in 1693; house built, 1742, by William Coleman, an original member of
the Junto Club; friend of Franklin and Judge of the Supreme Court of
Pennsylvania, colonial, brick; original oak floor is still in fine state
of preservation; boards doweled together; laths are hand-cut, and
handwork on cornices and wainscoting most beautiful; fireplace and
mantel in main room are worthy of attention, although now marred by
paint; later it became the home of the Franks family; EDGELEY ball
field, site of residence built by Philip Syng Physick, 1828-36,
Professor of Surgery at University of Pennsylvania and first American to
be elected member of the Royal Academy of France; the RANDOLPH MANSION
is west of Edgeley; interesting colonial house with beautiful handwork
in cornices.
STRAWBERRY MANSION, near Dauphin Street entrance; residence of William
Lewis; then called Summerville, now used as a restaurant; name was given
when added to the park; fine colonial architecture; main hall shows
still how beautiful it must have been, with exquisite handwork on
cornices, wainscoting, and niches in the hall ornamented with hand
tracery.
Along the river drive we pass other country seats known as Harleigh,
Fairy Hill, and the Laurels, now South, Central, and North Laurel Hill.
Near the Falls on east side of Ridge Road, stood the home of Governor
Thomas Mifflin, the fighting Quaker; from the Falls bridge a fine view
is obtained of the Schuylkill Navy’s race course.
Farther up is the WISSAHICKON Creek, Wisamickan (Catfish Creek), or
Wisaucksickan (yellow colored stream); we enter the deep recesses of
this ravine, where the waters empty into the Schuylkill River;
tradition says that on the northwest bank stood a flour mill; in
Revolutionary times the owner ground glass or plaster, with the wheat,
for the patriot army, for this crime some of Washington’s soldiers
hanged him on a tree in front of his mill; here General Armstrong’s
corps attacked the Hessian and British soldiers, October 4, 1777, while
the Battle of Germantown was in progress: up the Wissahickon drive is
Maple Spring Hotel, decorated by grotesque figures of animals and birds,
carved out of native laurel; beyond this, across the stream, are abrupt
bluffs, from one, the most prominent, called Lover’s Leap, tradition
says, a young Indian and the girl whom he loved, being forbidden to
marry, plunged into the waters below and were drowned; a steep grade
leads to the six-mile stone; here Paper Mill Run empties into the
Wissahickon, and here Nicholas Rittenhouse had his grist mill; just
beyond, close beside an old bridge, is a quaint old house, inside is a
stone tablet marked “C. W. R. 1707,” here DAVID RITTENHOUSE, the famous
astronomer, was born; on Paper Mill Run, the first paper mill in this
country was erected, about 1690, by William Rittenhouse: a portion of
this land near Tulpehocken Street, within park limits, once belonged to
the Queen of Spain; farther is the Blue Stone Bridge, and just beyond is
Lotus Inn.
Northward, the east shore becomes more steep, to Mom Rinker’s Rock, she
is said to have been a witch; upon the height stands a statue of WILLIAM
PENN, with the single word “Toleration” cut on the pedestal; the statue
and land were given to the city, for park purposes, by Hon. John Welsh,
ex-minister to England.
One quarter mile farther is Kitchen Lane, and the HERMIT’S WELL, dug by
Johannes Kelpius, scholar and mystic, who came from Germany with his
followers, forty men, the number of perfection, in 1694, “to the new
world, to see the dawn of the millennium; the pathway to the Light
Illumitable, in the glory of religious liberty in Pennsylvania”; they
were followers of the Essenes who lived in the solitudes of the Dead
Sea, of which St. John the Baptist is said to have been a member; the
Ridge and Valley of the Wissahickon gave them a temple of sacred
grandeur; places there are now known as Hermit’s Land, and Hermit’s
Glen; the piety and humility of Kelpius made him renowned; John Rogers
of Connecticut and leaders of other colonies came long distances to
consult this great Magister, he lived wholly to the service of God and
his fellow men; the Baptistry, a place in the creek, is shown where the
monks immersed their converts; after Kelpius’ death, about 1710, his
followers built the monastery, replaced in 1752 by a stone house, built
by Joseph Gorgas, also called the monastery; ruins still there: the
bones of these faithful men are interred under the floor, in the chancel
of St. Michael’s Protestant Episcopal Church, High Street, Germantown;
also some of their original headstones are there: their books were
given, in 1728, to Christ Church, Philadelphia, where they may still be
seen: the cult is now found about Ephrata, among the Seventh Day
Baptists.
Beyond the monastery, near Livezey’s Lane, are caves, said to have been
the abode of hermits. Half a mile farther is Livezey’s mansion, built,
1698, said to have been neutral ground where British and American
officers met during 1777-78; now headquarters of the Valley Green Canoe
Club; above is Cresheim Creek, a small tributary flowing into the
Wissahickon Creek, among great masses of huge rocks, under tall pines,
making a dark pool, called the Devil’s Pool; said to be bottomless;
scene of an engagement during the Battle of Germantown. Just beyond is
Valley Green, a quaint old wayside inn; here is a stone bridge with
strong buttresses and single arch; the reflection makes a clear oval;
farther is the first drinking fountain erected in Philadelphia, “Pro
Bono Publico,” placed in 1854; white marble; half a mile beyond, at east
end of Rex Avenue Bridge, is Indian Rock, summit crowned by heroic
statue of Tedyuscung, last of Indian chiefs to leave the shores of the
Delaware. Northwest the ravine is deep and the hills steep, winding
toward Chestnut Hill. It is proposed by the city to extend Fairmount
Park, on both sides of the Wissahickon, to Fort Washington, and include
Militia Hill at Whitemarsh, famous in the Revolution, making the Park
one thousand acres larger.
WEST PARK, west end of Girard Avenue Bridge, ZOÖLOGICAL GARDENS, open
daily, including Sundays; in front, bronze group, “The Dying Lioness”;
sculptor, Professor Wilhelm Wolff, Berlin, cast in Munich. The inclosure
embraces SOLITUDE, a mansion built in 1785 by John Penn, the poet,
grandson of the founder and cousin of John Penn of Lansdowne; was last
property owned in America by the Penn family; notable decorations are in
the ground floor room; ceiling, fine example of French stucco, Louis XV
period. The Zoölogical Gardens were incorporated in 1859; oldest
incorporated body of its kind in America; on an area of forty-one acres
arranged by H. Schwarzmann in 1873, opened, 1874, with large and
attractive buildings, in which representative species of living animals
are shown; it is a private organization; the Pathological Laboratory has
for its objects, assistance in the hygienic control of the Garden;
collection of statistics upon diseases of wild animals; and research:
many species of water, and other birds, are on the large lake, and
inclosures scattered through the Garden.
Opposite, on Girard Avenue, is WILLIAM PENN’S HOUSE, originally in
Letitia Street, near Second and Market; first brick house in
Philadelphia, built, 1683, removed in 1883; LANDSDOWNE ENTRANCE to the
Park, under two spacious elliptical arches of the Pennsylvania Railroad
viaduct, carrying the railroad across Girard Avenue, is a dignified and
handsome structure. Near is bronze group, “Hudson Bay Wolves,” sculptor,
Edward Kemeys, cast in Philadelphia.
In 1732, “The State in Schuylkill,” a fishing club, first social club in
Philadelphia, leased an acre of land near here, and built a hut; annual
rental, three sun perch, presented on a pewter plate; they were here for
ninety years; now in New Jersey; the members espoused the Revolutionary
cause, and in 1774 formed a Company, called “The Light Horse,”
afterwards, in 1778, became the First City Troop.
On Lansdowne Drive is SWEET BRIER MANSION, built by Samuel Breck about
1810; colonial, in the hall is an interesting wrought iron grill; in
front is bronze Indian group, THE STONE AGE, sculptor, John J. Boyle;
cast in France. THE SMITH MEMORIAL GATE, to Pennsylvania men
distinguished in the Civil War, is at entrance to the Esplanade;
architects, James and John T. Windrim, erected, with statuary,
1897-1912; sculpture all colossal; equestrian, Major General Hancock,
sculptor, J. Q. A. Ward; and Major General McClellan, sculptor, Edward
C. Potter; statues, Major General Meade, sculptor, Daniel Chester
French; Major General Reynolds, sculptor, Charles Grafly; Richard Smith,
sculptor, Herbert Adams; busts, Admiral Porter, sculptor, Charles
Grafly; Major General Hartranft, sculptor, A. Stirling Calder; Admiral
Dahlgren, sculptor, George E. Bissel; James H. Windrim, sculptor, Samuel
Murray; Major General S. W. Crawford, sculptor, Bessie O. Potter Vonnoh;
Governor Curtin, sculptor, Moses Ezekiel; General James A. Beaver,
sculptor, Katharine M. Cohen; John B. Gest, sculptor, Charles Grafly;
two eagles and globes, sculptor, J. Massey Rhind.
The JOHN WELSH MEMORIAL, President of the CENTENNIAL EXPOSITON, formal
Garden, with fountain, on site of Centennial main building, Parkside
Avenue approach to Memorial Hall; “Florentine Lions,” cast by Harrison,
Winans and Eastwick at Alexandroffsky, Russia, in 1849, from pair at
entrance of Imperial Mechanical Works, originals at entrance to Loggia
di Lanzi, Florence; MEMORIAL HALL, front terrace, bronze, Spanish
cannon, Miltiades, date, 1743; bronze, Spanish cannon, Semiramis, date,
1737; bronze, Spanish mortar, date, 1731, from fortifications in Cuba;
carved decorations with Spanish royal arms of Philip and Elizabeth
Farnese; two bronze groups: “Winged Horses,” led by muses of epic and
lyric poetry, Calliope and Clio; sculptor, Pilz, made for Vienna Opera
House, Austria; Memorial Hall, German Renaissance; architect, Hermann J.
Schwarzmann; contains complete model of the arrangement of the
Centennial buildings, made to scale by John Baird; first International
Exposition held in America; when our national art was invigorated by
competition with masterpieces of other lands, and now challenges
comparison with the best: also Pompeian collection of paintings,
illustrative of Pompeian life; and bronze face and hands of Abraham
Lincoln; casts taken from first replicas, of original casts from life,
in 1860; sculptor, Leonard W. Volk, Chicago; for collections, see Art.
North of Memorial Hall is heroic bronze equestrian statue, MAJOR GENERAL
GEORGE GORDON MEADE, sculptor, Alexander Milne Calder.
HORTICULTURAL HALL, erected 1876, on site of LANSDOWNE MANSION, built by
Governor John Penn in 1773; stone; Italian; in 1816, leased by Joseph
Bonaparte for two years, accidentally destroyed by fire in 1854. In
1866, the land was acquired from Barney family for the park; Moorish
style, architect, Hermann J. Schwarzmann, also responsible for plan of
adjacent sunken garden: no other building for similar purposes in this
country can approach it, in dignity of design: contains marble statue
“Il Penseroso,” sculptor, Mosier, acquired, 1874. Notable plants housed
in this building are a gigantic specimen of _Attalea Cohiene_, bay oil
palm, from Central America, possibly most superb palm to be seen under
glass anywhere; _Phœnix Canariensis_ from the Canary Islands;
_Seaforthias_ from Australia; _Howeas_ from Lord Howe’s Island; Cocoa
palms; _Ceroxylon_, wax palms, towering sixty or seventy feet; giant
Rubber trees; _Araucarias_ from Australia; Bamboos from the Orient; and
lofty Tree Ferns from New Zealand unite to produce a wonderfully
impressive scene, not unlike a glorified tropical forest, emphasized by
training creepers up the lofty stems, growing ferns and orchids in
crotches of the limbs, and by the strange aerial roots which reach down
from these clinging plants to seek nourishment in the soil below, as in
the tropical jungle. The Cactus house is arranged to give something the
effect of arid regions, by planting in sterile soil; the Fern houses,
with superb collections of Tree Ferns, and smaller growing _Adiantums_,
_Nephrolepis_, _Acrostichums_, recall the effect of mountain ravines. A
special house is given to the Cycads or Sago palms, survivals of
vegetation of fossil beds, of which this collection is unique in this
country. Another tropical house contains the _Bromeliad_ or pineapple
family, collection unique in many respects.
In the gardens, most striking features are the rare trees, golden larch,
Pseudo-Larix; the Gordonias, _Franklinias_; oaks. East front has bronze
busts of SCHUBERT, granite pedestal with bronze bas-relief; “Music,”
sculptor, Henry Baerer, New York; HAYDEN, a trophy won by United Singers
of Philadelphia at the National Saengerfest; VERDI, on artistic
sandstone pedestal, with carved figure; “Religious Liberty,” marble,
sculptor, Moses Ezekiel; presented by the Hebrew Society B’nai B’rith. A
short walk east, near Columbia Avenue bridge, is said to be Tom Moore’s
cottage; the poet was a frequent guest both at Belmont and Ormiston,
with communication by boat.
THE SUNKEN GARDEN, west, rearranged to conform to Moorish ideals of
garden approaches, is now a pool, about eight hundred feet long, similar
to that before the Taj Mahal, flanked on both sides by spreading
Oriental planes; beyond this central feature are flower gardens,
following the Oriental in color arrangement, making an effect of noble
proportions. A bronze SUNDIAL shows the variations for each month of the
year, and the time at twelve o’clock in twelve principal cities of the
world; on Tennessee marble pedestal, with four supporting female
figures, emblematic of the four seasons; sculptor, A. Sterling Calder.
Bronze statues of Schiller, made in 1886, granite pedestal with bronze
panels in bas-relief representing poetry, history, drama; and of his
friend Goethe, made in 1890, granite pedestal decorated with bronze
laurel wreaths.
Roman Catholic CENTENNIAL FOUNTAIN, erected by the Total Abstinence
Societies, sculptor, Herman Kern. JAPANESE TEMPLE GATE and lotus pond,
near Belmont Avenue, part of Japanese exhibit in St. Louis, in 1904,
showing best Japanese work of three hundred years ago; also on way to
George’s Hill are, the Ohio, English, and Rhode Island Centennial
buildings. GEORGE’S HILL, eighty-three acres, acquired by bequest to the
City of Philadelphia, in 1868, through the Fairmount Park Commission,
for the health and enjoyment of the people forever.
BELMONT MANSION, built, 1743, by William Peters, stone, on estate of two
hundred acres, approached by avenue of tall hemlocks, ninety feet high.
Washington and Lafayette both planted trees here; view down the
Schuylkill is like the Rhine; City Hall Tower focuses the eyes in the
distance; Richard Peters, his son, wit and scholar, born here, was made
Judge of the United States District Court of Pennsylvania by Washington;
who was entertained here; also Hancock, the Adamses, Jefferson, Steuben,
Talleyrand, and Louis Philippe.
North of Belmont is RIDGELAND, once private residence; continue
northeast near Park Trolley Station, CHAMOUNIX mansion, formerly known
as Mount Prospect for its fine situation; built, 1802, by George
Plumstead, a Philadelphia merchant.
OTHER SQUARES AND PARKS
William Penn, in his city plan, laid out five squares. PENN SQUARE,
Broad and Market Streets, site of early waterworks; now occupied by City
Hall; WASHINGTON, Sixth and Walnut Streets; first Potter’s Field;
RITTENHOUSE, Eighteenth and Walnut Streets, remodeled like a French
park; playground for children of city’s social center; LION AND SERPENT,
bronze; sculptor, Barye; replica of one in the Garden of the Tuilleries,
Paris; THE DUCK GIRL, bronze; sculptor, Paul Manship; BILLY, sculptor,
Albert Laessle. LOGAN, on the Parkway; SWAN MEMORIAL FOUNTAIN to be in
center, sculptor, A. Sterling Calder. This was the second Potter’s
Field, and place of public executions; site of Sanitary Fair, in 1864,
for the Civil War, visited by President and Mrs. Lincoln, pronounced
most brilliant affair ever held in America. FRANKLIN, Sixth and Race
Streets, formerly a burial ground.
Broad Street, running north and south, is 113 feet wide and 12 miles
long from League Island to City Line. BURHOLME, near Fox Chase, museum
and library given and maintained by provision in will of Robert W.
Ryerss; over forty-eight acres; opened to public in 1910. CLARK’S,
Forty-third Street and Chester Avenue, has artistic bronze group,
DICKENS AND LITTLE NELL, made in 1890; sculptor, Frank Edwin Elwell;
awarded gold medals, Philadelphia, 1891; Chicago, 1893. COBB’S CREEK,
338 acres, formed, 1904; follows Cobb’s Creek on east bank; chiefly
steep, tree-covered slopes for 107 acres; crossing at Mount Moriah
Cemetery; widens, north of Market Street, into rolling landscape; has
public golf links. FERNHILL, ten acres, bounded by Wissahickon Avenue,
Roberts Avenue, Schuyler Street, and Abbottsford Avenue, Germantown;
memorial to Mr. and Mrs. Thomas McKean, part of their old homestead,
given by their children to Park Commissioners with endowment. FISHER,
twenty acres; near North Penn branch, Reading Railway; acquired by gift,
1909. HUNTING PARK, with lake, eighty-seven acres; crossing Northeast
Boulevard at Nicetown Lane. LEAGUE ISLAND and United States Navy Yard;
part of Southern Boulevard. MORRIS, twenty acres; extension of Cobb’s
Creek Park; beautiful forest, watered by Indian Run Creek, acquired by
gift, 1912. PENNYPACK, near mouth of Pennypack Creek to Rhawn Street,
532 acres, acquired in 1905; beautiful fertile valley with stream,
widened in places, with half ruined mill dams and their waterfalls;
quaint masonry bridges, either in single arch or series of spans.
REYNOLDS, Snyder Avenue and Seventeenth Street, contains memorial to
General John F. Reynolds, a hero of Gettysburg; granite shaft, six feet
high, with bronze medallion of General Reynolds; sculptor, H. K.
Bush-Brown;
[Illustration: THE DUCK GIRL
From the Fountain in Rittenhouse Square
_Paul Manship, Sculptor_]
unveiled, 1915. WISTER’S WOODS, contains fine trees and profusion of
dogwood; forty-four acres; East Germantown; bird sanctuary.
Total amount of space devoted to park, square, and boulevard purposes
within city limits is 8,037.32 acres.
THE FAIRMOUNT PARK ART ASSOCIATION organized 1871, to express high civic
ideals, in forms of beauty and dignity, synonymous with art, have had
large mounted photographs of the sculpture in Fairmount Park placed in
Philadelphia public schools.
HISTORIC INSTITUTIONS OF PHILADELPHIA
ACADEMY OF NATURAL SCIENCES, on the Parkway at Logan Circle, was
founded, 1812, in the house of Thomas Say, Esq., northwest corner of
Second and Market Streets. The Museum, for its historic value and extent
of its collection, is one of the most important in existence; arranged
in two series, an exhibition for the public, and reference for
specialists. Library contains about 60,000 volumes, nearly all on
natural sciences; several important publications are issued by the
Academy, and numerous lectures on natural history are given annually.
Contains portraits of founders, Thomas Say, Gerard Troost, William
Maclure, Charles Lesueur, Sir Joseph Banks, Samuel L. Mitchell. All
painted by Charles Willson Peale, and hung in Peale’s Museum; others by
noted artists are Robert Bridges, Isaac Lea, Joseph Leidy, by Bernard
Uhle; Jacob Gilliams by P. F. Rothermel; William Hempbell and George Ord
by John Neagle; Samuel G. Morton by Paul Weber; W. S. W. Ruschenberger
by William K. Hewitt; Isaac Wistar by Robert Vonnoh; also a fine study
model of Alexander Wilson, the ornithologist, by Charles Grafly, and
statuette of same by Alexander Calder.
AMERICAN PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY, 103 South Fifth Street, on lot in State
House yard, given the Society by the state in 1785; colonial, brick;
built, 1789: originated in “The Junto” formed by Benjamin Franklin,
1727, with the object of mutual improvement; received its name 1769,
“The American Philosophical Society in Philadelphia, for Promoting
Useful Knowledge.” Benjamin Franklin, then in Europe, sole American
plenipotentiary to France from the thirteen provinces, was elected first
president, and continued until his death in 1790. David Rittenhouse,
second president, served until his death in 1796; he, with other
members, successfully observed the Transit of Venus, June 3, 1769,
giving the first approximately accurate results to the world, in the
measurements of the spheres; he also constructed an orrery for measuring
heavenly bodies. Thomas Jefferson, third president, served eighteen
years, while he was also Vice-President and President of the United
States, and established its library and cabinet. Present President, Dr.
W. W. Keen. Its membership is world wide. At the meetings, held
regularly, the most advanced thought in scientific investigation is
presented. The Society now owns most of the Franklin papers in
existence, recently calendared in five volumes by Dr. I. Minis Hays;
field notes of Lewis and Clark expedition; original copy of Penn’s
Charter of Privileges, dated 1701; manuscript volume, Laws of
Pennsylvania prior to 1700, and original broadside, Declaration of
Independence. Oil portraits of all its Presidents are here and of many
leading members; notably, George Washington, by Gilbert Stuart;
President Jefferson, Benjamin Rush, John Vaughn, Caspar Wistar, P. S.
DuPonceau, all by Thomas Sully; David Rittenhouse and Samuel Vaughn by
C. W. Peale; Joseph Priestly and Chief Justice William Tilghman by
Rembrandt Peale; Daniel G. Brinton by Thomas Aikens; Professor Alexander
Dallas Bache by Huntington; General Isaac Wistar and Joseph Henry by
Bernard Uhle; several notable busts of Jefferson, Turgot, and Condorcet
by Houdon; Benjamin Franklin by Caffieri; and of Lafayette, Alexander
Hamilton, and Nicholas Biddle.
THE FRANKLIN INSTITUTE, Seventh Street above Chestnut; organized, 1824;
open free daily; classic, marble, built, 1825; John Haviland, architect.
First organization in the United States to combine science with
practice; the lecture course presents, free to the public, latest
advances in useful arts and sciences, by distinguished technologists;
also popular illustrated addresses on topics of the day; school of
Mechanic Arts includes instruction in mechanical and architectural
drawing, said to be one of the most thorough and practical in the United
States. Library is second to none, in extent and completeness, as
reference for scientific literature; _The Franklin Journal_, published
since 1825, monthly, is the only record extant of a number of early
United States patents. They held first exhibition in America of American
manufactures, 1824, in Carpenters’ Hall, and first electrical exhibition
in America. Portraits include Dr. Benjamin Franklin and Matthias W.
Baldwin by Sully, Daguerre by Abraham Whiteside, and bust of Henry Clay
by William Rush, carved wood. Among relics are typesetting and
electrical machines, used by Benjamin Franklin, and early models of
machinery. Will be moved to Parkway, Race Street, east of Nineteenth
Street.