City Cycling 4: Old City and Washington Square

   Before setting off last week on my latest Philadelphia tour, it occurred to me that, while the neighborhoods I planned on visiting this time around might have fit in better geographically with one or two of my previous routes, they weren’t quite as connected by theme. The two circuits I was combining this time weren’t quite as high-profile historically or as elegant as sections of the city I had already seen, but there were still plenty of interesting sites.

   I veered east from the Ben Franklin Parkway onto Spring Garden Street and headed to its intersection with 7th Street. On the northeast corner is the Edgar Allan Poe National Historic Site. The famous writer and poet lived here 1842-44, during which time he penned some of his best-known work, such as “The Black Cat”, “The Tell-tale Heart” and “The Gold Bug”.

   I turned south on 6th and pedaled a few blocks to Arch Street and Franklin Square, which was one of William Penn’s five original city squares. This tree-shaded, grassy park was once surrounded by houses and churches, but it is now only encircled by traffic coming to and from the Ben Franklin Bridge.

   I skipped crossing the bridge itself, because I have done it several times, but I highly recommend the bike ride (or walk) to enjoy the views high above the Delaware River. At the approach to the bridge is a lightning bolt sculpture, commemorating Ben’s famous experiment.

   Continuing down Race Street into the heart of Old City, I made a small loop up 3rd, across New Street to 4th in order to visit a couple of historic churches. St. George’s United Methodist Church is the oldest continually-used (since 1769) Methodist church in the country. Financier of the American Revolution, Robert Morris, worshipped here, and the building also served as a British cavalry school when Redcoat troops occupied the city.

   Olde St. Augustine’s Catholic Church is right across the street, but its original 1798 structure was destroyed during anti-Catholic riots in May of 1944. Architect Napoleon LeBrun, who also designed the Academy of Music and Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul, planned the 1947 rebuilding of the Palladian-style structure.

   Back on Race Street, I made a right down 2nd to reach the Fireman’s Hall Museum, which traces the history of firefighting in Philadelphia, from the establishment of the first fire department by Ben Franklin in 1736 to today’s modern professional departments. The building was built as the headquarters of the city’s Engine Company, the oldest active fire company in the U.S.

   A block further south is the wonderful Elfreth’s Alley, the oldest continually-occupied residential street in the country. A walk down its narrow, cobbled street among the 33 colonial and Federal-style row houses is truly like stepping back in time!

   Still heading down 2nd Street, I reached Christ Church, designated a national shrine by an act of Congress. The Second Continental Congress worshipped here together in 1775 and 1776, and fifteen signers of the Declaration of Independence were service attendees in the church. Brass plaques mark the pews of George Washington and family, Ben Franklin, Betsy Ross and the Penn family (who by 1776, were no longer Quakers). Thomas Jefferson and John Adams also worshipped at what is now referred to as “The Nation’s Church”.

   I looped back up 3rd Street to Arch Street, where I passed, in quick succession, the Betsy Ross House, Loxley Court (where Franklin is said to have conducted his kite flight) and Arch Street Meeting House, the oldest Quaker meeting house still in use in the city and largest in the world.

   At the northeast corner of 5th and Arch Streets is the U.S. Mint, where visitors can see blank disks melted, cast and pressed into coins. Directly across Arch Street is Christ Church Burial Ground, the final resting place for Ben Franklin, five signers of the Declaration of Independence and many prominent Philadelphians.

   Directly across 5th is the Free Quaker Meeting House, a 1738 building that hosted a splinter group of “Fighting Quakers” who took up arms against the British during the American Revolution. Among its members were Betsy Ross (then Mrs. Claypoole), Thomas Mifflin, a signer of the Declaration and general in the Continental Army, and Clement Biddle, a Continental Army colonel and quartermaster.

   I made a left turn onto 6th Street and headed south towards Washington Square. At the northwest corner of the intersection at Walnut Street is the Curtis Center, the former home of the Curtis Publishing Company, which once put out magazines like The Saturday Evening Post and Ladies Home Journal. The building now contains high-end condominiums, but it also includes a wonderful masterpiece, The Dream Garden, in its lobby. Louis C. Tiffany Studio’s massive 15 feet high by 50 feet long glass mosaic mural is based on a painting by Maxfield Parrish.

   Directly across Walnut is Washington Square, another of William Penn’s original five city squares. This historic plot became the burial place for 2000 American and British soldiers of the Revolutionary War, in addition to victims of the yellow fever epidemic of 1793. Within the square is the Memorial Tomb to the Unknown Soldiers of the Revolution, which includes a bronze casting of Houdon’s famous George Washington sculpture (the much larger version is in the rotunda of the Virginia Capitol building in Richmond) and an eternal flame that was dedicated during our nation’s bicentennial celebration.

   The square is surrounded by some interesting architecture, such as the Penn Mutual Building, which had its original building razed, but its Egyptian Revival façade was retained to become part of a new office tower. Directly across the small cobbled alley of St. James Place is the Athenaeum of Philadelphia, an attractive Italian Renaissance Revival brownstone that houses a research library with a splendid collection of material on architecture, décor and design.

   At the southeast corner of the square is the Lea & Febiger Building, once home to the oldest publishing company in the country. Now an art gallery, the 1785 structure had once seen the newly-published works of Poe, Charles Dickens and Washington Irving pass through its doors. In the southwest corner is a row of early-19th century brick townhouses, including the former residences Asaph Stone, a wealthy Philadelphia merchant, and Christopher Morley, the famous novelist, journalist and social commentator.

   I continued riding down 6th to reach two buildings with fascinating stories. On the northwest corner of the intersection at Spruce Street lies Holy Trinity Catholic Church, which opened in 1789 with a German congregation. The church later created the first orphan asylum in the United States, and the churchyard once held the remains of banker and philanthropist Stephen Girard, since moved to Girard College. It is said the man is personally responsible for keeping the nation from financial collapse during the War of 1812, and that, with inflation adjustments, he was the fourth wealthiest American ever, behind Rockefeller, Vanderbilt and Astor.

   My interest in this building, however, came from some of the knowledge gained from last summer’s vacation in the Canadian Maritime provinces. Holy Trinity’s “little Catholic churchyard in the heart of the city” is mentioned in Longfellow’s poem “Evangeline”, which is based on the story of the Acadian people exiled from Nova Scotia by the British as punishment for their loyalty to France during the French and Indian War of 1754-63. I had no idea that hundreds of Acadians relocated to Philadelphia!

   Right across Spruce, was the other building of note, the birthplace of Joseph Jefferson (photo right), considered the greatest American comic actor of the 19th century. Jefferson served as the second president of the prestigious Players Club in New York, succeeding Maryland actor Edwin Booth, brother to Lincoln assassin John Wilkes. Joseph Jefferson’s daughter had become close friends with the Booth’s sister Asia, and she was entrusted with the family papers on the Lincoln assassination.

   I looped back around to Walnut Street via 9th Street and stopped by the Musical Fund Hall on Locust along the way. Once an unfinished church, the hall was remodeled to become a venue that, from its opening in 1824, attracted the best musicians and entertainers, as well as the cream of Philadelphia society, until the Academy of Music opened on Broad Street in 1957. The hall also hosted lectures by Charles Dickens, Ralph Waldo Emerson and Arthur Conan Doyle. There were attempts to turn it into a museum, but it is now condominiums.

   My final destination was the Walnut Street Theater, the oldest English-speaking theater in continuous use in the country. Designed by John Haviland, who was the architect of the University of the Arts, Eastern State Penitentiary and many other structures around the city, the building was originally opened as the new Circus in 1908. It was renamed the Olympic when a stage was added in 1811, and hosted its first play on New Year’s Day 1812.

   The theater received its present name in 1820 when the Chestnut Street Theater was destroyed in a fire. The 1052-seat Walnut Street Theater is second to London’s Theatre Royal as the oldest playhouse in the English-speaking world.

   I have been frustrated by what I thought was a cramp that occurred during my last city ride. It turned out to be more of some type of muscle strain, and because I had pretty much shut down for a week to let it heal properly, I had decided to start this ride from just outside Norristown instead of near Valley Forge, cutting off ten miles or so from the usual total of fifty for the round trip. The return leg of this ride included a stiff head wind, and I was glad to have made that call on shortening the journey, especially when my leg acted up a bit again. A doctor visit is in my plans!