History of Philadelphia, 1609-1884, Part 35

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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" The debut of the hotel was ench as to give ample promise of making a very conspicuons figure, aud of proving very useful to the public. . . . The building is second to nothing that our country coutnice. In- deed, when we take into view the number, convenience, dimensions, and excellence of the apartments, it is perhaps not too much to say that it is tho foremost house of the kind in the United States. This honse, besides n public diaing-room and a coffee-room, cootnine a bull-room."

John MeLaughlin succeeded Barry as proprietor of this house in the latter part of the year 1813. The house was not successful, and was abandoned as a hotel about 1815.

The handsome head of the Bard of Avon was a favorite sign. There were several " Shakespeare" inns, the principal one being that on South Sixth Street, between Market and Chestnut Streets, kept by David Irvin, and later (1805) by William Smith. A much more fashionable establishment, however, was the Shakespeare Hotel at the northwest corner of Sixth and Chestnut Streets. It was kept in 1804 by Joseph Vogdes, who was succeeded in 1806 by Lewis Young. David Barnum, of Columbus, Pa., leased this hotel in 1808, but he was not very successful, although in his announcement of the opening he had stated con- fidently that, " To those who know the accommoda- tions of the house, the size of the rooms, and the manner in which they are fitted up, it would be su- perfluous to say anything upon the subject." Samuel Hymas afterward kept the Shakespeare Hotel for some years.

The Robin Hood Tavern, in Poplar Street below Fourth, was a popular dance-house, and also famous for bear- and bull-fights on holidays. There was also a Robin Hood Inn on Ridge road, near Laurel Hill, which was established long before the Revolution.

The Silver Heels was the nickname of another tavern and dance-house, situated in Tammany Street, be- tween Fifth and Sixth Streets. The sign of " The Four Nations," in Coates Street, near Fairmount, represented four forts, flying respectively the flags of

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the United States, England, France, and Spain. On Beach Street, near the Cohocksink Creek bridge, Kensington, was a sign of "Washington Crossing the Delaware," after Sully's famous picture.

The sign of the "State Fencibles Second Company" was in front of a yellow frame public-house on Third Street, below Coates. This house was kept by John Christine, a lieutenant in the Second Fencibles. On Callowhill Street, below Water, was a sign sur- mounted by the model of a ferry-boat, with a bird- box on top. The swallows used to make their nests in this box.

After the first decade in the present century, we see no new inns; the modern appellation of "hotel" is more general. The first house constructed in Phil- adelphia especially for the purpose of a hotel was the new Mansion Hotel, at the southeast corner of Eleventh and Market Streets. It was erected by Thomas Leiper, the owner of the lot, for William Renshaw, who left the Mansion House (Bingham's) and opened the new house in 1813. Although pro- vided with every convenience known at that time, and elegantly furnished, the new Mansion House did not prove to be a very profitable venture, owing, probably, to its remoteness from the business quarter of the city, and Mr. Renshaw, after a year or two of trial, returned to his former hotel. Ford Cutter, of New York, then became the lessee, but he could not accomplish what Renshaw's experience and ability had failed to achieve, and his experiment, also, was of short duration.

Judd's Hotel, No. 27 South Third Street, was opened in 1819, by Anson Judd. The building, which was formerly the post-office, had been enlarged, and pre- sented a very fine appearance, being four stories high, with a large front. This hotel did a very good busi- ness. Dana Judd Upson succeeded Anson Judd in the management, and in 1824 the hotel passed into the hands of James Bradley. There was an adjoining lot which fronted on Chestnut Street, upon which a hotel was built in 1826 with two entrances, one on Third Street and one on Chestnut Street .. This building, with its double extension, had the shape of an " L." It was called Congress Hall.

The Bell Tavern, on South Eighth Street, might have been, but probably was not, named after the old bell that hung in the State-House. In its earlier days the Bell was a great resort for politicians, and was said to have been the first house in Philadelphia where Andrew Jackson was named for the Presi- dency. When in the great fire of 1854 the whole block, including the museum and the National Theatre, was destroyed, the " Bell" was the only building that escaped the flames. It had already fallen from its high estate, and had become a " three- cent shop," frequented by blacks and whites.

The Cornucopia Eating-House and Restaurant, in Third Street, below Arch, west side, was opened in 1832, by Robert Manners, who sold it in 1836 to Robert

Harmer. It was a first-class establishment. The St. Charles Hotel was erected on the same site.

The Golden Swan Tavern was on the banks of the Schuylkill River, near Point Breeze. It was kept during a few years by Abraham McGee, after which the property was sold and became a private residence.

William Trotter kept for many years the Richmond Hotel, at Port Richmond. It was a place much fre- quented by sportsmen, and Charles J. Wolbert, who occupied it in 1821, announced that, in addition to his large stock of catfish, he had received about fourteen hundred others from the cove opposite Rich- mond. "The fowler and fisher are informed that there are no better gunning or fishing grounds than those adjoining the above hotel."

The Decatur Inn was started in October, 1813, by George Schoch, in Carpenter Street. This house was originally known as the German Hall. The sign was a representation of the hall of the German Society near by, on Seventh Street, below Market. Before Schoch took it, Jacob Nice kept an eating-house there. As the " Decatur Inn," it won the patronage of quiet- loving people, and became quite prosperous. It gave its name to Decatur Street, which was originally called Turner's Alley.

The Union Hall Hotel, at the corner of Chestnut and Front Streets, formerly kept by J. E. Beanson, having passed into the hands of T. Thomas, the new lessee advertised as an attraction to customers that his rooms were " kept warm with Lehigh coal."

After the completion of the Market Street bridge a tavern, known as the Ferry House, was built on the west side of the Schuylkill, north of Market Street. A large hotel, which received the name of "The Schuylkill Hotel," was erected on the north side of Market Street. It was kept in 1810 by Peter Evans. Buell Rowley succeeded him in 1815, but kept the place only one year. It then passed under the management of R. Smith.

The Upper Ferry Hotel, on the west side of the Schuylkill, at Fairmount, was kept by Jacob Horn in 1820. Richard Harding became the landlord some years later. The Lower Ferry House, known as Gray's Ferry and Garden, was kept in 1800 by George Weed, in 1804 by James Coyles, formerly of the Indian Queen, Fourth Street, and in 1805 by Curtis Grubb. In 1825, D. Kochersperger became the landlord.

Mendenhall's Ferry Tavern was on the west side of the Schuylkill, below the Falls, and opposite a ford which landed on the east side and ran up to the Ridge turnpike. The lane still remains between North and South Laurel Hill Cemeteries. Menden- hall's was a famous catfish-and-coffee tavern upon the river-road drive, and was popular.

Among the taverns of a more recent date than those already described, was one with the picture of Gen. Washington, on Second Street, near the corner of Lombard Street, some forty years ago, which at-

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

tracted attention by the peculiar arrangement of its sign, rather a novelty at the time. It was one of those signs with perpendicular strips or slats so com- bined that while one has a good front view of the subject when standing opposite, an equally correct view of some other portrait is had when approaching the sign from either side. Another tavern, on Chest- nut Street above Sixth, had a sign made in this style, but the three views showed three different pictures. Another of these signs, on a brewery in Fifth Street below Market, presented the names of the three partners who conducted the business. .

A tavern at the southwest corner of Tenth and Arch Streets had a large sign of Gen. Washington, and was generally known as the " Washington Soup- House," being famous for the excellent soups and pepper-pots with which the proprietor, William Raster, tempted his epicurean customers.

"Our House" was the name of a handsome drink- ing-saloon established by John Vasey & Co., in 1839 or 1840, on the south side of Library Street, between Fourth and Fifth, in the building known as Military Hall, which was originally constructed by Mathew Carey for his printing-office. It was subsequently occupied by J. H. Fennimore, and called the Union House; later it was used by Labbe as a dancing- saloon, and afterward taken by certain military companies for an armory. Here used to meet the State Fencibles, Capt. James Page; Second State Fencibles, Capt. Murray ; Washington Blues, Capt. W. C. Patterson. Here Frank Johnson, the black musician, who as a performer on the bugle had no superior at the time, practiced his band, which was the only band of music for some years in Philadel- phia. It was after this that Vasey & Co. took it.

" Head Quarters," on Franklin Place above Chest- nut, succeeded it, and was opened by Charles Alex- ander probably about 1836. It was rich with cosmo- ramas, pictures, busts, etc., and many original views of buildings in Philadelphia, by Breton. There was quite an extensive reading-room, well supplied with newspapers, being the " exchanges" of the Daily Chronicle and other publications of which Alexander was the proprietor.

The Wasp and Frolic, at the corner of Garden and Vine Streets, was some years older than the above described. The following anecdote is related in connection with this tavern : "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-rob- bers. 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 arrived at Tnrner'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 uttering a word. His hands were tied, and his pockets were emptied. The others were served in the same manner. One of the passengers objected to having his tobacco taken from him. This created some merriment, in which the robbers joined. An- other passenger, 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.'"

The California House, which was the scene of a riot on election night, October, 1849, was situated at the corner of Sixth and St. Mary Streets.

The Sans Souci Hotel was opened by William De- beaufre, in the former country-seat of the Say family, a delightfully romantic place on the cliffs near Gray's Ferry, on the west side of the Schuylkill. It was afterward kept by Othwine, who already had a tavern on the east side of the river. The Sans Souci, which promised to become a favorite resort owing to its situation, had, however, but a short life. The opening of the Philadelphia, Baltimore and Wilming- ton Railroad had caused it to spring into existence, and the widening of this railroad a few years later compelled its demolition ; it was in the way, like so many older landmarks.

Carel's tavern and restaurant, at the sign of "Gen. Simon Bolivar," was in Chestnut Street above Sixth, between the theatre and the Arcade. Some twenty-five or thirty years ago there was exhibited in this house a curiosity which attracted crowds of visitors. This was the mummy or dried-up remains of a so-called native of South America, found in the guano deposits of Peru. A gentleman who went to see this curiosity several times says, "The whole body was the color of an old saddle, and through its breast still stuck a part of the spear that had killed what looked to me to once have been a Portuguese. The remains were shriveled up; and the person had been, when living, not more than five feet four inches in height." Some naval officers who visited it in his company insisted that the body was that of an ancient Peruvian, and perhaps five hundred or six hundred years old.

There was a tavern kept by Eady Patterson at the southwest corner of Eighth and Lombard Streets, which had two very flashy signs, representing a half sun with radiating rays and stars surrounding it, one being on Lombard Street and the other on Eighth Street. This was a very respectable house, and was well patronized. Mr. Patterson died in 1832, and the " Rising Sun" double sign disappeared.

The most conspicuons, and for a long time the prin . cipal hotel of the city, was the United States Hotel, on the north side of Chestnut Street between Fourth and Fifth, opposite the United States Bank. It was orig-

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inally built by alteration and addition to two large dwelling houses, spacious and wide, with side yards and gardens. As it increased in popularity it was enlarged by an extensive addition on the cast, so that in the upper stories the hotel took up the front space of seven ordinary brick houses. John Rea, an up- holsterer, built this hotel, which was opened for guests in the year 1826. The host was Richard Renshaw.1

The United States Hotel for thirty years was the house to which strangers of distinction were sent, foreign travelers and others. It was in this hotel, upon the first visit of Charles Dickens to this country, that a small, self-appointed lot of Philadelphiaus assured the author of "Pickwick" that they came as representative Philadelphians, " with our hearts in our hands." The western part of the United States Hotel property in 1856 was sold to the Bank of Penn- sylvania. The present Philadelphia Bank stands on the spot.

A well-known first-class hotel for many years was the North American, sometimes called the Union Hotel, on the south side of Chestnut Street between Sixth and Seventh. It was a patched-up affair, made by the alteration of dwelling-houses. It was opened by Mrs. C. Yohe, then fell into the management of John A. Jones, and was commonly called Jones' Hotel for many years. Bridges and West were pro- prietors toward the end of its career.

The Columbia House, on the north side of Chest- nut Street, adjoining the Arcade on the west, also aspired to be a hotel of the first class. It took posses- sion of the mansion of Mrs. Elizabeth Powell after her death, and was kept by Badger, by Bagley Mc- Kenslie, and Ferguson. It was not a successful house, although it made a brave struggle for business.

Petry's restaurant, on Walnut Street above Third, was opened in April, 1858, in one of the finest old mansions in the city. It was built about 1793, for Judge Richard Peters, who occupied it for ten or fifteen years as a city residence, his country-seat being at Belmont, now Fairmount Park. After Judge Peters left it, the house was occupied by Charles Chauncey, attorney-at-law, who was succeeded by Elihu Chauncey, and Chauncey and Chester. The following interesting recollections about this old man- sion appeared in the Dispatch some years ago, when Petry's restaurant was closed :

" This house was, in its time, the resort of the very best society io the city. Judge Peters was generous and convivial, entertained liberally, and hind many visitors, Among them, no doubt, during the time that Congress sat in Philadelphia, were Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison,-perhaps Andrew Jackson, who wasn member of Congress before the capital was removed to Washington,-and all tho distinguished people of the time. In the neighborhood were some notable residents, Bishop White lived next door, on the west. Dr. Benjamin Rush, signer of the Declaration of Independence, hved, in

1 After Richard Renshaw, the proprietors of the United States Hotel were David Dorrance, who kept the house for many years, Nonh W. Bridges, Thomas C. Ben, a son of the owner of the property, MI. Pope Mitchell, Cant. Charles II. Millor, and C. J. Mcclellan.

1791, at the northwest corner of Walnut and Third Streets, where the Dispatch office now stands. Ile was succeeded, in 1795, by Nalbro Frazier. Dr. John Redman Coxe, professor in the University, after- ward lived in the house. Mrs. Mary Harrisoo, mother-in-law of Bishop White, lived next door to the corner in 1791. At the southwest corner of Third and Walnut Streets was the house of James Wilson, sometimes called ' Fort Wilson,' He was a signer of the Declaration of Independence, and afterward judge of the United States Supremo Court. William Lewie, a celebrated lawyer, afterward lived in that house. Opposite the Peters mansion were two stately houses with high steps, adjoining the old Quaker almehouse, on the east. They were occupied, fiom 1791 until after 1800, by Benjamin Chew, Jr., son of Chief Justice Chew, who lived in No. 68, and afterward by Sausom Levy, in the same house. No. 70 was the mansion of Edward Stiles, formerly a sen captain, who had bis country-seat at Green Hill, now in the neighborhood of Broad and Poplar Streets."

That fine hotel, The Aldine, was opened in 1877, in the old Rush mansion, on Chestunt Street, above Nineteenth. It was the residence of the late Dr. James Rush, the founder of the Rush Library. Dr. Rush's wife, a leader in fashionable and literary cir- cles, was the daughter of Jacob Ridgway, the mil- lionaire. Dr. Rush was a son of Dr. Benjamin Rush, of Revolutionary memory, and for some time the surgeon-general of Washington's army.

In noticing the principal inns and taverns of Phil- adelphia, and such as have some historical or pleasant local memory attached to them, several may have been inadvertently omitted. It could hardly have been otherwise in a work of this kind. Individuals who recollect interesting facts concerning a tavern, a house, or a street, are often surprised that these facts are not mentioned in the history of the city. Yet, there is nothing strange in the omission. In the first place, that which is a very pleasant recollection to a private individual may not be of sufficient interest to the public at large to justify its insertion in a history, or it may not have come to the knowledge of the historian. Then, the abundance of matter which has to be sifted and condensed in writing local history, renders omissions unavoidable. Otherwise, a volume would hardly suffice for a subject which must be treated within the limits of a chapter.

Below will be found a list of the inns and taverns existing in the city at different periods. In pre- paring this list the personal recollections of many old residents bave been added to such information as could be gleaned from old directories, newspaper files, and other publications. This list, of course, is not given as complete. Some inaccuracies may also have crept in it, and some repetitions, but these are due mostly to changes of proprietors and of localities, -a tavern changing hands and its sign being removed to some other house.

Among the taverns that were known during the first half of the eighteenth century, the following are remembered : The Plume of Feathers, Front Street, by George Champion ; Prince Eugene, Front Street, by Garrigues ; the White Horse, by Owen Humphries; the George Inn, by John Steel, Second and Arch Streets; the Bear, by Nicholas Seull; the Queen's Head, Water Street; the Centre House, near the

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old Centre Square; Pewter Platter, Front Street ; the Indian King, Market Street, by Owen Owen ; the Lion, Elbow Lane, by George Shoemaker ; the Black Horse, Black Horse Alley ; King George on Horseback; the White Horse, upper end of Market Street; the Dolphin, Chestnut Street; the Buck, Germantown, by Anthony Nice; the Mari- ners' Compass and Four Horseshoes, Strawberry Alley, by Elizabeth Walton; Two Sloops, Water Street ; the Boatswain and Call, at the Drawbridge, by Philip Herbert ; the White Hart, Market Street, by Richard Warder; the Three Mariners, Front Street ; the Half Moon, by Charles Stow, Market Street; Crooked Billet, by Barbara Lewis, King Street; Red Lion, Second Street, by Sampson Davis; London Coffee-House, near Carpenter's wharf (between Chest- nut and Walnut Streets); King's Arms, opposite Christ Church parsonage, by William Whitebread ; Rose, in Arch Street ; Conestoga Stage Wagon, Market Street, by James Gray ; James' Coffee-House, Front Street; London Prentice; the Jolly Trooper, Arch Street ; the Fleece, Froot Street ; the Jolly Sailors, Front Street; Roberts' Coffee-House; the Bear, Frank- ford; the Blue Bell, Frankford; the Free Mason, Front Street, by Thomas Jarvis ; Rising Sun, German- town road, by A. Nice ; the Swan, Chestnut Hill ; the Black Bull, Market Street, by John Chappel; the Three Crowns, Water Street; the Royal Standard, Market Street; the Hen and Chickens, Chestnut Street, by Widow Brientnall ; Plow and Harrow, Third Street, by John Jones; Three Tuns, White Marsh, by Christopher Robbins; the Harp and Crown, Third Street, below Arch; the West India Coffee- House, by Margaret Ingram ; the Lion, Wicaco, by Michael Israel; Seven Stars, Elbow Lane; Anchor and Hope, Black Horse Alley; the Swan, Spruce Street, west of Front, by John Ord; the Brig and Snow, Strawberry Alley ; the Queen of Hungary, Front Street.

The following date from that period and the Revo- lution : Crooked Billet and Ball, by John Stricker, upper end of Second Street; One Tun, Chestnut Street, by Joseph Coburn; Black Boy and Trumpet, by William Forrest; Royal Anne, Second Street; Death of the Fox, Second Street, by Richard Wag- staff; Ship, Frankford road ; Sloop, by Thomas Hill, Kensington; Royal Standard, Market Street, by Rebecca Pratt; Amsterdam, Second Street, between Race and Vine, by John Grubb; George, Second and Arch, by John Luckin; Blue House, by John Crozier ; Boar's Head, Pewter Platter Alley ; Black Horse, Black Horse Alley, by John Pickel ; New Boar's Head, Keyser's Alley, by Joseph Templar ; The Gun, Moyamensing, by Joseph Kepach; White Horse, Robeson ; King's Arms, by William Whit- bread, Second, opposite Church ; Black Horse, Black Horse Alley, by Henry Duff; Black Swan, Walnut Street; Indian King, Hendrick, Third near Market ; Bull's Head, upper end of Market Street, by Widow

Gray ; Lamb, Market, between Fourth and Fifth ; Horse and Groom, Fourth Street, by William Gardi- ner, Noah's Ark, Poole's bridge, by Thomas Foster ; Admiral Warren; Boar's Head, Pine, near the new market; Rising Sun, Fourth Street, by Joshua Mitchell; Conestoga Wagon, Market Street, by Charles Jenkins ; Harp and Crown, by Mrs. Stevens, Third Street; Brigantine, South Street, by Amos Jones; City of Dublin, upper end of Front, at Keyser's Alley; Ship Wilmington and George, Society Hill, by Anthony Whitely; Ship Aground, Water, above Market; Unicorn, near the Draw- bridge, Water Street; Stars, Elbow Lane, by John Etris ; Horse and Dray, Market Street; White Horse, Elbow Lane; Valiant Dragoon, Front, opposite Black Horse Alley ; Queen's Head, Water Street, by Robert Davis; Phoenix, Society Hill; Tun, Water Street, by Thomas Mullan ; Salutation, Front Street ; Sassafras- Tree, Race Street ; Golden Ball, Elm, between Second and Third, by John Barnhill; Bird in Hand, Shippen Street, by John Crozier ; Cooper's Arms, by Issachar Davids; Twelve Cantons, Spring Garden, by Chris- topher Shiefly ; Rainbow, upper end of Second Street, Northern Liberties ; Bowling Green, at the Centre; Unicorn, Prune Street, by John Chabord ; Admiral Keppele, Southwark ; Jolly Sailor, Moyamensing, by Valentine Smith; St. George and the Dragon, by Widow Cummings, Frankford; Golden Fleece, Sec- ond, opposite Taylor's Alley ; Danish Flag, Society Hill, by John Brandt ; Marquis of Granby, Northern Liberties, near the barracks, by Isaac Corrin ; Queen Charlotte's Head, Water near Market, by Samuel Francis; City of Frankfort, Catharine Street, by John Fritz; Red Lion, in Moreland ; King David and Harp, Water Street, near Market, by Thomas Grif- fith; Orange-Tree, Moyamensing, by John Belts; Ship Pennsylvania, corner of Front and Pewter Platter Alley ; Highlander on Horseback, by Abel Carpenter, npper end of Front Street; King of Prussia, by Francis Shires, Society Hill ; King of Prussia, Mar- ket Street, by Michael Huts; Buck, on Rowse's road, Southwark; Crooked Billet, Passyunk road, by Peter Kleckner; City of Manheim, Passyunk road, by Peter Hackner; City of Colerain, Walnut Street; Robin Hood, Wissahickon road ; Lord Loudon, Front, below the Drawbridge; Nag's Head, Front, below the Draw- bridge; Rising Sun, Germantown road; Boatswain and Call, near the Drawbridge; Highlander, by Abe Carpenter, Front, below the Drawbridge; City of Philadelphia, Society Hill; Royal George, Front, below the Drawbridge; Boy and Boat, Arch Street Ferry ; Blue Bell, Society Hill ; Angel, near the sugar- house, above Poole's bridge, by Caspar Stoles; Wheat Sheaf, Bristol road ; Siege of Louisburg, Front, below the Drawbridge; Bottle and Glass, opposite Mr. Philip Hurlburt's, Society Hill; Mead House [mead, fresh cheese, and pies every night] ; Saddler's Arms, Ger- mantown, by Widow Macknett; Leopard, Front, near the Drawbridge, by Issachar Davids; Gen. Blakeney's

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History of Philadelphia, 1609-1884, Part 35

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