Mercantile Library | |
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39°57′01″N75°09′28″W / 39.95027°N 75.15789°W | |
Location | 125 South Fifth Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States (1845–1869) Tenth Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. (1869–1952) 1021–1023ContentsChestnut Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. (1952–1989) |
Established | 1821 |
Closed | 1989 |
Architect(s) | William L. Johnston (first building) Frank Furness (second building) Martin, Stewart & Noble (third building) |
Branch of | Free Library of Philadelphia (circa unknown point after 1894) |
The Mercantile Library Company was a library in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, that operated from 1821 to 1989. [1] [2] Like other "Mercantile Libraries" of the era, it was originally a subscription library focused on serving merchants, but gradually shifted focus over time to serve more as a public library, and ultimately became a freely-accessible branch of the Free Library of Philadelphia. The library moved to three different locations during its 168 years of existence, but only the third library building, opened in 1952, still stands; this building was added to the Philadelphia Register of Historic Places in 1990.
The Mercantile Library was founded in 1821. In 1845, after years of having impermanent locations, it housed itself at the Mercantile Library building on Fifth Street. Per its name, the library was primarily intended to serve merchants with documents on trade, business, and commerce, though library catalogs from later in the century indicate the library soon held books on other subjects. [1] [4]
In 1869, the library's growing membership and book collection prompted a move to another location on Tenth Street. [4] In 1877, the Mercantile Library building caught fire when a blaze from the neighboring Fox's American Theatre spread to its roof, and some of the library's collection was damaged from the fire as well as from water used in firefighting efforts by the Philadelphia Fire Department. [5]
By the 1880s, the Mercantile Library had long since become considerably popular outside its original membership base of merchants, and the librarians chose to lean into this and curate expanded novel collections to match public demand, though they were especially selective to enforce public morality at the time. [4] At an indeterminate point after 1894, the Mercantile Library was absorbed into the Free Library of Philadelphia and became a public library branch. [4]
In 1952, the Mercantile Library moved to a newer building at 1021–1023 Chestnut Street, [6] the site of the former Chestnut Street Opera House. [7] In 1989, after 168 years of operation, the Mercantile Library was forced to close after asbestos was discovered in the building. [6] [8] [9] The Free Library of Philadelphia absorbed the collections of the Mercantile Library after its closure. [6]
Initially, the Mercantile Library was housed at multiple different locations that are not clearly known and may no longer exist. From 1845 to 1869, the library was housed in a dedicated Greek Revival building at 125 South Fifth Street and Library Street, [3] designed by William L. Johnston. [4] After the library moved to its second location in 1869, the first building at Fifth Street was converted into offices, purchased by Horatio Nelson Burroughs in the 1870s as the Burroughs Building, and eventually demolished in 1925. Its former location is now an open area in Independence National Historical Park, with nothing indicating there was once a building there. [4]
The second Mercantile Library building was opened in 1869, designed by Frank Furness. [10] The library was converted out of a disused market building [10] and was renovated by Furness twice, first in 1873 (with George W. Hewitt) and again after the fire in 1877. [11] When the library moved to the Chestnut Street building in 1952, the now-vacant second building, which was located somewhat nearby, was demolished to construct a large parking garage for the area. [4] The third Mercantile Library building at 1021–1023 Chestnut Street was a two-story Modern building with a clean windowed front, designed by Martin, Stewart & Noble. [6]
The Mercantile Library building is still standing at 1021 Chestnut Street, but remains vacant and boarded up. [6] It was placed on the Philadelphia Register of Historic Places in 1990, and was the first mid-20th century building on the list. [6]
Frank Heyling Furness was an American architect of the Victorian era. He designed more than 600 buildings, most in the Philadelphia area, and is remembered for his diverse, muscular, often inordinately scaled buildings, and for his influence on the Chicago-based architect Louis Sullivan. Furness also received a Medal of Honor for bravery during the Civil War.
Horace Howard Furness was an American Shakespearean scholar of the 19th century.
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.
Broad Street Station at Broad & Market streets was the primary passenger terminal for the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) in Philadelphia from early December 1881 to the 1950s. Located directly west of Philadelphia City Hall, the site is now occupied by the northwest section of Dilworth Park and the office towers of Penn Center.
The architecture of Philadelphia is a mix of historic and modern styles that reflect the city's history. The first European settlements appeared within the present day borders of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in the 17th century with most structures being built from logs. By the 18th century, brick structures had become common. Georgian and later Federal style buildings dominated much of the cityscape. In the first half of the 19th century, Greek revival appeared and flourished with architects such as William Strickland, John Haviland, and Thomas U. Walter. In the second half of the 19th century, Victorian architecture became popular with the city's most notable Victorian architect being Frank Furness.
Philadelphia's Baltimore & Ohio Railroad station – also known as the B & O station or Chestnut Street station – was the main passenger station for the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Designed by architect Frank Furness in 1886, it stood at 24th Street and the Chestnut Street Bridge from 1888 to 1963.
G. W. & W. D. Hewitt was a prominent architectural firm in the eastern United States at the turn of the twentieth century. It was founded in Philadelphia in 1878, by brothers George Wattson Hewitt (1841–1916) and William Dempster Hewitt (1847–1924), both members of the American Institute of Architects. The firm specialized in churches, hotels and palatial residences, especially crenelated mansions, such as Maybrook (1881), Druim Moir (1885–86) and Boldt Castle (1900–04).
John Fraser was a Scottish-born American architect who practiced in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Washington, D.C.
The Centennial National Bank is a historic building in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Designed by noted Philadelphia architect Frank Furness and significant in his artistic development, it was built in 1876 as the headquarters of the eponymous bank that would be the fiscal agent of the Centennial Exposition. The building housed a branch of the First Pennsylvania Bank from 1956 until Drexel University purchased it c. 1976. Drexel renovated it between 2000-2002 and now uses it as an alumni center. The Centennial National Bank, described as "one of the best pieces of architecture in West Philadelphia," was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1971.
Daniel Pabst was a German-born American cabinetmaker of the Victorian Era. He is credited with some of the most extraordinary custom interiors and hand-crafted furniture in the United States. Sometimes working in collaboration with architect Frank Furness (1839–1912), he made pieces in the Renaissance Revival, Neo-Grec, Modern Gothic, and Colonial Revival styles. Examples of his work are in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Art Institute of Chicago, and the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.
John McArthur Jr. (1823–1890) was a prominent American architect based in Philadelphia. Best remembered as the architect of the landmark Philadelphia City Hall, McArthur also designed some of the city's most ambitious buildings of the Civil War era. Few of his buildings survive.
Wilson Brothers & Company was a prominent Victorian-era architecture and engineering firm based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The company was regarded for its structural expertise.
The Provident Life & Trust Company is a demolished Victorian-era building in Philadelphia designed by architect Frank Furness and considered to be one of the famed architect's greatest works. A bank and insurance company founded in 1865 by members of the Society of Friends (Quakers), the Provident's L-shaped building had entrances at 407–09 Chestnut Street, which served as the entrance to the bank, and at 42 South 4th Street, which was the entrance to the insurance company. The two wings were eventually consolidated into an office building, also designed by Furness, at the northwest corner of 4th and Chestnut Streets.
William L. Johnston (1811–1849) was a carpenter-architect who taught architectural drawing at the Carpenters' Company of Philadelphia, and won a number of important Philadelphia commissions. He died of tuberculosis at the age of 38 after a trip abroad for his health.
The Mercantile Library Association (1820-1952) of Boston was an organization dedicated to operating a subscription library, reading room and lecture series. Members included James T. Fields and Edwin Percy Whipple. Although the association had a relatively long history, its heyday occurred in the mid-19th century, particularly the 1840s and 1850s.
Stephen Decatur Button was an American architect and a pioneer in the use of metal-frame construction for masonry buildings. He designed commercial buildings, schools and churches in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and Camden, New Jersey; and more than 30 buildings in Cape May, New Jersey.
The Center for Fiction, originally called the New York Mercantile Library, is a not-for-profit organization in New York City, with offices at 15 Lafayette Avenue in Fort Greene, Brooklyn. Prior to their move in early 2018, The Center for Fiction was located at 17 East 47th Street, between Madison and Fifth Avenues in Midtown Manhattan. The center works to promote fiction and literature and to give support to writers. It originated in 1820 as the Mercantile Library and in 2005 changed its name to the Mercantile Library Center for Fiction, although it presents itself as simply "The Center for Fiction".
Allen Evans was an American architect and partner in the Philadelphia firm of Furness & Evans. His best known work may be the Merion Cricket Club.
J.E. Caldwell & Co. was a major jewellery retailer and one-time silversmith in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
The Chestnut Street Opera House was a theatre located at 1021–1029 Chestnut Street in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Built by theatre impresario Robert Fox on the former site of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, it opened as a venue for vaudeville in 1870 as Fox's New American Theatre. The theatre was destroyed by fire in 1877 and was rebuilt that same year. After being acquired by George K. Goodwin, the theatre was remodeled, renamed the Chestnut Street Opera House, and re-opened as a legitimate theatre in 1880. It continued to operate as a legitimate theatre, first under the management of theatre magnates Samuel F. Nixon and J. Fred Zimmerman Sr., who acquired the theatre's lease in 1882, and later under the Shubert Organization, who acquired the theatre in 1916. It was still considered one of Philadelphia's leading legitimate theatres during the 1920s and 1930s. The theatre was also used as a venue for films and was a model theatre for the Triangle Film Corporation in 1915–1916. The theatre closed in 1939 and was demolished in 1940.
Alterations in 1873 (Furness and Hewitt, architects) and in 1877 (after a fire, Frank Furness, architect).