USA > Pennsylvania > Philadelphia County > Philadelphia > Annals of Philadelphia, and Pennsylvania in the olden time; being a collection of the memoirs, anecdotes, and incidents of the earliest settlements of the inland part of Pennsylvania, Vol. III > Part 38
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The Volunteer of Camp Dupont, south-west corner of Tenth and Arch streets ;
General Jackson's Head (Chalkley Baker), Race street, between Seventh and Eighth;
The Goose and Gridiron, a most elegantly-painted restaurant sign (Brown), Chestnut street, below Sixth ;
General Washington, a copy of Stuart's famous picture (Mrs. Yohe), Fourth street, above Market ;
Noah's Ark, corner Front and Noble streets ;
The White Bear (Myers' Tavern), corner Fifth and Race streets ; The Red Lion, Market street, west of Sixth ;
The White Horse, corner of Fifth and the present Commerce streets;
A portrait of Cooke, the actor, in the character of Rolla carry- ing Elvira's child, at the south-west corner of Front and Catharine streets ; a sign of a Bird in the Hand and Two in the Bush, at the south-west corner of Market street and Penn Square; a very handsome likeness of Shakespeare, on the south side of Market street, a square or two west of Penn Square (there was a fine row of buttonwood trees in front of the tavern); a very hand- some sign of the Indian Queen, painted by Woodside, at the hotel of that name, on the east side of Fourth street above Chestnut.
There was many years ago a tavern in Front street, above
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Vine, with one front on Water street and the other on Front street. The Front street side had a sign with the Constitution and Java on, and the Water street side had a sign with a Dur- ham boat on it. This place was a kind of head-quarters for the men who ran these boats (which at that time were quite plenty) up the Delaware. They were sharp at each end, and were steered by a long oar. They used a small pointed sail, and some of them were very fast sailers. On Front street above Callowhill, west side, there was an iron sign (open work) with a dove in the cen- tre. Then there was a sign on Callowhill street below Water, with a ferry-boat or horse-boat, with a bird-box on top, where the swallows made their nests. This tavern was kept by Thomas and Jeremiah Hand. Then there was a sign, Death of Warren, on Buttonwood street above Fifth. In Water street, between Race and Vine, was one with Bird in Hand worth Two in the Bush, representing a painting of a man with a bird in his hand and two others in the bush. There was also one at Eighth and Buttonwood streets of General Harrison.
The Penn Township Blue sign was in Callowhill street, below the first milestone, which stood at Ridge road and Callowhill street, near where John Wellbank now keeps. Heck's Tavern was on the east side of Decatur street, and was a very old-fash- ioned house, with a porch and seats on each side. When Heck opened his place there were seven taverns in that street: Schock's, Mrs. Shuster's (afterward Harboard's), McDonald's, White's, Heck's, and one kept by an Irishman (afterward Boyd's). The Wasp and Frolic was at the north-west corner of Garden and Vine streets. One evening in 1829 a party of butchers and drovers were at this place, a short time after the robbery of the Kimberton mail, when one of the latter said that he was going to leave the city that night. One of the butchers told him that he had better look out for the mail-robbers. The drover, a big, burly fellow, swore that no three men could tie his hands behind him. That night the Reading mail left the city. When it ar- rived at Turner's lane the horses were suddenly swung around that lane by one of the robbers ; another pointed his pistol at the head of the driver and ordered him to remain quiet; the third robber opened the door of the stage, and said, "Gentlemen, I wish you to get out, one at a time." The boasting drover was the first one called upon to get out, which he did without utter- ing a word. His hands were tied and his pockets were emptied. The others were served in the same manner. One of the passen- gers objected to having his tobacco taken from him. This cre- ated some merriment, in which the robbers joined. Another pas- senger, taking advantage of the merriment, requested the return of his watch, which he said was a family keepsake. It was handed to him. That drover was ever after known under the sobriquet of the "Reading Mail."
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The Three Tuns (three wooden barrels strung crossways on an iron rod) (Sarah Potts), was in Vine street, below Eighth, where the church now stands ;
Eclipse and Sir Henry, Broad street and Centre Square, where the church now stands ;
Constitution and Guerriere (William Hurlick, afterward famous as a militia-fine collector) ;
The Bull's Head, said to have been painted by Benjamin West (John Evans), Strawberry street ;
Commodore Decatur (George Schock), Decatur street, near Car- penter (Jayne) street. In 1826 Mr. Schrock said that when he opened his tavern the place was a mere lane, unpaved, leading to the Tilghman mansion, and that the street received its name from his sign long before the City Councils named it. The Black Bear was in Market street, above Tenth, north side, afterward in Tenth street, above Market ;
The Bull's Head, Market street, above Tenth ;
The White Horse, Market street, above Thirteenth, in front of the Tivoli Circus. In this circus the notorious George Wash- ington Dixon, the buffo-singer, made his first appearance in Philadelphia, about the year 1828;
The Sorrel Horse was in Market street, below Thirteenth ;
The Golden Horse, Market street, below Twelfth ;
General Montgomery, Sixth street, near South ;
General Brown (Simpson), north-east corner of Fifth and But- tonwood streets ;
General Washington, Callowhill street, below Thirteenth ;
The Sorrel Horse, Second street, nearly opposite Christ Church ;
Head of Franklin (Mrs. Bradshaw), Chestnut street, below Sixth ;
General Simon Bolivar (Carels's), north-west corner of Seventh and Zane streets, afterward Chestnut street, below the Ar- cade ;
The Seven Presidents, Coates street, above Ninth ;
The Volunteer (Vanstavoren), Race street, opposite Franklin Square ;
Robert Fulton, north-east corner of Front and Chestnut streets ;
Coat-of-Arms of the States of the Union, Callowhill street, be- low Second ;
Topgallant (Hammitt), Cherry street and Bryant's court ;
Bird Pecking at Grapes, south-west corner of Third and Chest- nut streets, in the basement ;
Patrick Lyon, Sixth street, below Race ;
Sheaf, Second street, between Race and Vine;
Barley Sheaf, Fourth street, below Vine ;
General Washington (Von Buskirk), Market street, south side, between Seventh and Eighth streets.
Before the present market-houses on Shippen street, between
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Third and Fifth, were built, there were houses on the south side of that street which were demolished to make room for the im- provement. Upon one of these, kept as a tavern, between Third and Fourth streets, there was a tin sign on the window, upon one end of which was painted a sailor, upon the other end a woman, and in the middle of the sign was the following inscription :
" The sea-worn sailor here will find The porter good, the treatment kind."
About the year 1810 there was a sign upon a frame house which stood back from the street at the south-west corner of what was then called Harmony court and Fourth street, which read as follows : " P. Ryan's Milk House. Crier and Bell-ringer. Lost children, pocket-books, and other valuables recovered by giving notice here." A sign on a tippling-house near the Navy Yard, on which were paintings of a tree, a bird, a ship, and a mug of beer, with the following inscription :
" This is the tree that never grew ; This is the bird that never flew ; This is the ship that never sailed ; This is the mug that never failed."
Also, in the same vicinity another representing a rooster in the act of crowing, with the following motto: "The old cock revived." Among the many curious tavern-signs may be men- tioned a large log of wood in the shape of a bottle swung on a hickory pole (erected in the fall of the year in which David R. Porter was elected governor of this State). Said "Porter bottle" was at the tavern then kept by William Newton, at the south- west corner of Eighth and Buttonwood streets, diagonally oppo- site the old school-house, where at that time the elections were held, and where the citizens of the entire district of Spring Garden voted. Some ten or twelve years ago there was an Irishman by the name of Patrick Keegan, who kept a tavern in Frankford, having for its sign a straw bee-hive, with bees flying around it, and underneath the following lines :
"'Here in this hive we're all alive,' Good liquor makes us funny ; If you are dry, step in and try The flavor of our honey."
On the west side of Thirteenth street, at the south-east corner of the second alley below Walnut street, there stood, some years ago, a frame tavern, painted blue. On the sign over the door was the following notice :
" I, William McDermott, lives here ; I sells good porter, ale and beer; I've made my sign a little wider, To let you know I sell good cider."
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In front of a tavern on the west side of Third street above Ship- pen there was a sign which had on it "X 10 U 8." This tavern was known as the Extenuate House. About fifty years ago a man by the name of McClain kept an oyster-cellar on the west side of Third street below Vine. Over the doorway was a neatly- painted sign with the following inscription on it :
" Oysters opened or in the shell, Of the best I keep to sell ; Walk down and try them for yourself, That D. McClain may gain some pelf."
About the year 1830 there was a retail tobacconist on the east side of Front street above Chestnut. There were many retail stores in the neighborhood at that time. In the window was a painted sign representing three persons-one with a pipe in his mouth, one with a plug of negro-head in his hand, and the third conveying, from a snuff-box, "a pinch" to his nose. Beneath was this inscription :
" We three brothers be In one cause ; Tom puffs, Bill snuffs, And I chaws."
Sixty years ago, on Sixth street near Diamond, was the sign of The Pilgrim, a tavern, store, and hay-scales, kept by Samuel Claphamson, a little Englishman. At the same time, at the junction of Sixth street and Germantown road, was the sign of the Spread Eagle, a tavern kept by John Slifer. There was also the Woodman tavern and garden at Fifth street and Germantown road, with the sign of a man with an axe, with the following verse below :
" In Freedom's happy land, My task of Duty done, In Mirth's light-hearted band, Why not the lowly woodman one?"
When an ornamental signboard painter's apprentice, and before he studied portrait-painting, Thomas S. Fernon either re-painted the old Woodman sign or painted a new one at his father's house in the old district of Kensington.
About sixty years ago The Castle stood at the north-west corner of Ninth and Walnut streets. Many who frequented that unpretentious place afterward became men of note on the stage, at the bar, and in business circles generally. The then youthful Edwin Forrest played his part there, and to his own satisfaction at least; and others, with less confidence in them- selves, and even more grace and intellect, hoped soon to rival the great Talma. It was then and there that the proprietors, the immortal Stubbs & Allen, furnished the public with their in- comparable shoe-blacking, bearing their trade-mark-a label
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representing a game-cock fighting his shadow in a boot. Hud- dled closely together in front of this rude shanty on both streets, every night when the old Walnut Street Theatre (or circus) per- formances were given, sat a lot of Africa's daughters dealing out their bewitching " peppery-pot-with-chickery-in-it," which, with their " hot-corn " and " peanuts," fortified the inner man for wit- nessing such " tragic scenes " as that classic neighborhood afforded. The Castle was originally built as an office for the lumber-yard of Joseph Parham on the premises. It was probably not more than twelve feet wide, and was about twenty feet in depth along Walnut street. The balance of the lot, running westward to the line of the residence of Charles Kuhn, Esq., and northward to George street (now Sansom), was afterward occupied as a wood- yard. In that old Castle were crowded nightly a large number of eccentric, ambitious, and fun-loving young men, whose patron- age and talents induced the veteran Stubbs to fit up the rear portion of his classic abode to enable them to work themselves into frenzy and provoke bursts of applause when personating Young Norval, or some bloody Turk, or jealous Moor. Of course he who strutted, shouted, or groaned upon that miniature stage estimated his future glories by the amount of applause which he then elicited.
Thirty years ago, there was a sign on the south side of Race street above Fifth representing a dog with a bird in his mouth, the tavern being called the Dog and Pheasant. Also the Camel Hotel, on Second street above Race, with its sign of the camel. This was a favorite stopping-place for farmers doing business on Second street. It was torn down within the past ten or fifteen years. Its erection dated before the Revolution.
A contributor says: "In the year 1839, at the north-west corner of Sixth street and Middle alley, just above Pine street, there was a two-story frame house in which was kept a tavern or drinking-saloon by one Edward Kelly. In front he had a large swinging sign-a bee-hive, with the motto, "By Industry we Thrive." It was very handsomely gilded, and represented the busy bees going in and coming out of the hive. [In fact, I sug- gested and drew the design for Kelly.] A few weeks after the sign had been put up I attended a temperance meeting, where I was quite mortified at hearing the Rev. John Chambers ridicule the idea of said sign. He condemned it truthfully, and his re- marks made me feel like anything but a 'morning star.'"
In the Independent Balance of August, 1820, this advertise- ment appeared : "Union Hotel .- Samuel E. Warwick respectfully informs his friends, and the public generally, that he has opened a house of entertainment at the north-east corner of Seventh and Cedar streets (or South street), and has copied for his sign Mr. Binn's beautiful copper-plate engraving of the Declaration of Independence by that justly-celebrated artist, Mr. Woodside :
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' Whate'er may tend to soothe the soul below, To dry the tear and blunt the shaft of woe, To drown the ills that discompose the mind- All those who seek at Warwick's Inn shall find.'"
The Caledonia Tavern, a great place of resort for Scotchmen, was on the south side of South street near Front. It had a swinging sign, on one side of which was a picture of two friends shaking hands, and underneath were the words, "May we never see an old friend with a new face." On the reverse side was a thistle.
About sixty years ago there was a tavern at the south-west corner of Tenth and Arch streets which had a large sign of Gen- eral Washington. It was kept by William Raster, and was sometimes known as the " Washington Soup House," as the pro- prietor was famous for his soups and pepper-pots.
Robinson Crusoe, was kept by the widow Waltman, on Locust street above Eleventh, on the ground now occupied by the Odd- fellows' Hall. This sign dates as far back as 1814 or 1815.
Camac's Lane .- About forty-five years ago a road bearing this name ran from Turner's lane in a south-eastwardly direction to Sixth street or Germantown road. It passed to the south of the late Mr. Turner Camac's country-seat, which was lately pulled down. A small part of Camac's lane is still in existence, run- ning north-westwardly from Broad street to Turner's lane. The rest of the road has been vacated for many years, and its site is now built over for nearly the whole distance. On the east side of the end of the lane, at Sixth street, stood the Phoenix Tavern and garden property, fronting on Fifth street on the east, Sixth street on the west, and Camac street on the south. The latter is now called Oxford street. The tavern was built about the close of the war of 1812 by Samuel Hymas, an Englishman. He kept it for a number of years, and then sold it out to Joseph Knox, another Englishman, who also kept it for several years. The Cohocksink Creek ran across the lot from north to south, and had a fancy bridge over it. It was a beautiful place fifty years ago. The tavern and outbuildings were destroyed by fire some years since, when the large glue and morocco factories adjoining were burned. The entire premises of the old Phoenix Tavern are occu- pied by D. B. Slifer as a manufactory and dépôt for chairs and furniture, and the oldest inhabitant could not recognize it as be- ing once the resort of the elite and aristocracy of the city. In connection with the history of the Phoenix Tavern, more than half a century ago, a large organ factory was destroyed by fire which stood adjoining, or in close proximity to, the Phoenix on the east. The hotel was not injured by fire, although the yard and garden were somewhat damaged from the trampling of feet, etc. It was on a Sunday morning early that this fire occurred, and during that day the old Phoenix had an unusual " run of luck " from old
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and new patrons. The organ factory was carried on by William Hall, whose family lived in one part of the building. There was public worship held in the factory on Sunday afternoons by some of the members of Rev. James Patterson's church, then at the north-west corner of Second and Coates streets. The factory was destroyed by fire in the fall of the year 1818. A colored boy belonging to the establishment perished in the flames, and the other inmates made a very narrow escape. The nearest fire com- pany at that time was the Friendship, which stood at the north- east corner of Brown and St. John streets. When the firemen arrived they got plenty of water from the Cohocksink Creek, in the rear of the fire, but a short distance off.
There used to be, at the time of our last war with England, a little one-story tavern in Christian street, above Swanson, near the old Swedes' Church. You had to go down three steps below the pavement to get to the bar. It had a pitched roof, and was alto- gether a comical-looking place, with a sign over the door, about three feet square, with an old hen and a brood of young chickens, and an eagle hovering over them holding a crown in its beak, with this inscription on it: "May the wings of Liberty cover the chickens of Freedom, and pluck the crown from the enemy's head." Over sixty years ago there was a tavern in Water street above Almond, west side, with a well-painted sign about three feet square, with three sailors painted on it. One was sitting down strapping a block, and the other two were standing, with this inscription :
" Brother sailor, please to stop And lend a hand to strap this block ; For, if you do not stop nor call, I cannot strap this block at all."
Among the old signs were the Horse and Anaconda, in Swanson street, near the marine railway; The Four Nations, in Coates street near Fairmount, there were four castles or forts, with a national flag of the United States, also one of England, France, and Spain, displayed from each ; The Moon and Seven Stars, at the north-west corner of Fourth and Race streets; The Canal Boat, out Market street, some distance beyond Broad, the place was called the Schuylkill Navigation; the Ferry Boat, horse, on the south side of Market street, near Water. On the top of this sign, a swinging one, there was a neat model of a wherry-boat by which passengers in winter were ferried across to Camden. Can any tell where this model is ? The peculiar style of these boats is not seen now, and many of the present generation probably never saw one. On the north side of Spruce street, east of Second street, is a small alley which runs into Dock street. In this alley more than fifty years ago was an ancient tavern with a very at- tractive sign, having on it a man and his wife, the latter leaning on his arm. In the hand of the woman was a bandbox and a cat
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on top of it. The man had a monkey on his shoulder and a parrot in his hand. It was intended to represent " A Man Full of Trouble." This tavern retained this name for more than a hundred years.
A once famous old tavern in Kensington was the Sorrel Horse, at the point where Shackamaxon street terminates in the Frank- ford road. Most Kensingtonians who have seen two-score years -especially Fishtowners between Frankford road and Gunner's Run-have heard the violin and tambourine at the Sorrel Horse. The Lady Washington was another well-known tavern-sign on the Frankford road, opposite Bedford street, in front of an old three-story brick house which is still standing. A large room in the third story, with a frescoed ceiling, was rented by the Odd Fellows or Masons. Another famous sign, Shooting the Deserter, swung in front of Peter Boon's tavern, at the foot of Shacka- maxon street on the Delaware. Penn's Treaty tavern-sign was on Beach street below Marlborough. The sign of the Landing of Columbus, painted by Woodside, was on Beach street one door from Laurel. On Second street, between Thompson and Master streets, west side, was a sign of Daniel O'Connell, under whose bust was inscribed these lines :
" Hereditary bondmen ! who would be free, Themselves must strike the blow."
Some forty years ago there was a tavern kept in a frame house, painted lead color, at the south-east corner of Sixth and South streets. On the sign was the representation of a soldier and a sailor in the garb of "a man-of-warsman," with hands clasped in each other, and a wreath over their heads with " Where Liberty dwells, there is my country." By the side of the soldier was the Temple of Liberty, supported by the thirteen columns, and also the implements of war. In the background was the sea and ships. B. Mckeown used to keep a tavern at that time on the east side of Second street, next to the south-east corner of Lom- bard street, in a yellow frame building. On the sign was painted a good portrait of Washington, and also on strips of about two inches wide, running perpendicularly, so as to give a full view of Washington from the north, south, and from the front. "Old Johnny Upton," as he was familiarly known, used to keep a tavern on the south side of Dock street above Second. He had a sign extending across his house, on which were painted fish, game, meats, etc .; and so natural were they painted that on one occasion a dog passing by, on looking up and seeing them, think- ing them real, made a jump for them. He did not find out his mistake until his head came in contact with the sign-board. So it was said ! In 1844 John C. Righter raised the sign over his
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naval rendezvous, in Front street above Union, of the capture of the Cyanne and the Levant by the "Old Ironsides," Constitu- tion. There was a sign which presented the three portraits of Washington, La Fayette, and Franklin-one to a person directly opposite to it, and the others painted on slats at right angles to the main sign, showing other faces to those who approached in different directions. This sign was in front of a tavern on the south side of Chestnut street above Sixth. It was afterward in Second street below Lombard. On the brewery in Fifth street below Market a similarly-constructed sign presented the names of the three partners who carried on the business for about twenty years.
The Brown Street River Market-a building project of some magnitude, covering a lot one thousand feet long by one hundred feet wide, bounded by Delaware avenue, Beach street, and Co- hocksink Creek-extends over the site where, many years ago, was located a famous inn, known to old residents of Kensington as " General Washington crossing the Delaware."
In Letitia court was the Penn Tavern. On the sign was a por- trait of Penn. It stood at the head of the court, directly facing Market street. About the same time there was the Two-headed Eagle, Third street, above Race, and the Bald Eagle, farther up Third street. The Wigwam was in Fifth street, above Chestnut, a little two-story building. At the south-east corner of Sixth and Vine streets was the Cross Keys, kept by Mrs. Rex; and there was the same sign at the south-west corner of Second and Lombard streets. In Sixth street above Arch was the Metamora House (1833), with Forrest as Metamora for a sign. On Ridge road, near Laurel Hill, was the Robin Hood, and at Laurel Hill was a tavern kept by Renshaw. In Fourth street below Callowhill was a blue frame two-story house called the Bird in Hand. On one side of the sign was a sportsman with a dead bird in hand. On the other side were two birds in a bush, out of the sportsman's reach, with the motto, " A bird in hand worth two in the bush." There was a place of resort called Adam and Eveses Garden. On the sign was Adam and Eve in Paradise. This was on the west side of Sixth street, near where Berks street now is, and ex- tended to Seventh street. It was just above Miller's Creek, and in the rear of the Old Cottage Garden. Miller's Creek was the name given to Cohocksink Creek in that locality, because it went through the grounds connected with Miller's glue-factory. It was fifteen or twenty feet wide and from two to four feet deep, and was the favorite resort for swimming of many of the boys in the northern section of the city. The tavern and garden were kept by Daniel Ley, a German.
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