Edwin Forrest House

Last updated

Edwin Forrest House
Philadelphia School of Design for Women
Edwin forrest house01.jpg
Edwin Forrest House, now Freedom Theatre
Street map of Philadelphia and surrounding area.png
Red pog.svg
USA Pennsylvania location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Usa edcp location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Location1346 N. Broad St.
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Coordinates 39°58′28″N75°09′33″W / 39.9744°N 75.1592°W / 39.9744; -75.1592
Built1853–54 [1]
Architectprobably Stephen Decatur Button.
James H. Windrim (1880 alterations)
Architectural styleItalianate
NRHP reference No. 72001152, 93001608 [2]
Significant dates
Added to NRHPJanuary 13, 1972
Designated NHLNovember 4, 1993
Designated PHMCMay 16, 1991 [3]

The Edwin Forrest House (also known as the Gaul-Forrest House) is an historic house and arts building, which is located at 1346 North Broad Street in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Built between 1853 and 1854, it was home, from 1880 until 1960, to the Philadelphia School of Design for Women, at one time one of the nation's largest art schools for women.

Contents

The house was designated as a National Historic Landmark in 1993. [4]

Description and history

The Edwin Forrest House is located in Philadelphia's Yorktown neighborhood, on the west side North Broad Street between Master and West Thompson Streets. The building has three parts: the original townhouse, a theater addition to the south, and a classroom wing to the rear.

The townhouse is a three-story brick building with a brownstone, exhibiting Italianate styling that was popular at the time of its construction. Windows decrease in height from the first to third floors, and those on the first two floors have decorative bracketed hoods over them. The main entrance is at the center of the five-bay facade, topped by a hood with paired brackets. The window directly above projects, with a similarly bracketed base and hood. [4]

The original townhouse portion of the building was built between 1853 and 1854 for William Gaul, a wealthy brewer, [5] to a design by Stephen D. Button, a prolific local architect. [4]

A year after its completion, it was bought by actor Edwin Forrest, who resided there until his death in the house in 1872. [6]

The Philadelphia School of Design for Women purchased the property in 1880, and built an extensive rear addition westward to Carlisle Street, to house art studios. The addition's Master Street façade was brick, but fitted with brownstone-trimmed windows consistent with those of the original house. [6] [7]

The school, which later changed its name to the Moore College of Art, continued to occupy the building until 1960. The Philadelphia Cotillion Society purchased the building and used it as a community center until 1968. [6]

Edwin Forrest Mansion, after 1863 addition of theater wing (left). Edwin Forrest Mansion.jpg
Edwin Forrest Mansion, after 1863 addition of theater wing (left).

Today the building is occupied by Freedom Theatre, which provides professional instruction in acting and live theatre production. [6] [8]

The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1972 for its architecture, and was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1993 for its association with the art school, whose only surviving building it is. [4]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fulton Opera House</span> United States historic place

The Fulton Opera House, also known as the Fulton Theatre or simply The Fulton, is a League of Regional Theatres class B regional theater located in historic downtown Lancaster, Pennsylvania. It is reportedly the oldest working theatre in the United States. It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1964.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mother Bethel A.M.E. Church</span> Historic church in Pennsylvania, United States

The Mother Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church is an historic church and congregation which is located at 419 South 6th Street in Center City Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. The congregation, founded in 1794, is the oldest African Methodist Episcopal congregation in the nation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts</span> Museum and art school in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA) is a museum and private art school in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1805 and is the first and oldest art museum and art school in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trocadero Theatre</span> Historic theater in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, US

The Trocadero Theatre is a historic theater located in Chinatown in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It offered musical comedies, vaudeville, opera, and burlesque. The Trocadero Theatre was refurbished for use as an art house cinema and fine arts theatre in 1970s, and by the 1990s had become an iconic venue for rock and punk concerts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Walnut Street Theatre</span> Oldest theatre in the United States

Walnut Street Theatre, founded in 1808 at 825 Walnut Street, on the corner of S. 9th Street in the Washington Square West neighborhood of Philadelphia, is the oldest operating theatre in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Institute for Colored Youth</span> Former high school for African-Americans in Philadelphia

The Institute for Colored Youth was founded in 1837 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. It became the first college for African-Americans in the United States, although there were schools that admitted African Americans preceding it. At the time, public policy and certain statutory provisions prohibited the education of blacks in various parts of the nation and slavery was entrenched across the south. It was followed by two other black institutions— Lincoln University in Pennsylvania (1854), and Wilberforce University in Ohio (1856). The second site of the Institute for Colored Youth at Ninth and Bainbridge Streets in Philadelphia was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1986. It is also known as the Samuel J. Randall School. A three-story, three-bay brick building was built for it in 1865, in the Italianate-style After moving to Cheyney, Pennsylvania in Delaware County, Pennsylvania its name was changed to Cheyney University.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Violet Oakley</span> American artist

Violet Oakley was an American artist. She was the first American woman to receive a public mural commission. During the first quarter of the 20th century, she was renowned as a pathbreaker in mural decoration, a field that had been exclusively practiced by men. Oakley excelled at murals and stained glass designs that addressed themes from history and literature in Renaissance-revival styles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Bradford House</span> Historic house in Pennsylvania, United States

The David Bradford House is a historic house museum at 175 South Main Street in Washington, Pennsylvania. Completed in 1788, it was the home of David Bradford, a leader of the Whiskey Rebellion. It has both architectural and historic importance, and was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1983. It is open weekly between April and November, or by appointment.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arch Street Friends Meeting House</span> Historic church in Pennsylvania, United States

The Arch Street Meeting House, at 320 Arch Street at the corner of 4th Street in the Old City neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is a Meeting House of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers). Built to reflect Friends' testimonies of simplicity and equality, this building is little changed after more than two centuries of continuous use.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Henry O. Tanner House</span> Historic house in Pennsylvania, United States

The Henry O. Tanner House is a historic house at 2908 West Diamond Street in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. It was from 1872 to 1888 the childhood home of Henry Ossawa Tanner (1859-1937), an African-American artist who was the first of his race to be elected to National Academy of Design. This rowhouse was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1976.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Moore College of Art and Design</span> Private art and design college in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Moore College of Art & Design is a private art school in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1848 by Sarah Worthington Peter as the Philadelphia School of Design for Women, and was renamed the Moore College of Art & Design in 1989. Although the school's undergraduate programs were historically only open to women, Moore opened admission to transgender, nonbinary, and gender-nonconforming students in 2020. Its other educational programs, including graduate programs and youth programs, are co-educational.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St. Michael's Episcopal Church (Birdsboro, Pennsylvania)</span> Historic church in Pennsylvania, United States

St. Michael's Episcopal Church, Parish House and Rectory is a group of architecturally-significant religious buildings located at 200-216 North Mill Street in Birdsboro, Berks County, Pennsylvania. It was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places in 1982.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Willis G. Hale</span> American architect

Willis Gaylord Hale was a late-19th century architect who worked primarily in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His flamboyant, highly-ornate style was popular in the 1880s and 1890s, but quickly fell out of fashion at the dawn of the 20th century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Forrest Block</span> United States historic place

The Forrest Block is a historic building located in downtown Davenport, Iowa, United States. It was individually listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983. In 2020 it was included as a contributing property in the Davenport Downtown Commercial Historic District.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">East Center City Commercial Historic District</span> Historic district in Pennsylvania, United States

The East Center City Commercial Historic District is a national historic district located in the Washington Square neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It encompasses 287 contributing structures, including large and small commercial buildings, banks, hotels, newspapers, clubs, and restaurants.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Edwin Forrest School</span> United States historic place

Edwin Forrest School is a public elementary school located in the Mayfair neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is within the School District of Philadelphia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charles Schaeffer School</span> United States historic place

Charles Schaeffer School is a historic former school building located in the Germantown neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The building was renovated in 2019 and is now the corporate offices of the Philly Office Retail real estate company.

New Freedom Theatre is an African-American theatre company in residence at the Freedom Theatre in Philadelphia established in 1966. The theatre has mounted several hundred productions as well as having taught tens of thousands of students in their 50-year-old educational programs history, making it Pennsylvania's oldest African-American theatrical institution.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lescaze House</span> House in Manhattan, New York

The Lescaze House is a four-story house at 211 East 48th Street in the East Midtown and Turtle Bay neighborhoods of Manhattan in New York City. It is along the northern sidewalk of 48th Street between Second Avenue and Third Avenue. The Lescaze House at 211 East 48th Street was designed by William Lescaze in the International Style between 1933 and 1934 as a renovation of a 19th-century brownstone townhouse. It is one of three houses in Manhattan designed by Lescaze.

References

  1. Webster, Richard (1981). Philadelphia Preserved. Philadelphia: Temple University Press : Philadelphia Historical Commission. p. 296. ISBN   0-87722-215-0.
  2. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. January 23, 2007.
  3. "Freedom Theater - PHMC Historical Markers". Historical Marker Database. Pennsylvania Historical & Museum Commission. Archived from the original on December 7, 2013. Retrieved December 10, 2013.
  4. 1 2 3 4 "NHL nomination for Philadelphia School of Design for Women". National Park Service. Retrieved March 24, 2017.
  5. Webster, p. 289.
  6. 1 2 3 4 http://www.arch.state.pa.us/pdfs/H001370_02B.pdf%5B%5D
  7. Beyer, George (1991). Guide to the State Historical Markers of Pennsylvania. City: Pennsylvania Historical &. p. 32. ISBN   0-89271-040-3. page 32, location number 109
  8. "freedomtheatre.org". www.freedomtheatre.org. Archived from the original on April 19, 2009. Retrieved April 6, 2018.