Part 2

The first law school in America was opened by the University of Pennsylvania, December 15, 1790, President Washington and the members of his cabinet taking part in the exercises.

Turkish and Axminster carpets were first made in this country in 1791, by William Peter Sprague, in the Northern Liberties.

First Bank of the United States, was established in Philadelphia, February 25, 1791.

The first patents for machines for threshing grain in the world were awarded to Samuel Mulliken, of Philadelphia, March 11, 1791.

In 1791, Charles Willson Peale established a drawing school, which was succeeded in 1794 by “The Columbianum,” also established by Charles Willson Peale. This was the first society in the United States for the promotion of the fine arts.

The first canal in the United States was the “Schuylkill and Susquehanna Navigation Company,” chartered here in 1791. There were 2000 shares of stock at two hundred dollars per share, and the officers were Robert Morris, president; Timothy Matlack, secretary; and Tench Francis, treasurer.

The first United States Mint was built in Philadelphia, at what is now 37 and 39 North Seventh Street. The corner stone was laid July 31, 1792, and the first coins, consisting of dimes, half-dimes and cents, were struck in October of the same year. David Rittenhouse, a Philadelphian, was the first director.

The first company organized in America to do a marine insurance business was the “Insurance Company of North America,” organized March, 1792, though it did not receive a charter until April 14, 1794. In spite of the fact that the granting of the charter was delayed, the company commenced doing business immediately after its organization in 1792, and there is recorded the payment of the first loss June 10, 1793, and the first dividend on its stock was paid in January, 1794.

“The Philadelphia and Lancaster Turnpike Company,” the first constructed in the United States. The organization of the company was effected in 1792, under authority granted by the Legislature. The road was completed in May, 1796. The first regular stage left Lancaster at five o’clock in the evening, and reached Philadelphia at five o’clock the next morning, bringing ten passengers. The original officers of the company were William Bingham, president; William Moore Smith, secretary; and Tench Francis, treasurer.

The first successful balloon ascension in America was made from the old jail yard at the southeast corner of Sixth and Walnut Streets, January 9, 1793, by the French aëronaut, J. P. Blanchard.

Sulphuric acid (oil of vitriol) was first made in America by John Harrison in 1793. He was also the first to attempt to produce nitric acid.

“The Female Society for the Relief of the Distressed” was the first society organized in this country for the temporary assistance of the distressed. It was formed in November, 1793; and the first meeting was held in the house of Isaac Parrish, at the southeast corner of Second Street and Pewterplatter Alley.

Ice cream was first made in this country by Peter Bossu, a Frenchman, who settled in Philadelphia in 1794. The first advertisement of ice cream appears in _The Aurora_ for July 22, 1800.

The first printing press made in America was constructed by Adam Ramage, in 1795.

“The United States Gazetteer,” the first in this country, was compiled by Joseph Scott, and printed by Bailey at 116 Market Street, Philadelphia, in the year 1795.

The “First American Edition” of Shakespeare’s complete works was issued in Philadelphia in 1795, by Bioren and Madan.

To “Ambroise & Company,” Mulberry Street (now Arch Street), between Eighth and Ninth, belongs the honor of being the first in America to manufacture inflammable gas and exhibit the effect of gas light. This exhibition took place in August, 1796, in connection with a pyrotechnic display.

Philadelphia introduced the first municipal water works in America, using a steam pump. Ground was broken March 12, 1799; the first brick was laid May 2, 1799; the first pipe (which was of wood) was put in place June 18, 1799; and the same day was begun the foundation of the engine house in Centre Square. The first water was sent through the pipes January 27, 1801.

The first person to make “artificial mineral water,” or soda water, in America, was John Hart, a Philadelphia druggist. He did this about the beginning of the Nineteenth century (exact date not known), at the suggestion of Dr. Physick, to imitate waters found in certain mineral springs.

The first United States Navy Yard was established in Philadelphia in 1800. It occupied about twelve acres and extended from Prime Street (now Washington Avenue) to Wharton Street, and from Front Street to the Delaware River. In 1875 it was moved to League Island and the old property sold.

The first frigate of the United States Navy, the _Philadelphia_, was built in 1800, by Joshua Humphreys, near Washington Avenue.

The first mercurials made in the United States were produced in 1801 by Dr. Adam Seybert, a druggist, whose shop was at 168 North Second Street.

The oxy-hydrogen blowpipe was invented in 1801, by Professor Robert Hare of Philadelphia.

Charles Eneu Johnson, in 1804, produced the first printing ink made in America. His firm is still in business and is known as Charles Eneu Johnson & Company.

The first land steam carriage, or automobile, in the world was invented by Oliver Evans, in 1804. The Eruktor Amphibolis, a machine for cleaning docks, mounted on a wagon, was propelled along Market Street, from Centre Square to the Schuylkill River. At the river a stern wheel was attached and the vessel launched; the machine was navigated by steam on the Schuylkill and Delaware rivers, and was used to deepen the docks.

In 1804, Samuel Wetherill and his son, Samuel, Jr., erected a white lead manufactory at the northwest corner of Broad and Chestnut Streets, and it was here that the first white lead in this country was produced. English manufacturers were so opposed to this industry being established in the United States that they sent an emissary to this country, who destroyed the works by fire. They were rebuilt in 1808 at Twelfth and Cherry Streets, and in 1847 moved to West Philadelphia on the banks of the Schuylkill, where the business is still carried on by the fifth succeeding generation.

The first commission house in the United States for the sale of American manufactures was established in Philadelphia, in 1805, by Elijah Waring.

The first institution in the United States for the teaching of art was the “Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts.” The Articles of Agreement were signed December 26, 1805, by seventy-one citizens. George Clymer was chosen president. The charter was granted March 28, 1806, and it was opened to the public in 1807.

The first orphan society in the United States was the “Roman Catholic Society of St. Joseph for Educating and Maintaining Poor Orphan Children.” It was organized by Rev. Leonard Neale, in 1806, and received a charter the following year.

The first riveted hose for fire use in the United States was made in Philadelphia in 1808.

“American Ornithology” was the work of Alexander Wilson, a resident of Philadelphia. Eight volumes were issued, the first in September, 1808. It was published in Philadelphia by Bradford, and was the first book upon ornithology published in this country.

The first American shot was made in Philadelphia, two towers being completed at practically the same time. The advertisements appear under the following dates:

Bishop & Sparks, October 20, 1808. Paul Beck, October 27, 1808.

The first Bible Society in America was instituted December 12, 1808, and was incorporated January 30, 1810, as the “Bible Society of Philadelphia.” By an amendment to the charter, dated March 7, 1840, the name was changed to the “Pennsylvania Bible Society,” which name has been retained to the present day.

The first cotton goods printed from engraved cylinders in the United States were produced near Germantown in 1809 by Thorp, Siddall & Co., from cylinders brought from England.

The first experimental railroad track in the United States was constructed by Somerville, a Scotch millwright, for Thomas Leiper of Philadelphia, and laid down in the yard of the Bull’s Head Tavern, on Second Street above Callowhill, in the Northern Liberties. It was sixty-four feet in length. The test was made July 31, 1809, and was so successful that Leiper had a railroad constructed at his quarries on Crum Creek, in Delaware County, September, 1809. This was the first practical railroad built in the United States.

First institution in the United States chartered to do a trust business was the “Pennsylvania Company for Insurances on Lives and Granting Annuities.” Application for charter made January, 1810; refused by the House of Representatives, but finally granted March 10, 1812.

The first chemical society in America was the “Columbian Chemical Society,” formed in Philadelphia in 1811.

The first soup society in America was the “Northern Soup Society,” on Fourth Street above Brown, formed January, 1817.

The “Academy of Natural Sciences” was the first of its kind in the United States. It was organized January 25, 1812, by John Speakman, Jacob Gilliams, and four others. The society was incorporated by the Pennsylvania Legislature, March 24, 1817.

The first lithograph published in the United States was a portrait of Rev. Abner Kneeland, by Bass Otis, in 1818.

John Farr, a chemist of Philadelphia, in 1818 introduced into this country the manufacture of Seidlitz powders. He associated with him in business Abram Kunzi, and as Farr & Kunzi, located on Arch Street near Twelfth, they manufactured the first quinine in the United States. This firm, by various steps, has become a part of the Powers-Weightman-Rosengarten Company.

First savings bank, the “Philadelphia Saving Fund Society,” commenced business December 2, 1816. Chartered February 25, 1819.

The first church in the world for seamen was erected in Philadelphia about 1820, under the leadership of Rev. Robert Eastburn. It was known as the “Mariner’s Bethel.”

The “Philadelphia Law Library,” first in the United States, was established in 1821, under the auspices of “The Society for the Promotion of Legal Knowledge and Forensic Eloquence.”

The “Philadelphia College of Pharmacy” was the first institution of its kind in the world. The organization meeting was held in Carpenters’ Hall, February 23, 1821. Instruction was begun in the fall of the same year, with Charles Marshall as president of the institution. The charter was granted March 30, 1822.

The first engraved cylinders for calico printing made in the United States were made in Philadelphia, in 1822, by David H. Mason and Matthew W. Baldwin.

In 1827, William Ellis Tucker, of Philadelphia, was the first in America to manufacture porcelain and chinaware. In 1831 he started the first American queensware factory.

The Pennsylvania Horticultural Society, the first of its kind in America, was organized at a meeting held in the hall of the Franklin Institute, Seventh Street below Market, November 24, 1827. It was incorporated March 23, 1831.

The first one-cent newspaper in the country was _The Cent_, published in 1830, by Dr. Christopher Columbus Conwell, at Second and Dock Streets, Philadelphia.

The first building and loan association in the United States was the “Oxford Provident and Building Association,” organized in Frankford in 1831. The officers were Isaac Whitelock, president; Isaac Shallcross, secretary; and Samuel Pilling, treasurer.

In 1832, George D. Rosengarten made the first morphine in the United States.

The first public high school in the United States was established in Philadelphia in 1836. The first building was erected in 1837-38 on Juniper Street fronting on Penn Square, now occupied by the Wanamaker Store. The school was opened October 26, 1838, when a class of sixty-three pupils was admitted.

The first daguerreotype portrait in America was made in Philadelphia by Robert Cornelius, November, 1839, at 710 Chestnut. (Portrait of himself.)

The first homeopathic medical college in the world, the “North American College of Homeopathic Medicine,” was organized in Allentown, Pa., in 1835. The second was the “Homeopathic Medical College of Philadelphia,” organized in 1848. The next in order was the “Washington Medical College of Philadelphia,” chartered May 2, 1853. This last named institution changed its name, July 17, 1867, to the “Hahnemann Medical College of Philadelphia.” The first of these institutions lasted a very short time; and by act of Legislature, dated April 2, 1869, the second and third were united under the title of the “Hahnemann Medical College of Pennsylvania.” This institution can thus claim to be the oldest of its kind in the world, and though not technically the first, it is practically so.

The first American grand opera, “Leonora,” was composed by William H. Fry, a Philadelphian; the words were written by his brother, Joseph R. Fry. It was produced at the Chestnut Street Theatre, June 4, 1845, by Pratt & Wemyss.

The first free college for orphan boys in the United States was established in Philadelphia under the will of Stephen Girard. Girard College was opened January 1, 1848, with a class of one hundred boys.

The first comic weekly in America was _The John Donkey_, edited by Thomas Dunn English and G. G. Foster. Illustrated by F. O. C. Darley and Henry L. Stephens. Published in Philadelphia by G. B. Zieber & Company, 1848.

“The Woman’s Medical College of Pennsylvania” is the oldest college in the world organized to train women in the medical profession. It was incorporated March 11, 1850.

The Spring Garden Institute, the first of the mechanics institutes in the United States, was chartered April 12, 1851. The corner-stone of the building was laid July 8, 1851, and the building was dedicated November 12, 1852.

The first English translation of the Hebrew Bible published in America was the result of eighteen years’ work of Rev. Isaac Leeser. It was published in Philadelphia in 1854.

The first Republican National Convention met in Musical Fund Hall, June 18, 1856, with Henry S. Lane, of Indiana, as Chairman. John C. Fremont was nominated for president of the United States, and William L. Dayton, of New Jersey, for vice-president.

The process of sugar-coating pills was begun in 1856 by William R. Warner & Co., manufacturing chemists of Philadelphia. This was done in a pan suspended by a chain over a charcoal fire. The original pan is still preserved by the firm.

The first society in America distinctively devoted to numismatic research was the “Numismatic Society,” organized in Philadelphia, December 27, 1857, by seven men. It received its charter February 19, 1858. On March 23, 1865, the name was changed to “The Numismatic and Antiquarian Society.”

The “Zoölogical Society” was incorporated in 1859; and in Fairmount Park, north of the Spring Garden Water Works, began the first zoölogical garden in the United States. They later moved across the river to their present site, and the new buildings and grounds were opened to the public July 1, 1874.

April 8, 1861, John Wanamaker opened a men’s clothing store at Sixth and Market Streets. Fifteen years later, 1876, having been removed to Thirteenth and Market Streets, it had “six departments for the outfitting of men and boys.” On March 12, 1877, it was resolved into a general store having sixteen departments covering all classes of dry goods. This is believed to have been the first “department store” in the United States, probably in the world. This same store, in 1865, made the first announcements of the “one price system,” and that anything sold could be brought back for refund of money. The Wanamaker store at Thirteenth and Market Streets was lighted by electricity on the night after Christmas, 1878, being the first store ever so lighted.

First bank chartered under the National Banking Act, the “First National Bank of Philadelphia,” June 20, 1863. The first “National Currency” was issued by this bank.

The first Stock Exchange Clearing House in the United States was established here in August, 1870.

The first organization in the world for the insurance of real estate titles was “The Real Estate Title Insurance Company of Philadelphia,” chartered March 28, 1876. By an amendment to the charter, under date of December 3, 1881, the title was changed to “The Real Estate Title Insurance and Trust Company of Philadelphia.”

The first international fair held in this country was the Centennial Exhibition held in Philadelphia, May 10 to November 10, 1876. It is the only fair of its kind that has paid its own expenses, and received no appropriation from Congress.

Philadelphia is known as the city of the Easter lily. It was brought from Bermuda in 1879 by Mrs. Mary Rogers, who propagated it until in three years there were 100 specimens; then William K. Harris, a florist, Fifty-sixth Street and Springfield Avenue, introduced it in both Philadelphia and New York.

The Philadelphia Bourse, the first and, as yet, the only one in the United States, was chartered June 25, 1891, and completed and opened for business October 1, 1895.

The “Wistar Institute of Anatomy,” founded in 1892, by General Isaac Wistar, and connected with the University of Pennsylvania, is the first anatomical and neurological institute established in the United States.

Philadelphia was the first city to inaugurate a service by pneumatic tubes for the general carriage of firstclass mail. A six-inch tube connecting the Bourse station with the Central Post Office at Ninth Street was put in service February 17, 1893, and is still in operation. Eight-inch tubes have been used in lines since installed, and have a capacity of 7,200,000 letters per day each way.

The first concrete arch highway bridge in the United States was built in 1893 by the City of Philadelphia at Pine Road over the Pennypack Creek.

The first institution established in the United States for the advancement of business and trade in all branches, both domestic and foreign, was the “Commercial Museum.” It was projected by Dr. William P. Wilson, and established by ordinance of Philadelphia City Council, approved June 15, 1894.

The first successful electric automobile was designed and built by two Philadelphians, Henry G. Morris and Pedro G. Salom. It was patented August 31, 1894.

The first hospital train sent out during the Spanish War, for the relief of the fever-stricken soldiers in the mobilization camps, was sent by the University of Pennsylvania, and the soldiers were brought to and treated in the Hospital of that institution. This train left Philadelphia August 17, 1898.

The first Automatic Restaurant (Automat) in America was opened June 9, 1902, at 818 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, by the Horn & Hardart Baking Co.

I

THE COMMOMWEALTH, OR STATE OF PENNSYLVANIA (PENN’S WOODS)

With a royal grant for 40,000 square miles of land in the New World, William Penn, thirty-eight years old, came up the Delaware River in 1682 and landed at the Blue Anchor Inn, built by the Swedes in 1636. The state now covers 45,126 square miles.

No eastern state contains forests of such varied and abundant timber, or extensive mineral deposits. According to official reports of the state geologist, one and one-third billion dollars’ worth of mineral products were taken from below ground in 1916; of these coal is the greatest wealth producer, over $1,000,000,000 annually, the production being nearly one-half that of the entire United States; the supply is still ample and new fields are being opened. Over $100,000,000 in coke; and more than $42,000,000 in its by-products. Petroleum counts for $26,000,000. Gold, silver, platinum, and asbestos are found in small quantities. Natural gas has been used in this state for manufacturing purposes since 1874. This is the greatest manufacturing region in the world, and has the richest agricultural land in the United States. Pennsylvania stands first among the states in the Union in the number of towns over 5000 in population, making it a remarkable selling market. PHILADELPHIA, the chief city, and third in population, 1,823,779, in the United

[Illustration: PHILADELPHIA COUNTY

SCALE IN MILES 0 4 8 12 16

MONTGOMERY CO. BUCKS CO. DELAWARE CO. PHILADELPHIA NEW JERSEY

DELAWARE RIVER POQUESSING CR. PENNYPACK CR. WISSAHICKON CR. SCHUYLKILL RIVER COBBS CR.

SOMERTON BUSTLETON FOXCHASE CHESTNUT HILL MT. AIRY OAKLANE GERMANTOWN MANAYUNK OLNEY TORRESDALE HOLMESBURG FRANKFORD W. PARK NICETOWN BRIDESBURG KENSINGTON LOGAN CAMDEN FERRY KINGSESSING WOODLAND AVE. PASCALVILLE SOUTHWARK PASSYUNK FT. BREEZE L.I.

GERMANTOWN AVE. LANCASTER AVE. MARKET ST. BALTIMORE AVE. WOODLAND AVE. BROAD ST. ] States, is on the site of a village of the Lenni Lenape or Delaware Indians, called Coaquanarck. Through William Penn’s liberal policy to early settlers, and later being the seat of government of the United States, many national institutions were originated here, and many more historical buildings are here than in any other city in America. It comprises the whole of Philadelphia County, and has a distinctive character of its own, reminiscent of the old Quaker life, which is given in this book in two Colonial Walks; the Revolutionary Period is given in automobile routes, framed on Washington’s itinerary; and modern institutions, many of them continuing from colonial times, are in chapters, schools, galleries and museums, hospitals, libraries, music, churches. Philadelphia was the leader in the fight for “Liberty of Conscience.”

The obvious picturesqueness of Philadelphia is in the Pennsylvania Hospital, Independence Hall, Christ Church, Old Swedes’, St. Peter’s. Down in lower Spruce Street and neighboring streets are beautiful colonial houses, stately doorways, decorative ironwork, dormer windows, great gables, facing each other at street corners in harmonious proportions. In not another town were the old streets so well worth keeping unchanged. The early Friends, when they left England, packed up, with their “Liberty of Conscience,” the love of beauty in architecture and the money to pay for it. In a fine period of English architecture, they got good English architects--Wren is said to have been of the number--to design, not only their public buildings, but their private houses; and carried over in their personal baggage, paneling, carvings, ironwork, furniture and the various details they were not likely to procure in Philadelphia.

Long straight lines of streets give the town serenity and repose.

[Illustration:

8ᵗʰ 7ᵗʰ 6ᵗʰ 5ᵗʰ 4ᵗʰ 3ʳᵈ 2ʳᵈ FRONT WATER DELAWARE

+----+----+-----+----+-----+----+----+----+-----+--------+ { RACE | | | 12 | | 11 | | | | | | { CHERRY + | | | | | | | | | | { +----+----+-----+----+-----+----+----+----+-----+--------+ { ARCH | 15| 16 | | | | 9 | | | | | { +----+----+-----+----+----------+----+----+-----+--------+ { | | | 14| 13 | 10 | 8| | | | | { DELAWARE MARKET | | 17 | | | | 7| | | | | { RIVER +----+----+-----+----------+----+----+----+-----+--------+ { | 20| |18 19| | | | | | | | { CHESTNUT| | 21 | | | 6| | | | | | { -----+----+-----+----+-----+----+----+----+-----+--------+ { SANSOM | | | 1 | 4 | | | | | | | { +----+----+ 3|----+ 5---+----+----+----+-----+--------+ { WALNUT | | | 2 | | | | | | | | { +----+----+-----+----+-----+----+----+----+-----+--------+ {

1. Independence Hall. 2. Independence Square. 3. Philosophical Society. 4. U.S. Custom House. 5. Carpenters’ Hall. 6. Bank of North America. 7. Christ Church. 8. Site St. George and the Dragon Inn. 9. Betsey Ross House. 10. Friends’ Meeting House. 11. St. George’s M. E. Church. 12. St. John’s Lutheran Church. 13. Christ Church Burial Ground. 14. Free Quaker Building. 15. Fort Rittenhouse. 16. Mikveh Israel Synagogue. 17. First U. S. Mint. 18. Site Robert Morris Residence. 19. Site President Washington’s Residence. 20. Site Pennsylvania National Bank. 21. Franklin Institute.]

COLONIAL PHILADELPHIA, WALK NO. 1

The Quaker City; Penn’s “Green country towne.”

Start at the STATE HOUSE, called INDEPENDENCE HALL in 1776; open free 9 A.M. to 4 P.M.; south side of Chestnut Street between Fifth and Sixth. The most interesting building historically in the United States. Architect, Andrew Hamilton, speaker in the Assembly; Georgian, brick; erected for the Province of Pennsylvania as a Colonial State House. Tower has wooden cupola built in 1828, containing clock and bell, presented to the City by Henry Seybert, in 1876.