Benjamin West Birthplace

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Benjamin West Birthplace
Ben West birthplace Swarthmore PA obl.JPG
Benjamin West Birthplace, 2015
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LocationSwarthmore College campus, Swarthmore, Pennsylvania
Coordinates 39°54′18″N75°21′5″W / 39.90500°N 75.35139°W / 39.90500; -75.35139
Arealess than one acre
Builtc. 1724
NRHP reference No. 66000662
Significant dates
Added to NRHPOctober 15, 1966 [1]
Designated NHLDecember 21, 1965 [2]

The Benjamin West Birthplace, also known as Benjamin West House, [3] is a historic home located on the campus of Swarthmore College in Swarthmore, Delaware County, Pennsylvania. It was the birthplace of artist Benjamin West (1738-1820), who was an influential mentor to a generation of American painters, including Gilbert Stuart and Charles Willson Peale. [4] His birthplace was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1965, and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1966. [2] [1] It presently houses the dispatch and offices for the college's campus police, along with a visitor information center. [3]

Contents

Description and history

The Benjamin West Birthplace stands on the east side of the Swarthmore campus, just west of North Chester Road off Visitor Center Road. It is a 2+12-story stone structure, with a gabled roof pierced by two gabled dormers on each side. The main facade is five bays wide, with a centered entrance sheltered by a gabled portico. The interior does not have any original 18th-century features, the building having been gutted by fire in 1874. At that time its interior was rebuilt, and an ell added to the rear. [4]

The house was reportedly built about 1724, when the area was still part of Springfield Township. Benjamin West was born in this house in 1738 into a Quaker family, but was himself an Anglican for most of his life. He was one of the first American-born artists to be trained in Italy, and settled in England in 1763, where he embarked on a successful career as a painter, working primarily on commission to King George III. He is important in the history of American art for his role in supporting the early careers of a number of Americans who achieved great success, including Gilbert Stuart, Thomas Sully, Rembrandt Peale, and Charles Willson Peale, all of whom he supported both financially and logistically in their development. [4]

See also

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References

  1. 1 2 "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. January 23, 2007.
  2. 1 2 "Benjamin West Birthplace". National Historic Landmark summary listing. National Park Service. Archived from the original on June 6, 2011. Retrieved February 6, 2008.
  3. 1 2 "About Public Safety". Swarthmore College. July 8, 2014. Archived from the original on April 19, 2021.
  4. 1 2 3 Richard Greenwood (September 25, 1974). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination: Benjamin West Birthplace" (pdf). National Park Service.{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help) and Accompanying photos, exterior and interior, from 1974.  (875 KB)

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