Читать книгу A guide book of art, architecture, and historic interests in Pennsylvania - Various Authors - Страница 16

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Among the eight hundred and five churches in Philadelphia, are:

The Philadelphia Baptist, whose Association celebrated its two hundredth and tenth anniversary in 1917. First Church, Seventeenth Street below Chestnut, open daily, is a consistent example of Byzantine architecture with American modifications; stone; architect, Edgar V. Seeler. Windows made by Heinecke & Bowen are copies of the Byzantine leaded glass; lights and shadows in drapery are all done with leaded strips of glass, not painted. Temple, Broad and Berks Streets, famous on account of its pastor, Rev. Russell H. Conwell, was dedicated, 1901; at that time it was the largest church edifice in the United States, excepting the Mormon Temple at Salt Lake City; auditorium seats 3135 people: Romanesque, with two low towers on the front, surmounted by large copper domes, which give an Oriental touch; architect, Thomas Lonsdale. Fine rose window in front, said to have been made by John LaFarge; other windows are by J. & R. Lamb and R. S. Groves: the Hope-Jones organ, built by the Rudolph Wurlitzer Company, is one of the largest in this country; it has all the orchestral accompaniments. Tabernacle, Chestnut and Fortieth Streets, Gothic, stone, has a window by William Willet. There are about one hundred Baptist churches in Philadelphia.

Christian Science. First Church of Christ Scientist, Walnut Street near Fortieth; Spanish architecture.

Congregational. Central, Eighteenth and Green Streets, Gothic, stone, built in 1872; architect, D. Supplee; organized in 1864; first services were held in old Concert Hall, 1217 Chestnut Street, afterwards used as first Free Library Building; sermon “Recognition,” was preached by Rev. Henry Ward Beecher; other sermons of early days, by Richard S. Storrs, D.D. About nine or ten churches of this denomination are in Philadelphia.

Friends’ or Quaker Meeting-Houses.

“What dignity breathes from the lofty space

And amplitude of hospitality

In these old-fashioned Quaker shrines!

Most friendly seems the long, high, sturdy roof,

Most friendly the all-welcoming old walls

Seen through the sheltering trees.

O mighty oaks and noble sycamores,

With trunks moss-silvered and with lichened limb,

Breathe soft to me the storied memories

And treasured records of the long rich years

That blessed the meeting-houses.”

(From “Old Meeting-Houses,”

by John Russell Hayes.)

For more than one hundred years there has been no change in the general style of architecture; before that time, the earliest meeting-house in Philadelphia, at Second and Market Streets, was built with a central lantern or cupola; probably copied from a meeting-house of similar form in Burlington, New Jersey, built, 1682; where the yearly meeting for New Jersey and Pennsylvania was first held: later it met alternately at Philadelphia and Burlington, but since 1750 in Philadelphia, Fourth and Arch Streets. One of the most interesting old meeting-houses, built in 1696, is at Merion, near Narberth Station, Pennsylvania Railroad, in which William Penn preached; another, that he attended, is the old Haverford, built in the early eighteenth century, near Cobb’s Creek, opposite St. Dennis Roman Catholic Church. Radnor and Plymouth are also interesting old houses; all these last named are now owned by the Hicksite Branch of Quakers, who also own over seventy other meeting-houses throughout the state. Among those owned by the Orthodox Branch within Philadelphia are the Fourth and Arch Streets, not only the most important, but of great charm architecturally; it is very large and stands on ground originally given by William Penn to George Fox, and by the latter to Friends in America; and may be taken as typical of the later and best Quaker architecture; built in 1804, following the style of the pre-Revolutionary days of the houses just named, but adapted in material and size to the increased numbers worshiping within; it is of brick, set in ample grounds, with abundant shade; the ground about it, and much also covered now by the building and by Arch Street, is a very old burial ground, filled over several times. James Logan is buried under the pavement of Arch Street. Twelfth Street Meeting-House, brick, built in 1812, is second in importance, and one of the most beautiful bits in old Philadelphia. The oak timbers in its roof are said to have come from the “Great Meeting-House,” which succeeded that with the cupola at Second and Market Streets; oak timbers are also exposed with good effect in the upper room of the Arch Street house; the two houses are of the same general type and severely plain, but form, together with that at Sixth and Noble Streets, a most dignified trio of places for worship; remarkable for true proportion and dignity of outline, they are typical of the wealth and solidity of the Friends at their most flourishing period. The Meeting House, Sixth and Noble Streets, known as “North Meeting,” once accommodating a large congregation, has been reduced in members by removals; the Yearly Meeting has therefore taken over its use as an adjunct to the settlement work, carried on by Friends at “Noble House.”

Jewish. Rosh Hashana, or the Jewish New Year’s Day, is the oldest festival celebrated in the civilized world, 1917 will usher in the year 5678; it commences the great series of fall holidays: ten days later is “Yom Kippur,” the Day of Atonement, most sacred of the year, when the Jews fast from sunset to sunset and attend the synagogues, and a week later “Succoth,” corresponding to our Thanksgiving Day, which lasts a week. The principal synagogues are Adath-Jeshurun, Broad Street above Diamond, Egyptian; limestone and brick; architects, Churchman, Thomas & Molitar, has leaded glass windows by Nicolo D’Ascenzo. Keneseth Israel, Broad Street above Columbia Avenue, Italian Renaissance, brick with limestone trimmings; architect, Hickman. Mikveh Israel, Broad and York Streets, organized, 1747; moved from Seventh Street near Arch; French Renaissance, limestone; architects, Pitcher & Tachau. Rodeph Shalom, southeast corner of Broad and Mt. Vernon Streets, Moorish, sandstone; built, 1869; architects, Furness & Evans; has leaded glass windows by Nicolo D’Ascenzo.

Lutheran. The Theological Seminary of Philadelphia, 7301 Germantown Avenue, was founded in 1864; removed to present location, 1889; site, residence of Chief Justice Allen; afterwards a military school of some distinction, “Mount Airy College.” The administration building was erected by James Gowen for a residence in 1848, and adapted to the wants of the Seminary; on the grounds are twelve buildings, including Krauth Memorial Library, perpendicular Gothic, stone, built, 1908; contains portraits; the Refectory, once residence of the Miller family, built, 1792, colonial; and the Ashmead-Schaeffer Memorial Chapel, Gothic, stone. St. Michael’s, Germantown Avenue and Phil-Ellena Street, first church, built, 1730; British soldiers took refuge in the church and demolished the organ during the Battle of Germantown; corner-stone of present church laid, 1896. Old St. Johns, Race Street between Fifth and Sixth, first English Lutheran Church in America, colonial, brick; congregation organized in 1806, largely through efforts of General Peter Muhlenberg; contains a fine oil portrait by John Neagle, painted in 1853, of Dr. Philip F. Mayer, first pastor 1806-58; and woodcarvings in front of the gallery by William Rush. Zion (German), Franklin Street above Race, Romanesque, brownstone, built, 1870, moved from southeast corner of Fourth and Cherry, founded 1766; a memorial service was held here for Washington in 1799, by General Charles Lee. The Mary J. Drexel Home and Philadelphia Motherhouse of Deaconesses, Twenty-first Street and South College Avenue, modified Gothic with numerous towers, brick trimmed with sandstone, built, 1888; provides a training school for Deaconesses of the Lutheran Church; home for the aged and a children’s hospital; a Gothic chapel on the second floor, has altar cloths from Neuendettelsau, Bavaria; and stained glass by Meyer, Munich; portraits of the Lankenau and Drexel families are here, and an Italian marble bust of Mr. Lankenau by Moses Ezekiel of Rome.

Methodist. Saint George’s, 229 North Fourth Street, oldest Methodist church in the world, used continuously for worship; dedicated, 1769; Bishop Francis Asbury preached his first sermon in America here; three memorial tablets mark the front: to John Dickens, founder of the Methodist Book Concern, buried rear of the church, in 1798; to Ezekiel Cooper, his successor, buried in front, and one commemorating the first Methodist Conference in America, held in this church July 14, 1773. Calvary, Forty-eighth Street and Baltimore Avenue, Gothic, stone, has mural painting, “Sermon on the Mount,” by H. Hanley Parker, and two Tiffany windows. Other Methodist Episcopal churches with good architecture are, Arch Street, Broad and Arch Streets, Gothic, white marble, and Grace, Broad and Master Streets, Renaissance.

Presbyterian. First Church, Seventh and Locust Streets, facing Washington Square; oldest Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia, founded, 1699; present building erected, 1820, classic, brick, rough cast; with Ionic porch; architect, Theophilus P. Chandler: contains Paxton memorial window by Frederick Wilson, interesting old tablets, and a copy of Calvin’s “Institutes.” Second Church, Twenty-first and Walnut Streets, French Gothic, with early English detail; erected, 1872; architect, Henry Sims; Richmond granite is used in the base, the walls are of Trenton stone, Cleveland sandstone for tracery of windows and moulding of doors, with red sandstone, blue sandstone, and green serpentine for special parts, in contrasts of color and decorative effects: interior is faced with buff-colored brick imported from Raubon, Wales: the richly ornamented pulpit is of Caen stone. Windows, a double one, by John LaFarge; seven representing old Testament subjects, by Tiffany; and five apse windows from England. Scotts, Broad Street below Morris, founded, 1766: third oldest organization in the Philadelphia Presbytery; is still under its original charter; original church was at Fourth and Bainbridge Streets, later on at Spruce Street above Third; Louis Philippe lived in the parsonage during his residence in Philadelphia in 1796; John Purdon, father of Purdon’s Digest, was its first elder; President John Adams attended the church. Old Pine Street Church, Fourth and Pine Streets, classic, brick, rough-cast, with Corinthian porch; erected, 1857, one of the walls being that of the original church built in 1768; the first pastor, George Duffield, was chaplain of all the Pennsylvania militia, and also served as chaplain of the First Continental Congress after Jacob Duché; he was with Washington during the retreat through New Jersey; was in the battles of Princeton and Trenton, and the British offered a price of 50 pounds sterling for his head; he is buried under the central aisle of the lecture room, and his portrait is in Independence Hall: John Adams, when President, was a communicant here; when the British occupied the city, they used this church as a hospital; pews and other woodwork were burned as fuel, and later the church was used by the dragoons to stable their horses. Holland Memorial, Broad and Federal Streets, Romanesque; buff Massillon stone, with red sandstone trimmings, from the Ballaclunyle quarries of Scotland; architect, David S. Grendell; windows by Tiffany, in the south arcade, are from originals by Frederick Wilson; other windows are by Alfred Godwin and Maitland & Armstrong; there are four large rose windows, in one, the patriarch Joshua stands in the center, clad in full armor; color scheme is based upon the rose window of Saint Chapelle, Paris; makers, William and Annie Lee Willet: under each window is a group of five arcade windows, some of them copies from originals of Sir Edwin Burne-Jones, for windows in Brighton and Salisbury Cathedrals. Tabernacle, Thirty-seventh and Chestnut Streets, is one of the finest Gothic church edifices in Philadelphia, in decorative English style, with tower 130 feet high, erected, 1886; granite, with Indiana limestone for tracery of windows and doors; no wood being used in its construction, it thus resembles the cathedrals of the old world; chapel is connected with the manse by a cloistered porch. West Arch Street, Eighteenth and Arch Streets, Roman classic, with dome 170 feet above the ground, stone, plastered; has fine Corinthian porch. Market Square, Germantown, founded, 1738: President Washington worshiped here, while living opposite in the old Morris house, during the yellow fever epidemic in Philadelphia in 1793; during the battle of Germantown, a battalion of Virginians, prisoners of the English, were lodged in this church; the old bell, cast, 1725, which was in the shingle roof steeple of the old church, is still intact, and preserved as a relic; also the “Trumpet angels in their gold array,” part of the original organ from Holland: present building, French Gothic, stone, was erected in 1886.

The Witherspoon Building, Walnut Street below Broad, has sculpture by A. Stirling Calder and Samuel Murray.

Protestant Episcopal. St. Alban’s, Olney, consecrated, 1915; decorated French Gothic; buttresses run up to above the cornice line, ending in gables with crockets and finials; there is a belfry tower and porch; interior lines are very beautiful; the high arches and lofty piers give an impression of great dignity and simplicity, well adapted for rendering the services, with all the accompaniment of advanced churchmanship; architect, George T. Pearson. Christ Church, Second Street north of Market; first Protestant Episcopal Church in the province; hours of service, September to July, Sundays 10.00 A.M., 11.00 A.M., 3.30 P.M., open daily 9.00 A.M. to 3.00 P.M.; founded in 1695, under a provision in the original charter of King Charles II to William Penn. John Penn, last male member of this line, is buried near the steps of the pulpit. Present building, Georgian, erected 1747; Dr. John Kearsley, Building Director; the old roof, its wooden balustrade with carved spindles, and the steeple are ever of interest to architects and antiquarians.

Here the colonial governors had their state pew, marked by coat of arms, bearing the monogram of William and Mary; the parish was subsidized by King William III, William of Orange; Communion silver presented in 1709 by Queen Anne; baptismal font dates from 1695, and was used for the baptism of Bishop White in infancy. The chime of bells pealed forth the Declaration of Independence, in response to the Liberty Bell, July 8, 1776; they were made in England, and came over in the same ship with the Liberty Bell, were taken to Allentown with the Liberty Bell, and subsequently rehung; are referred to by Longfellow in “Evangeline.” George and Martha Washington regularly occupied pew 58 from 1790-97; it was also the official pew of John Adams while President, and was used by Lafayette in 1824; Franklin had pew 70, still used by his descendants; Robert Morris’ pew was 52; Francis Hopkinson’s, 65. General Charles Lee, of the Continental Army, is interred beside the southwest door, and near by is General Hugh Mercer; Rt. Rev. William White, D.D., first Bishop of Pennsylvania and long Presiding Bishop of the United States, is interred before the chancel rail, and his Episcopal chair is beside the altar. The church was organized; its constitution framed; and the amended Prayer Book adopted in this church, in 1785; Bishop White and Provost William Smith, D.D., were the Committee for revising and altering the liturgy of the English Prayer Book, for use in America. Rev. Jacob Duché was rector for many years. Windows illustrate the history of the Christian Church; made by Heaton, Butler and Bains. St. Clement’s, Twentieth and Cherry Streets, Norman Gothic, brownstone, built, 1857; architect, John Notman; new roof of nave, apse, and high altar; choir and lady chapel; architect, Horace Wells Sellers; the sanctuary is beautifully designed, with effect heightened by a magnificent reredos; artist, Frederick Wilson of Briarcliff, New York, leaded glass of apse, and lady chapel, by Alfred Godwin,