History of Philadelphia, 1609-1884, Part 32

Author: Scharf, J. Thomas (John Thomas), 1843-1898. cn; Westcott, Thompson, 1820-1888, joint author
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: Philadelphia, Pa. : L. H. Everts & Co.
Number of Pages: 992

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On Nov. 7, 1836, the Pennsylvania Theatre, in Coates Street, west of Second, north side, was opened by Logan & Wemyss.

Cooke's Equestrian Circus, on Chestnut Street, below Ninth, was opened by T. Cooke on the 28th of Angust, 1838. Cooke's company performed there for some time, then it was taken to Baltimore; there it suffered heavy losses in horses, costumes, etc., by the burning of the Front Street Theatre, where it was playing. Cooke came back to Philadelphia with the remnants of his stock, and performed at the Walnut Street Theatre. In the mean time William E. Burton fitted the circus on Chestnut Street for dramatic per- formances, and opened it in August, 1840, as the National Theatre. A correspondent sent to the Dis- patch some years ago the following interesting reminiscence of the opening night :

" I was one of five hundred or more persons who aqueezed them- selves into the cheapest part (the pit) of the National Theatre, in Chestnut Street, helow Ninth, when it was first opened by William E.

Burton, on the 3lat of August, 1840. I give the date because I pre- served the playbill, and bava it now. It coat me 'three levvies' to get into the pit, which now, being called the parquet, ia considered the best part of the theatre. The play was ' The Rivals,' in which Burton did Bob Acres, Richinga, Captain Absolute, and Tom Placide, Fag. Charlotte Cushman made her first appearance in this city na Lydia Languish, and her pretty aister, Susan, as Julia. The after-piece was ' A Roland for an Oliver,' The Hon, Alfred Highflyer, Mr. Richings; Maria Darlington, Charlotte Cualiman, 'with a song' (what do you think of that ?), 'When Harmony Wakene.' Burton abolished 'the old green curtain, and in- troduced instead a canvas curtain representing the American flag, painted in drapery atyle by W. Russell Smith. It was very showy. But the act-drop was one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen. I do not conaider that it waa excelled by the effective drop at the Academy of Music, printed by Georga Heilge, who in this proved bis merit. The subject was 'The Cottage of Cinude Melnotte, on the Lake of Como.' There was chance to introduce the fineat landscape effects. The beauty, the clearnesa of the water, the rich foliage of the shore, the rocke, the mountain peake, and all the accessoriea were aplendid. The aky had the effect of distance and clearness. It seemed as if you could see the acenery of the lake and shore stretching out for miles. When thie mag- nificent picture was unrolled at the end of the first act of 'The Rivals,' it came down and opened so unexpectedly in its beauty that the whole bouge wns startled-I think I may use the word-by the unexpected effect. The audience sat as if spell-bound for a moment or two, when simultaneously, as if Actiog under command, there broke forth such peale of applanse that the aound was perfectly deafening, and it was kept up for a long time. The triumph of the artist must have been the most gratifying of his life."

Burton was not successful in his enterprise. He failed, and was sold out by the sheriff. The magnifi- cent act drop,-which had met with an accident, having been torn in two, but had been mended so as to conceal effectively the rent-was brought to the hammer, and was purchased for the use of the Walnut Street Theatre. The " National" subsequently be- came Welch's Amphitheatre, and was quite successful in that line of performance. It was destroyed by fire, July 5, 1854. On the same evening the Philadelphia Museum building, at the northeast corner of Ninth and Sansom Streets, was burned down.

The year 1839 saw the opening of the Assembly Buildings, corner of Tenth and Chestnut Streets. This place was burned March 18, 1851, but was re- built and reopened in 1852.

McAran's Garden Theatre, Filbert Street, between Seventeenth and Eighteenth Streets, was opened June 13, 1840, by Ward & McIntosh. The Athie- næum Museum and Theatre, afterward known as Barnum's Museum, at the southeast corner of Sev- enth and Chestnut Streets, was opened by Taber & Co., Dec. 25, 1845. It was burned down on the 30th of December, 1851.

The Academy of Fine Arts, or Peale's Museum Theatre, Masonic Hall, Chestnut Street, between Seventh and Eighth, was opened by John Sefton in August, 1846. It closed in July, 1847. " The com- pany at this little theatre was a superior one, and nowadays would he called 'a star company.' Among the members were Joseph (' Rip Van Winkle') Jeffer- son, John Sefton, David P. Bowers, John E. Owens, Barney Williams, Charles Burke, half brother of Jefferson, and a better comic actor than the latter, with his wife, one of the liveliest actresses of the i day, E. N. Thayer, Mrs. Russel (afterward Mrs. John

1 The large factory building of the Tathame, lead-pipe manufacturere, Dow occupies the aita.

" The question having been raised aome years ago as to whether the Arch Street Theatre was built by Strickland, a currespondent wrote as followa to the Philadelphia Dispatch :

" In a Philadelphia guide-book, published by Carey & Hart in 1830-31, is a description of the Archi Street Theatre. The compiler anya, ' Mr. Strickland was the architect of this beautiful theatre, which was first opened on tha Ist of October, 1828.' 'The Album,' published in 1828 or 1829, has an engraving of the Arch Street Theatre, and I ani aure Strickland ia mentioned as the architect. Strickland was the architect of the capitol at Nashville, Tenu. In constructing the dome of that building he left a niche for his sepulchre. He died at Nashville, April 7, 1854, and hia remains were placed there In accordance with hie request. On a alab in the dome ia this inscription,-' William Strickland, archi- tect of this building, born at Philadelphia, 1787, died at Nashville, April 7, 1854,' ">

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HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.

Hoey), Miss Mary Gannon, Miss Mary Taylor, Mr. and Mrs. Charles Howard, and others. This splendid galaxy could be seen at any time at this theatre for twenty-five cents.

Sansom Street Hall, opened in 1848 for concerts, balls, etc., was closed as a place of amusement in 1863.

T. V. Turner & Co. opened the American Circus, on Fourth Street, between Brown and Poplar, in Jan- uary, 1849.

The Melodeon was opened in 1852 in the old Boli- var Hotel building, on Chestnut Street, between Sixth and Seventh, north side. In 1854 it became Wood's , Museum, and was opened on the 17th of December by Col. J. H. Wood. It was destroyed by fire in 1857.

National Hall, Market Street, between Twelfth and Thirteenth, was opened on Jan. 8, 1856, with a concert given by the Musical Union. In November, 1862, it was fitted out as a circus, and opened by Gardner & Hemmings. In 1873 this place was turned into a theatre, and opened, October 21st, by J. H. Johnson & Co., under the name of the Olympic Theatre. It was burned Jan. 29, 1874. Jayne's Hall, Chestnut Street near Seventh, was also opened in 1856 with a concert.

The National Guards' Hall, on Race Street, between Fifth and Sixth, opened with a ball and promenade concert, Nov. 17, 1857. McDonough's Gaieties, on Race Street, between Second and Third Streets, was opened by J. E. McDonough, Jan. 19, 1859; the fol- lowing year it opened as McDonough's Olympic Theatre. The Theatre of Art was opened by J. San- derson, in Jayne's Commonwealth Building, north side of Chestnut Street, between Sixth and Seventh. This place is now used for business purposes.

The new Chestnut Street Theatre, on Chestnut Street, between Twelfth and Thirteenth, north side, was opened on the 26th of January, 1863, by William Wheatley. The interior of this theatre was rebuilt in 1874.

Opera-House, on Seventh Street below Arch. The name was afterward changed to "Seventh Street Opera-House," later, to " Philadelphia Opera Com- ique," and finally to " Adelphi Variety." The build- ing was originally the Second Presbyterian Church.

The Arch Street Opera-House, on Arch Street west of Tenth, which had been opened by Simmons and Slocum on the 20th of August, 1870, was burned on the 20th of March, 1872. It was immediately rebuilt, and reopened Aug. 26, 1872. The American Museum, Menagerie and Theatre, at the northwest corner of Ninth and Arch Streets, was opened Nov. 23, 1870, by Simpson, Carneross & Dixey. This place after- ward became Wood's Museum. On the 17th of December. in the same year, Robert Fox opened Fox's New American Theatre, on Chestnut Street between Tenth and Eleventh, north side. Another theatre, Harmonie Hall (German ), was opened at that

Ballard & Stickney opened a menagerie and circus on Walnut Street, west of Eighth, in December, 1853, which afterward became Welch & Raymond's Circus, ; time in Coates Street, near Seventh, by the Maenner- and, still later, the Continental Theatre. This theatre chor Musical Society. Its existence was brief, it being destroyed by fire March 8, 1871. Sanford's Opera- House, Second Street, above Poplar, was opened in 1871 by S. S. Sanford. It had scarcely commenced the season when it took fire and was burned down, Oct. 17, 1871. was destroyed by fire June 19, 1867, and was rebuilt the same year. The City Museum Theatre, on Cal- lowhill Street, between Fourth and Fifth, was opened by Ashton & Co. on the 11th of September, 1854. It was burned, also, on the 25th of November, 1868.

Thus, from 1799 to 1871, nineteen theatres, circuses, and museums were destroyed by fire, being over one- third of the total number of such places opened during that period, and a little less than one-fourth of all such places of amusement, together with music halls that existed at any time since 1749. It is a remarkable fact that so many fires in places of public resort were not attended by any loss of life among the audiences. Rensselaer Albert Shephard, an actor, was caught in the falling ruins of the National Theatre, Chestnut Street, July, 1854, and burned to death.

CHAPTER XXX.

INNS, TAVERNS, ORDINARIES, COFFEE-HOUSES, AND HOTELS.

IN olden times, such a thing as the modern hotel, with its fashionably-dressed and all-important clerk, its vast smoking-room, carpeted parlors, gilt mould- ings, and other luxurious appointments, was un- known. The modest inn accommodated "man and beast," and the jolly landlord welcomed the wearied traveler,-and fleeced him, too, when the occasion offered,-and an active, bright-eyed barmaid waited . on him, and provided those simple comforts,-a pipe, a pair of slippers, a glass of hot punch or a tankard of foaming ale, and a cosy corner near the tap-room fire. If the cloth was coarse it was generally white and clean, at least in respectable establishments, and

Adam Forepaugh opened the Philadelphia Circus and Menagerie, on the southwest corner of Tenth and Callowhill Streets, Nov. 27, 1865. In the same year a private amateur company opened the Amateurs' Drawing-Room, on Seventeenth Street above Chest- nut. On the 29th of May, 1867. Horticultural Hall, Broad Street above Spruce, opened with a floral exhibition. On the 18th of September of the same year, Tunison & Parsons opened the Philadelphia | the plain deal table groaned under the weight of

INNS, TAVERNS, ORDINARIES, COFFEE-HOUSES, AND HOTELS.

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viands which, if they presented no great variety, were well cooked and wholesome. Our fathers were great eaters and stout drinkers, and there was no need of a French menu and wines with high-sounding names to whet their appetites; roast beef, a leg of mutton, ham and cabbage, a fat fowl, were the solid dishes

The oldest inn or tavern in Philadelphia was the Blue Anchor, built by George Guest in 1682, at least it laid before them ; ale, port or Madeira wine, and a ' " was not finished' (says R. Proud) at the time of the glass of Jamaica rum and hot water to top off, left proprietor's arrival" (in that year). It was there them in a pretty good condition to find sleep on the clean bed,-sometimes a hard one,-prepared for them in the small room, whose bare floors, whitewashed walls, and plain curtains, did not invite dreams of palatial splendors.

The tavern, though it accommodated guests with bed and board, had more of the character of a drink- ing-house. The inn was rural in its origin, the tavern originated in the city, and was frequented not merely by topers and revelers, but by quiet citizens, bachelors having no fireside of their own, and men of family who went there to meet neighbors and discuss business or the news, while enjoying a quiet glass and pipe. The ordinary was an eating-house, something between the restaurant and the boarding- house of our day. Coffee-houses, so called, which dispensed intoxicating drinks as well as the fragrant decoction of the Arabian bean, made their appear- ance later ; they were but taverns in an aristocratic disguise.

Philadelphia had quite a large number of these establishments for a city of its size, yet this fact was not due merely to the drinking habits of the inhabi- tants. It is more truly accounted for by the surpris- ingly rapid increase of the population from immigra- tion during the first half of the eighteenth century, and the continual influx of strangers during and after the Revolution. These people had to be provided with food and lodging. It was a paying business, and many embarked in it. Nor does the increase in the number of taverns indicate an increase in drunken- ness. We have related in another chapter the com- plaints and fears of the serious-minded citizens of ante-Revolution times, that the people were fast becoming a community of drunkards, yet, during those trying years of the war of independence, although folly and extravagance were the marked characteristics of fashionable society, there is nothing to show a greater tendency to intemperance. After the war, when the era of peace and prosperity com- menced, quite the reverse is apparent. Through some unexplained cause or influence the people have turned to the ways of temperance, and there is not more drunkenness-not as much, perhaps-in Phila- delphia than in any other large city in the Union.

Many interesting memories are attached to the old taverns and inns, important events and illustrious names are connected with the history of many of them, others awaken a curious interest by their quaint signs and rhymed mottoes and sentiments. They form part of the history of the city, and should

not be forgotten. The generation which saw the most of them is fast passing away, and for the facts concerning some of those mementoes of a time not yet very distant, we have already to rely on tradition.

BLUE ANCHOR INN AND DOCK CREEK. [From an old drawing in Philadelphia Library.]

William Penn landed, the first house in which he broke bread on the soil that was to be Philadelphia. This house was the southwestern one in a row of houses on Front Street, which was known as " Budd's Long Row." It formed what is now the northwest corner of Front and Dock Streets. It was subse- quently called the " Boatman and Call."

The next oldest, probably, was the Penny Pot- House, at Front and Vine Streets, it being also built at a landing to which it gave its name. It was a two-story brick house of good dimensions. It was still standing in the earlier part of the present cen- tury, but the name' had been changed to the Jolly Tar Inn. In the year 1701, William Penn set forth and ordained that "the landing-places now and here-

PENNY POT-HOUSE AND LANDING. [From an old drawing in Philadelphia Library.]

tofore used as the Penny Pot-House and Blue Anchor shall be left open and common for the use of the city." There were other houses of entertainment opened, however, very soon after William Penn's arrival, for in a letter, written in 1683, he says, " We have seven ordinaries for the entertainment of strangers and workmen that are not housekeepers,

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HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.

and a good meal is to be had for sixpence sterling." How fast the number of taverns and drinking-houses inereased after the incorporation of the eity is shown by the grand jury reports. In 1709 many tippling and disorderly houses were presented ; in 1714, thirty-five true bills were found, in one session, against un- licensed taverns; in 1744, there were upward of a hundred houses licensed ; in 1752, there were a hun- dred and twenty taverns with licenses, and one hun- dred and eighteen houses that sold rum by the quart. During all this time, and until 1759, justices of the peace heard and decided causes at public inns, and the Common Council itself had held its sittings oeea- sionally in those places.

The first public-house designated as a " coffee- house" was built in Penn's time by Samuel Carpen- ter, on the east side of Front Street, probably above Walnut Street. That it was the first of its kind, the only one, in fact, for some years, seems to be estab- lished beyond doubt. It was always alluded to in old times as "ye Coffee-House." Samuel Carpenter owned also the Globe Inn, which was separated from the Coffee-House by a public stairway running down from Front Street to Water, and, it is supposed, to "Carpenter's wharf." The Coffee-House was a great place in those early days; it was there the ship-cap- tains and merchants congregated to discuss the com- mercial and political news, and many interesting scenes must have taken place there of which no account has been preserved.

CLARK'S INN. Facing the State-House, on Chestnut Street.

Clark's Inn, the Coach and Horses, was in Chestnut Street, opposite the State-llonse, before the Revolu- tion. Here assemblymen, Governors, and public officers, with judges, perhaps, refreshed themselves in the good old times.

Enoch Story's Inn, at the sign of the Pewter Platter, which gave its name to Pewter Platter Alley, was a place much frequented by the young bloods in Gov- ernor Evans' time, and was the scene of many a bac- chanalian revel. It was there young Penn and his friends had the fight with the watch which led to their being presented by the grand jury.

The Crooked Billet Inn, on the wharf above Chest- nut Street, was the first house entered by Benjamin

Franklin when he came to Philadelphia in 1723. It was already an old house. Not so old, however, as the Indian King Tavern, in High Street, near Third. This house, which was famous in its time, was selected by Franklin and his friends as the club-house of the Junto.

The Three Crowns Tavern, in Second Street, adjoin- ing the City Tavern, was celebrated for its excellent table and perfeet management under the supervision of the worthy hostess, Mrs. Jones. Entertainments were given there to Richard Penn and other Gov- ernors. Peg Mullen's "Beefsteak House," on the east side of Water Street, at the corner of Wileox's Alley, was another house celebrated for its cookery. Mr. Watson was informed by the late Col. Morris that it was the fashionable house in his youthful days. Governor Hamilton and others held their elubs there. The Freemasons held their lodge meetings at Mrs. Mullen's, which was also a favorite place for public entertainments and meetings of societies.

The London Coffee-House has been described at 'length in another chapter. Its successor in the public favor was the City Tavern. This house was finished in 1773, and was advertised as a new house in Second Street, near Walnut. It was intended to be kept as a genteel tavern. "It contains several large rooms, two of which, thrown into one, makes a room fifty feet long. Also several lodging-rooms." Inquirers were requested to address their communica- tions to Hugh James. In 1774 it was advertised that the long room at the City Tavern was divided into boxes fitted with tables and elegantly lighted.

On his arrival in Philadelphia, on the 4th of Sep- tember, 1774, Gen. Washington supped at the " New Tavern," which was then kept by Mr. Smith. "On Monday, 5th of September, 1774," says Mr. Bancroft, "the members of Congress, meeting at Smith's Tavern, moved in a body to select a place for their delibera- tions." On the 20th of October, in the same year, " a grand entertainment was given by the Assembly of the province to all the delegates from the different provinces, at this time in the city, at the New Tavern."1 It was at the City Tavern Monsieur Gerard, the first aceredited representative of France near the government of the United States, gave his grand entertainment in honor of Louis XVI.'s birth- day. At the time of the riot known as the Fort Wilson affair, the friends of James Wilson assembled at the City Tavern and sent word to President Reed of the danger apprehended. When the rioters com- menced their demonstration, they marched first to the City Tavern, expecting to find there some of the obnoxious merchants. The gentlemen had already left the tavern, and the baffled party went up to Wilson's house.

The bull's head was a very common sign. There were several houses of that name in existence at

1 Christopher Marshall's Diary.

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INNS, TAVERNS, ORDINARIES, COFFEE-HOUSES, AND HOTELS.

different periods. In 1704 the Governor, attended by several members of the Council, met the repre- sentatives of the lower counties, "where they were met at the Bull's Head in Philadelphia." Mr. Watson surmises that this was probably in Strawberry Street or the one west of it. The " Bull's Head Inn" in Second Street, north of Poplar Street, has an inter- esting memory attached to it. Thomas Leiper had connected his quarries on Crum Creek with Ridley Creek by a railway, evidently the first ever cou- structed in this country. He invited several gentle- men to meet him at the " Bull's Head," and there, in the yard of the inn, he exhibited the plan of his railway. Professor Robert M. Patterson, Callender Irvine, and John Glenn were among the interested citizens present on this occasion. "Reading Howell was the engineer, and the original draught of the railway was made by John Thomson, a native of Delaware County, whose son, the late John Edgar Thomson, president of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, not long ago presented it to the Delaware County Institute of Science." 1

The Aurora of Sept. 29, 1809, devotes an editorial to this interesting exhibition.

The Indian Queen, on the east side of Fourth Street, below Market, was another ancient inn. Some time after 1800, Woodside painted a new sign for it, which was in his best style. There was another old Indian Queen Ino, a favorite place of resort, which was more generally named the Centre House, from its being near Centre Square. In 1803 it was kept by Samuel Hoffman, and at some other time by Job Whipple. The Indian Queen Inn first mentioned was kept before 1800 by John Francis, who again took it in 1803, when he left the Union Hotel. It was after- ward kept by Samuel Richardet; then, at later periods, by Robert Smith, Margaret Thompson, and James Coyle. In 1822, Thomas Heiskell was proprietor.

Fort St. David's Inn, the old tavern at the Falls of Schuylkill, had on its sign a representation of the fish-house of Fort St. David's, which was near by.

The Wigwam, out Race Street by the Schuylkill, which was at one time the resort of the St. Tammany Society, obtained a new name in consequence of its connection with that association ; but it was injured considerably in attraction by having been made a hospital and place of refuge during one of the yellow fever seasons before 1800.

The Lemon-Tree, also called the Wigwam, was on the west side of Sixth Street, and extended from Noble to Buttonwood Street, and westward nearly to Seventh. William Wray was the keeper of the Wigwam. James Harvey became the proprietor in 1812. It was kept by Bartholomew Graves, who was a famous Democrat. The Lemon-Tree was the headquarters of butchers and drovers, and was the scene of political meetings, ox-roasts, and Fourth of July dinners.

In 1804 Rowland Smith established a new Wig- wam in Spring Garden, on North Sixth Street, not far distant from the Lemon-Tree. On Nov. 15, 1806, upou an occasion of some popular demonstration, the weather was unusually stormy, yet there were three hundred Democrats present, who were kept warm by the Wigwam being closed on all sides to keep out the weather, and being floored over and warmed with stoves. On this occasion Dr. Michael Leib presided, and Stephen Girard gave a barrel of gunpowder to be blown away by the cannon as salutes in honor of the toasts. Enos Eldridge succeeded Smith as landlord in 1807, and Mrs. Saville afterward became proprie- tress.

Harry Epple's Inn, in Race Street, was a fashion- able resort during the Revolutionary period. An assembly party was given there, which was graced by Mrs. Bingham's presence. Washington, it is chroni- cled, was an occasional guest at Epple's, so was Louis Philippe d'Orleans, while he lived in Philadel- phia. The George Inn, at the corner of Second and Mulberry Streets, was the stopping-place of the New York and Baltimore mail coaches. The sign repre- sented St. George on horseback, armed with a long spear, killing a dragon. It was kept at one period by John Inskeep, who was for a time mayor of Phila- delphia. But the most celebrated of its landlords was Michael Dennison, an Englishman, who had the name of "the biggest landlord in the city." Mr. Deoni- son's genial disposition and his solicitude for the comfort of his guests made him very popular with traveling Englishmen and Americans. " Lang Syne" furnished Mr. Watson with some reminiscences of the "George," among which were the following lines of poetry made upon Dennison's giving up business to return to his native England. These lines were published in vol. i. of Watson's " Annals of Phila- delphia."

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History of Philadelphia, 1609-1884, Part 32

Author: Scharf, J. Thomas (John Thomas), 1843-1898. cn; Westcott, Thompson, 1820-1888, joint author Publication date: 1884 Publisher: Philadelphia, Pa. : L. H. Everts & Co. Number of Pages: 992

Author: Scharf, J. Thomas (John Thomas), 1843-1898. cn; Westcott, Thompson, 1820-1888, joint author
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: Philadelphia, Pa. : L. H. Everts & Co.
Number of Pages: 992