New Market in South Second Street
William Birch
Courtesy Independence National Historical Park, Karie Diethorn, Chief Curator, and with the kind assistance of library technician Andrea Ashby Leraris.[1]The prints in the INHP collection, which originated in various portfolio sets that preceded Birch’s book, The City of Philadelphia, in the State of Pennsylvania North America, as it appeared in … Continue reading
In 1845 the busy activity of the markets on High Street was matched by a new market on a slight elevation above Dock Creek, between Walnut and South Streets. The neighborhood was called Society Hill, from the Society of Traders that once had an office there.
The building at the north end of the market (left), at Pine Street, under construction in 1803, stored firefighting equipment on the ground floor behind the doors flanking the arch. Another firehouse, called a “head house,” also with a cupola, stood two blocks south at the far end of the sheds. Alarms presumably sounded from either cupola. The proximity of the two stations testifies to the high property value of the area, a development foreseen by the merchants who contributed to the building of the first sheds. The block still contains houses present at the time of the visits of Lewis and Clark. In the 1960s the Head House was restored and the sheds rebuilt to their original appearance.
Notes
| ↑1 | The prints in the INHP collection, which originated in various portfolio sets that preceded Birch’s book, The City of Philadelphia, in the State of Pennsylvania North America, as it appeared in the Year 1800, measure approximately 18 by 14½ inches. |
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