Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

From Encyclopediak

Philadelphia, Fil" a del fi a, Pennsylvania, city, port of entry, chief city of the state coextensive with Philadelphia County, at th confluence of the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers, 90 miles s.w. of New York and 135 miles n.e. of Washington, on the Pennsylvania, the Baltimore Ohio and the Philadelphia Reading railroad systems. The city has 30 miles of water front lying between the two great rivers, with a 30-foot channel to the sea. The Schuylkill River is navigable for small vessels for about 8 miles above its mouth. The Delaware River is navigable to Trenton New Jersey, 30 miles above the upper part of the port of Philadelphia. The city is 102 miles from the Atlantic Ocean and has extensive coastal and trans-Atlantic steamship lines connecting with various European, West Indian and United States ports. In 1905, 750,000 was appropriated by the city and the state for the improvement of the Delaware River between Philadelphia and the southern boundary of the state, although the state had previously expended over 1,500,000 on the improvement of the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. Philadelphia contains about 700 m. of street railway, including elevated, surface and subway lines. Several interurban lines also render excellent service to the many neighboring towns and cities. Philadelphia has well maintained its prestige as one of the great manufacturing centers of the country, and is situated within a comparatively short distance of the greatest coal fields in the world. In textiles, Philadelphia ranks high, both in the quantity and value of its output, and the iron and steel industry ranks next to that of textiles in value.

STREETS, PARKS AND BOULEVARDS. Philadelphia is laid out in rectangular squares, nearly all the streets intersecting at right angles. The north and south streets are numbered, and the streets running east and west are named. Market Street is the principal thoroughfare east and west, and Broad Street, north and south, these streets intersecting at City Hall Square. The wholesale district lies at the east end of Market Street near the Delaware River. The shopping center lies on the south side of Chestnut Street and on Arch and Market Streets. The larger office buildings and the Pennsylvania and Philadelphia Reading railroad stations are near the city hall. Rittenhouse Square is the old aristocratic residential district, and many beautiful residences are on North Broad Street and the streets crossing it. Germantown and West Philadelphia are popular residence places. In fact, few cities in the country can vie with Philadelphia in the number and attractiveness of its residential suburbs. The most congested districts are along the narrow streets between the rivers. The improved streets total about 1800 miles Philadelphia contains 57 parks and squares. Fairmount Park is the largest public park in the world. It embraces within its domains 3341 acres. At the Green Street entrance is the bronze equestrian statue of George Washington, designed by Rudolph Siemering and presented by the State Society of the Cincinnati to the city at a cost of over 250,000. The park also contains a monument to Lincoln by Randolph Rogers and an equestrian statue of Grant by Daniel Chester Irench and Edward C. Potter. The Smith Memorial entrance built of white granite, with bronze statues, was donated by Richard Smith and erected in memory of the officers of the Civil War. Fairmount Park also contains a large number of other fine statues, several artistic fountains and a Japanese temple gate. Franklin, Rittenhouse, Logan and Washington squares have been reserved for small public parks since the founding of the city. Penn Treaty Park contains a monument to mark the site of the elm tree where Penn is said to have negotiated his treaty with the Indians. West Park, which practically is a part of Fairmount Park, separated by the Schuylkill River, contains the Zoological Garden, the largest in the country. Memorial Hall, on the Lansdowne Drive, in West Park, was left standing as an art museum and memorial of the Centennial Exposition in 1876. There are also a large number of outlying parks and parkways, which include League Island, Penny Pack, Cobbs Creek, Torresdale and Hunting parks. Laurel Hill cemetery lies on a high bank of the Schuylkill River adjacent to Fairmount Park.

PUBLIC BUILDINGS. The principal structure is the city hall, the largest building in the world devoted exclusively to municipal purposes. This building is 547 ft. high and is surmounted by a colossal bronze statue of William Penn by Alexander Calder. Other prominent buildings include the Bourse, in which will be found the commercial and maritime exchanges, the Masonic Temple, the Betz, Land Title, North American and Real Estate Trust buildings, Academy of Fine Arts, Academy of Music, the United States Mint, Broad Street Station, the custom-house, the Stock Exchange and Carpenter's Hall, in which building the First Continental Congress was convened. The most famous historical building in the United States is Independence Hall, on Chestnut Street between Fifth and Sixth streets. There the Liberty Bell is enthroned in a space adjoining the room where the Declaration of Independence was signed. This famous bell bears the inscription "Proclaim liberty through all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof." Independence Hall was purchased by the city from the state in 1816 and set apart as a museum of historical relics. The quaint Betsy Ross house, on Arch Street, is also preserved as a national monument, in which was made in 1777 the first United States flag.

CHURCHES AND LIBRARIES. Philadelphia contains about 850 churches, the most noted of wh.ich is Old Christ Church Episcopal, in which the pews of Washington and Franklin are preserved. The handsome Cathedral of St. Peter and St. Paul Catholic was 18 years in building the South Memorial Church of the Advocate is a replica on a smaller scale of the Amiens Cathedral. The ivy-clad Old Swedes, St. Stephen's, St. Peter's and the Grace Baptist Temple are also noted churches. The important libraries include the University of Pennsylvania, the Franklin Institute, the Athenaeum and Apprentices. The Library Company, founded by Benjamin Franklin in 1727 under the name of th Junto Club and renamed the Library Club in 1731, was, in 1869, made the beneficiary under the will of Dr. James Rusl of an estate valued at 1,000,000. The building was enlarged in 1889. The Pennsylvania Historical, the Numismatic and the American Philosophical are olc and famous societies.

HOTELS AND THEATERS. Among the prominent hotels of the city are the Bellevue-Stratford, the Ritz-Carlton, the Walton, the Hanover, the Rittenhouse the Colonnade, the St. James, the Windsor, the Stenton, the Continental, the Keystone, the Hamilton Court and the Majestic. The Walnut Street Theater built in 1808, is claimed to be the oldest theater in the United States. Other theaters include the Lyric, the Adelphi, the Garrick, the South Broad, the Chestnut Street Opera House and the Little Theater.

SCHOOLS AND COLLEGES. Philadelphia is one of the greatest medical educational centers in the United States, and the medical colleges include the departmen of medicine of the University of Pennsylvania, the Woman's Medical Colleg the first chartered school of medicine for women to confer the degree of M. D., the Jefferson, the Medico-Chi Surgical, the Hahnemann and the medical department of Temple University. The Philadelphia Dental College joined Temple University in 1907. Girard College, in 1920, was the most heavily endowed institution in the world for the care of orphan boys. See Girard College. The University of Pennsylvania is located at 34th and Spruce streets and in 1920 was one of the most important educational institutions in America. See Pennsylvania, University of. Other institutions of learning include La Salle College, Catholic Gratz College for the study of Hebrew and Jewish history Lutheran Theological Seminary, St. Vincent's Academy, the Drexel Institute of Arts and Science, School of Industrial Art, William Penn Charter School, Franklin Institute School of Design and the Williamson School of Mechanical Trades. The public schools number about 328 and include the Central High School, William Penn High School for Girls, North East and South, Modern Manual Training schools and a normal school for girls. Bryn Mawr College is located near the limits of the city.

HOSPITALS AND CHARITIES. Philadelphia contains about 334 hospitals and asylums. The founding of the Pennsylvania Hospital, the first hospital in the United States, was largely due to Franklin. The municipal hospitals are maintained by the city, but nearly all the other institutions are supported by medical schools and the various religious denominations. Philadelphia is also the seat of the state penitentiary for the eastern district.

HOME INTERESTS. Philadelphia, known as the "Quaker City," or the "City of Brotherly Love," is essentially a city of homes. In the 1920's Philadelphia was a city with more home owners than almost any other city in the country. The city installed a new filtration waterworks plant and accessories in 1901-08 at a cost of $25,000,000, taking water mainly from the Delaware River.

COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY. Shipbuilding has been an important industry of the city for over a century at League Island navy yard. Large sugar refineries and petroleum works are among the important industrial interests. The principal exports are iron and steel, flour, wheat and meat products. Among the manufactured products are locomotives, carpets and rugs, hosiery and knit goods, worsted and cotton goods, confectionery, chemicals, furniture, leather goods, felt hats, saws, oilcloth, druggists preparations, cordage, fertilizers, millinery and lace goods, paint and varnish, paper goods, silk goods, tobacco and electrical machinery and supplies.

HISTORY. The site of Philadelphia was originally occupied by the Delaware Indians, although during the 17th century settlements were made by Swedes and Dutch near the mouth of the Delaware River. The patent granted to William Penn for the territory embraced within the commonwealth of Pennsylvania was signed on March 4, 1681, by Charles II. A year later Penn visited the place and laid out the city. On March 10, 1683, Penn presided at a meeting of the provincial council and from that time Philadelphia was the capital of the state until 1799, when the seat of government was removed to Lancaster. The town grew rapidly and was the most important city in the colonies, Quaker influence remaining especially strong. The convention which framed the Constitution of the United States sat in Philadelphia in 1787, and here the first mint for the coinage of United States money was established in 1792. In 1854 various adjacent districts and boroughs were annexed to the city by state legislative act. In October, 1908, Philadelphia celebrated the 225th anniversary of its founding. Population, 1920, U.S. Census, 1,823,779. Consult F. M. Etting, An Historical Account of the Old State House Agnes Repplier, Philadelphia, the Place and People and J. T. Scharf and T. Westcott, History of Philadelphia.