Know Your Neighborhood:  Philadelphia Buildings No Longer Standing    

A short post today of buildings that stood in Old City that were lost to [sic] progress. 

1st photo (from 1868) is the Zion Lutheran Church that once stood at 4th and Cherry Sts.  The National Funeral of George Washington was held here on December 26, 1799 as it was the largest church in the city at that time. It is here that Congressman and General Richard Henry Lee would recite the famous phrase, "First in War, first in Peace, first in the hearts of his Countrymen."  It was razed in 1869.

2nd photo is Tower Hall, 518 Market St., circa 1898. Built in the 1850's for Joseph Bennett's Tower Hall Clothing Bazaar, it was the 2nd tallest building in the city at the time.  Bennett rose to fame as a clothier and by the 1850s was owner of one of the largest businesses in the city. He attributed his success in part to his method of advertising. His printed notices were always written in verse by a specially hired 'resident poet,' and he also attracted the general public by means of this spectacular building, printing his name in large letters on one side, then reversing the letters exactly on the opposite side.  An 18 yr. old John Wanamaker was employed in this store and here learned the clothing business and probably the power of advertising. The building was sold in 1879 to Garitee and Son, who occupied it until after 1900.  The building was torn down along with the entire block for the open space of Independence Mall in 1959.

3rd photo (from 1910) is The Provident Life and Trust Company at 4th & Chestnut Sts. This Frank Furness Victorian era building was built in 1890 and torn down in the 1950's.  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 (bank) and 42 South 4th Street (insurance company). The two wings were eventually consolidated into the office building at the northwest corner of 4th & Chestnut Streets.