
history are in the sacristy. CHURCH OF THE SAVIOUR, Thirty-eighth Street
above Chestnut, architect, C. M. Burns, has a splendidly impressive
chancel; decoration by Edwin Howland Blashfield and furnishings are
memorial to Anthony J. Drexel. Memorial window by William and Annie Lee
Willet, “Christ and Nicodemus,” has strong decorative quality and
richness of color. SOUTH MEMORIAL, CHURCH OF THE ADVOCATE, Eighteenth
and Diamond Streets, French Gothic, suggested by Amiens Cathedral;
built, 1897; stone; architect, Charles M. Burns; interior profusely
adorned with carving, and sixty-five stained glass windows by Clayton
and Bell, London. ST. STEPHEN’S, Tenth Street above Chestnut; founded,
1823; early Gothic, with two octagonal towers; stone; designed by
William Strickland; contains notable sculpture; the Burd Memorial,
“Angel of the Resurrection,” finest Italian marble, by Carl Steinhauser,
native of Bremen, who studied in Rome under Thorwaldsen; and recumbent
effigy of Colonel Burd; also font by Steinhauser, represents three
cherubs supporting on their wings a large marble bowl, with sculpture in
relief; the church, decorated by Frank Furness, with color, rich and
unusual, sets off admirably the beauty of the memorial marbles; the
stately reredos, with its brilliant Venetian mosaic picture, “The Last
Supper,” was made in 1889, by Salviati, Venice, from cartoons by Henry
Holiday, London, and under his own supervision; large double window in
transept also by Holiday; a Tiffany window is, “Christ Among the
Lilies,” the only flower He mentions in the Evangels, and accepted as
symbol of the resurrection; the window, showing the angel sitting on the
edge of the tomb with partly unfolded wings, is copy of a picture by
Axel Ender, over the altar of a church in Molde, Northern Norway; near
the reredos is “The Angel of Purity,” sculptor Augustus Saint Gaudens,
which suggests his “Amor, Caritas,” owned by the French Government, now
in the Luxembourg; here is also a bas-relief by Charles Grafley of Dr.
David D. Wood, organist of St. Stephen’s for forty-six years; the great
organ was built by C. T. Haskell, Philadelphia, in consultation with Dr.
Wood; pipes were voiced in the church, resulting in a sweetness and just
proportion of tone; its echo organ, located about two hundred feet away,
is in the loft over the chancel. Parish house is on site of the old
graveyard, tombstones are in pavement of cloister; architect, George C.
Mason, Jr. TRINITY, Oxford, Oxford Road and Second Street Pike;
colonial; founded, 1698. Present brick church erected 1711-12; the
transepts and tower later; was the first house of worship in
Pennsylvania, owned and occupied by the Quakers, and presented by them
to the Church of England, for Episcopal use and worship. Chalice and
paten sent by Queen Anne, engraved “Anne Regina,” 1713; she died in
1714, it is probably the last one she sent to America, and has been used
in every Holy Communion for over two centuries. Tiffany altar window,
“The Baptism of Christ.” The altar, of walnut and oak, is beautifully
carved. This is the mother of many flourishing missions, St. Luke’s,
Germantown; Our Saviour, Jenkintown; St. Mark’s, Frankford; Emmanuel,
Holmesburg; Holy Trinity, Rockledge; and Trinity Chapel, Crescentville;
today it stands, vigorous and full of life, in its old age, greatly
enlarged and carefully restored; the utmost care has been taken to
disturb none of the old walls, and to keep the historic features intact;
the glass, in the body of the church, is an opaque yellow, harmonizing
with the colonial buff of the walls and barrel ceiling. The churchyard
is of great interest, one stone, dated, 1686, is said to mark the grave
of an Indian.
=The Reformed Church in the United States=, which brought its beautiful
and significant emblem, “The lily among thorns,” from the fatherland, is
derived from the Reformed Churches of Switzerland and Germany; these
churches are largely to be found in the counties east of the Susquehanna
River. William Penn’s mother, Margaret Jasper, was reared in this faith;
noted members who came here were Michael Schlatter, in 1746, from St.
Gall, Switzerland; sent to establish an ecclesiastical organization; he
was practically the first superintendent of public instruction in
Pennsylvania; died, 1790, and was buried in the Reformed graveyard in
Philadelphia, now Franklin Square; Colonel Henry Bouquet, from
Switzerland, proved the saviour of the early settlers in Pontiac’s war
and obtained the restoration of all captives to their homes; three
hundred and seventy were brought back; and Baron von Steuben, who had
served on the staff of Frederick the Great at the siege of Prague,
drilled our men into efficiency to cope with the British regulars; later
he commanded at the Siege of Yorktown, which he pressed so vigorously
that Cornwallis was obliged to surrender. Zion Reformed Church at
Allentown sheltered our Liberty Bell and the Christ Church bells during
the Revolution; among their thirty churches in Philadelphia and
vicinity, of Gothic architecture, stone, are the FIRST CHURCH, Fiftieth
and Locust Streets; oldest of this denomination in Philadelphia; moved
from Tenth and Wallace Streets; PALATINATE, Fifty-sixth Street and
Girard Avenue; ST. JOHN’S, Fortieth and Spring Garden Streets; and
TRINITY, northeast corner of Broad and Venango Streets. There are also
five churches of the Dutch Reformed.
=Roman Catholic.= The churches of this denomination are all notable for
good architecture, interior sumptuous, ecclesiastical decoration.
CATHEDRAL OF SS. PETER AND PAUL, finely situated on Logan Square and the
Parkway; Classic Renaissance, brownstone; built 1846-64; architect,
Napoleon LeBrun; “The Crucifixion,” back of the high altar, genuine
fresco painting, is by Constantine Brumidi, who, about the same time,
executed important decorations, in the same medium, in the dome of the
Capitol at Washington; on entering the church, in chapels on both sides
of the door, are mural decorations by Henry J. Thouron, said, by high
authority, to be the best mural paintings in the United States; the
first was placed in 1911 as a fitting background for a statue of the
Virgin and Child by Louis Madrazzi, which Mr. Thouron brought from Paris
as a gift to the Cathedral; in the north transept is a painting, “The
Dead Christ,” attributed to Titian; a work of art of exceptional merit
is a large ivory crucifix, the master work of Carlo Pazenti, an
Augustinian lay brother, about 1840; acquired for the church, with much
difficulty, by the venerable John N. Neumann, fourth Bishop of
Philadelphia; when, during the Civil War, the Sanitary Fair was being
held in Logan Square, Archbishop Wood, then Bishop Wood, exhibited this
beautiful work daily, for the benefit of the great cause; it was
returned each evening to its place in the Cathedral. ST. JOHN THE
EVANGELIST, Thirteenth Street above Chestnut, for a short time the
cathedral; early English, Gothic; interior, perpendicular Gothic;
cornerstone laid by Bishop Kenrick, third Bishop of Philadelphia; church
opened April 8, 1832: a flagellation of Christ, much darkened, by
Garacci, was presented to the church by Joseph Bonaparte soon after its
completion: Mozart’s “Requiem Mass” was rendered, for the first time in
America, at St. John’s Church, and the music there today, is said to be
the best church music in Philadelphia. ST. PATRICK’S, Twentieth Street
below Locust, originated in a frame church in 1839, on east side of
Nineteenth Street near Spruce; the seventy-fifth anniversary was
celebrated in 1916, was attended by many notable dignitaries of the
church. Windows by d’Ascenzo. ST. FRANCIS DE SALES, Forty-seventh Street
and Springfield Avenue, Romanesque, with Byzantine details; built,
1907-10; architect, Henry D. Dagit, Philadelphia; the leaded glass is
particularly beautiful; windows are of the antique school and extremely
rich in color, including four rose windows, designed and made by Nicolo
d’Ascenzo, Philadelphia. Four old historic churches rather near
together, ST. JOSEPH’S, on Willing’s Alley, south of Walnut, below
Fourth Street; built on site of first Roman Catholic Church in
Pennsylvania, established by a member of the “Society of Jesus” from
Maryland, in 1731; ST. MARY’S, Fourth Street, above Spruce; ST.
AUGUSTINE’S, Fourth Street, above Race; and HOLY TRINITY, northwest
corner of Sixth and Spruce Streets, had their origin in the eighteenth
century, the first two long before the Revolution. St. Augustine’s is on
site of a building erected in 1801, by the hermits of the Order of St.
Augustine; it had William Rush’s wooden sculpture “The Crucifixion,” but
this was burned in 1847. Holy Trinity, German, is of somewhat earlier
date; the wayfarer who now looks in on any of them may readily picture
them as they were over one hundred years ago. In St. Mary’s Church is a
very fine pieta by Boucher, a modern French sculptor.
=Swedenborgian=, or The New Church, grew out of the teachings of Emmanuel
Swedenborg, scholar, traveler, scientist, and religious writer, born in
Stockholm, Sweden, in 1688. A school of the New Church was started in
Philadelphia in 1854. FIRST “NEW JERUSALEM” CHURCH, Twenty-second and
Chestnut Streets, Gothic, brownstone, was built in 1884; architect,
Theophilus P. Chandler. Connected with it is a free library and reading
room.
=Unitarian.= FIRST CHURCH, Chestnut Street near Twenty-second, built,
1885; was organized, 1796, in a room of the University of Pennsylvania;
in 1797 Dr. Joseph Priestly delivered an address to this Society, and
enrolled himself among the members. William Henry Furness was ordained
pastor in 1825, in the church at the corner of Tenth and Locust Streets;
present church contains some interesting memorials, Dr. Furness, bust by
M. Launt Thompson, New York; circular window to Dr. Priestly by John
LaFarge; other windows are English; and some are by Tiffany, New York.
GIRARD AVENUE UNITARIAN, Girard Avenue above Fifteenth Street, organized
by the Rev. Charles G. Ames, in the late seventies; Gothic, granite.
GERMANTOWN UNITARIAN, corner of Chelten Avenue and Greene Street, built,
1866; Gothic; architect, Frank Furness; has good stained glass windows,
made by Heaton, Butler and Bayne, London. Rev. Samuel Longfellow,
brother of the poet, was pastor for some years; also the Rev. Charles G.
Ames.
FAIRMOUNT PARK
On east and west banks of the Schuylkill River, and Wissahickon Creek;
second largest municipal park in the world, 3597 acres; its only
superior in acreage being Blue Hills Park, Boston, with 4906 acres. The
ravines, “unkempt and wild,” all have springs of clear, cold water. Main
entrance at Green Street is also approach to the proposed PHILADELPHIA
MUSEUM OF ART, on a raised terrace, like a Greek Temple, facing the
Parkway; Horace Trumbauer, C. C. Zantzinger, and Charles L. Borie, Jr.,
architects; part of the plan for development of Philadelphia within a
radius of thirty miles: here also is the “Washington Monument,”
sculptor, Professor Siemering of Berlin, erected by the “Society of the
Cincinnati.” Continue drive, to the Schuylkill River, proposed Ericsson
Memorial, Paul B. Cret, architect, was commissioned to prepare a design
for development of the entire basin, from boat houses to Spring Garden
Street, including the AQUARIUM, formed, 1911, using the classic marble
buildings of the old waterworks; it is said to be the best equipped in
the world; walls of exhibition tanks are covered with calcareous tufa,
rock shell formation from the Ohio River Valley, full of holes, in which
deep water vegetation is planted to suggest sea bottom; Arctic and
tropical life have their own temperatures; also hatching rooms. This
tract and Rocky Hill, of the old waterworks, five acres, between Green
and Callowhill Streets, was named by William Penn, FAIR MOUNT; it was
used as the terminal pillar of the British redoubts, stretching across
the city from the Schuylkill to the Delaware, in 1777-78. Acquired by
the city in 1812 as site for the city waterworks, moved from Centre
Square, for park purposes. This was the beginning of Fairmount Park; to
beautify the grounds, walks were laid out up to the reservoir, and the
rock decorated with sculpture, chiefly woodcarving, by William Rush,
including the groups, “The Schuylkill in an Improved State,” and “The
Schuylkill in Chains,” which are still over the entrances to the wheel
houses; “Justice” and “Wisdom,” full-length statues, carved for
decoration of the triumphal arch in front of the State House at
Lafayette’s reception in 1824, are now in the hatching room; and “Leda
and the Swan,” modeled in 1812 from Miss Vanuxen, a Philadelphia belle,
a bronze reproduction is here now. Boat houses are of decorative
construction. THE SCHUYLKILL NAVY, said to be the most complete
association devoted to rowing in the world, is the center for test
trials of skill and endurance, of national interest; it is known as the
American Henley; the course above Columbia Avenue bridge is ideal for
oarsmen, and the banks rise like seats of an auditorium. On the main
drive from the Aquarium are the LINCOLN MONUMENT, bronze, sculptor,
Randolph Rogers, made in Rome, cast in Munich; Iron Spring, and a bronze
group, “Lioness Carrying to Her Young a Wild Boar,” sculptor, August
Cain; near Brown Street entrance is bronze group, “Silenus and the
Infant Bacchus”; original in the Louvre, credited to Praxiteles; and the
bronze group, “The Wrestlers,” from original antique in the Royal
Gallery, Florence; both reproduced by Barbedienne, Paris.
LEMON HILL MANSION, built by Henry Pratt about 1800, near site of
favorite home of Robert Morris. “The Hills,” planned by Major L’Enfant,
built, 1773; the property was bought by the city in 1844, and dedicated,
in 1855, as a Public Park. Northwest on main drive is GRANT’S CABIN,
headquarters of General U. S. Grant in siege of Richmond, 1864-65,
brought to the Park from City Point, Virginia, at close of Civil War;
opposite is SEDGELEY GUARD HOUSE, formerly the porter’s lodge of the
Sedgeley Park Estate, site of a Gothic mansion, built, 1800, by William
Crammond; acquired for the Park by public-spirited citizens; on same
drive, near east end of Girard Avenue bridge, is the replica bronze
equestrian statue of “JEANNE D’ARC,” sculptor, Fremiet, Paris; among the
best examples of modern French equestrian sculpture. The original is in
“La Place des Pyramids,” Paris.
RIVER DRIVE near boat houses, “Tam O’Shanter,” four figures, red
sandstone, sculptor, Thom; from the last boat house, or the Beacon
Light, to Girard Avenue bridge will be the ELLEN PHILLIPS SAMUEL
MEMORIAL, for which she left $500,000 in 1913; Fairmount Park Art
Association, legatee; “On top of stone bulkhead I will have erected, 100
feet apart, on high granite pedestals, uniform in size and style, the
History of America, symbolized in a system of statuary”; model made by
Edgar V. Seeler. Near are the heroic bronze bust of James A. Garfield,
with allegorical figure, sculptor, Augustus Saint Gaudens; the colossal
bronze equestrian group, “Lion Fighter,” on natural jutting rock,
sculptor, Professor Albert Wolff, cast, 1893; and scattered along, five
bronzed iron fountains, replicas of those at Rond Point, Champs Elysees,
cast in Paris at foundry of Val D’Osne.
North of tunnel, above Girard Avenue bridge, on River Drive, bronze
equestrian statue, “Cowboy,” sculptor, Frederick Remington; a band of
cowboys and Indians participated in the unveiling; River and Fountain
Green Drive, heroic bronze equestrian statue, “General U. S. Grant”;
sculptors, Daniel Chester French for Grant, Edward C. Potter for horse,
modeled from the nineteen-year-old gelding, “General Grant,” sired by
an Arabian stallion (Leopold), presented to the General in 1878 by the
Sultan of Turkey; cast by Bureau Bros., Philadelphia, mounted on
Jonesboro granite pedestal, designed by Frank Miles Day and Brother.
Columbia Avenue entrance, fountain of “Orestes and Pylades,” bronze
group, on Richmond granite pedestal, with bronze masks; sculptor, Carl
Steinhauser, Calsruhe, Germany; cast in Philadelphia; near is the
Children’s Playground building, erected by Richard and Sarah Smith in
1898; and a park mansion, MT. PLEASANT, land bought from Phineas Bond by
John MacPherson, who built the house in 1761, after style of a house in
Scotland owned by the chief of his clan, the MacPhersons of Clunie; in
1779, purchased by Benedict Arnold; on his conviction for treason, it
was confiscated by the state; in 1781-82 Baron von Steuben occupied it,
and here wrote the army regulations which created the American Army; in
1868 it became property of the city, and was added to Fairmount Park.
ROCKLAND comes next, on west side of Dairy Ball Field, occupied 1750-65
by John Lawrence, a notable mayor of Philadelphia; near Rockland is
ORMISTON, colonial, owned by Edward Burd, prothonotary, Supreme Court of
Pennsylvania, named for Scotch home of Mrs. Burd, daughter of Lord
Haliburton of Ormiston, who founded the Burd Orphan Asylum; near Dauphin
Street entrance, Grand Fountain, bronze and iron, and park trolley
station.