Philadelphia

3701

Philadelphia

Norman architecture. The original building
of Girard College is one of the finest speci-
mens of pure Greek architecture in the coun-
try. Independence Hall, at Sixth and Chest-
nut Streets, is a stately and dignified relic of
Revolutionary days. In it the Declaration of
Independence and the Constitution were
signed, and it houses the Liberty Bell. This
and Carpenters' Hall, where the first Con-
tinental Congress held its sessions; Christ
Church, built in 1727; the Betsy Ross house,
in which the first American flag was made;
Franklin's tomb at Fifth and Arch Streets,
and the many beautiful Colonial residences
which are still preserved in Germantown, are
among the city's most cherished historic
treasures. Modern structures are the new
Custom House; the Post Office and Pennsyl-
vania Railroad Depot, both in West Phila-
delphia; and the U. S. Mint, at Seventeenth
and Spring Garden Streets, a handsome
building of granite erected in 1901 at a cost
of $2,500,000, Notable buildings are the Pack-
ard, Fidelity, Girard Trust, Widener, Wana-
maker Store, Bellevue-Stratford Hotel, Cur-
tis—the home of the Salurday Evening Post,
Ladies' Home Journal and Country Gentle-
man—Philadelphia Saving Fund Society and
the Inquirer buildings. In West Philadelphia
is the imposing group of buildings of the
University of Pennsylvania, including a li-
brary, dormitories, and lecture halls.

The oldest church in the city is the Old
Swedes, a Protestant Episcopal church at the
corner of Front and Christian Streets. The
edifice now standing was begun May 28,
1698, and dedicated July 2, 1700. Other his-
toric churches are Christ Church, the present
building occupying the site of one erected in
1695, i*1 which Presidents Washington and
Adams worshipped, and Benjamin Franklin
had a pew. Many characteristics of the
Quaker founders of Philadelphia still survive
in the city. One of them is the simplicity and
uniformity of the street plans. Another is the
uniformity in the style of dwellings. For
many years block after block was built in
one design—red brick with white marble
trimmings. The more elaborate dwellings are
found in the suburbs and along the main line
of the Pennsylvania Railroad and in German-
town, Chestnut Hill, York Road and in the
Whitemarsh district.

The principal clubs are the Racquet, Union
League, Philadelphia, Rittenhouse, Univer-
sity, Manufacturers*, Mercantile, Columbia
Penn (literary), the Lawyers', Poor Richard.
Acorn, and the Art Club. Philadelphia is well

supplied with places of amusement, and the
Walnut, the oldest theatre in the country, is
still in service. Music lovers have for their
especial needs the Academy of Music, a large
auditorium which is the home of grand opera,
and is employed for the weekly symphony
concerts of the Philadelphia Orchestra and
for occasions which call for accommodations
for some 3,000 auditors.

Philadelphia is the seat of the University
of Pennsylvania, Temple University, and of
Girard College, founded by the will of Ste-
phen Girard, for the support and education
of poor white male orphans between the ages
of six and ten years. The fine and applied
arts are represented by the schools of the
Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, the
oldest art institution in the country, found-
ed in 1805; the School of Design for Women ;
the Pennsylvania Museum School of Indus-
trial Art (1876); the Drexel Institute of Art
and Industry, endowed by the late Anthony
J. Drexel in 1892; and the Williamson School
of the Mechanical Trades. The city also
boasts an excellent art museum; the Rodin
museum; and the Curtis Institute of Music.
Dropsie College for Hebrew and Cognate
Learning was founded and generously en-
dowed by Moses A. Dropsie in 1907. Bryn
Mawr for women, Swarthmore, Haverford
and Villanova Colleges are also within a few
miles of Philadelphia.

Closely allied with the city's educational
institutions are the Franklin Institute
(1824); the Academy of Natural Sciences
(1812), the oldest of its kind hi the country;
the American Philosophical Society (1743),
the oldest learned society in the United States,
founded by Franklin; the Zoological Society
(1859); and the Pennsylvania Historical So-
ciety (1824). The library company of Phila-
delphia was founded by Franklin in 1731.
The Free Library was founded in 1891 antf
has more than 1,000,000 volumes, housed ii>
a building of Greek architecture on the Park-
way. Philadelphia is celebrated for the ex-
cellence of its medical schools. These include
the medical department of the University of
Pennsylvania, the Jefferson Medical College
(1826), Woman's Medical College (1850),
Hahnemann College, Medico-Chirurgical Col-
lege, and allied hospitals. The Henry Phipps
Institute for the Study of Tuberculosis was
founded in 1903.

Philadelphia has two morning and two
afternoon daily newspapers. These are the
Inquirer and Record) in the morning
field and the Evening Bulletin and Eve-