Design for a dwelling house for M[atthew] Newkirk, Esq., [13th & Arch Sts., Philadelphia, Pa.] [graphic] / T.U. Walter, archt.

Format:

Image

Author/Creator:

Walter, Thomas Ustick, 1804-1887.

Contributor:

Newkirk, Matthew, 1794-1868.

Visual Materials Collection (Athenaeum of Philadelphia)

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Houses--Pennsylvania--Philadelphia.

1300 Arch St. (Philadelphia, Pa.).

Newkirk Mansion (Philadelphia, Pa.).

Mercer Manor (Princeton, N.J.) Facade.

Princeton Battlefield State Park. Monuments.

St. George's Hall (Philadelphia, Pa.).

Local Subjects:

1300 Arch St. (Philadelphia, Pa.).

Newkirk Mansion (Philadelphia, Pa.).

Mercer Manor (Princeton, N.J.) Facade.

Princeton Battlefield State Park. Monuments.

St. George's Hall (Philadelphia, Pa.).

Physical Description:

2 drawings : ink, pencil & wash on paper ; 41 x 37.5 cm. overall or smaller

Contained In:

Walter, Thomas Ustick. Architectural drawings collection.

Place of Publication:

1835.

Notes:

Drawing WTU*010*001 has the title, creator & date as given above. It shows a perspective rendering of a Greek Revival building on a corner site, with floor plans for the first & second stories. Drawing WTU*010*002 has fading pencil identification "Iron railing for Mr. Newkirk's verandah". Walter's diary & daybook entries are only for Jan. 1935, including on Jan. 3, "Matthew Newkirk, to a design for a mansion at the corner of 13th & Arch St. ..."

Newkirk was the first President of the Philadelphia, Wilmington & Baltimore Railroad. A photo of the mansion as built, from Miss Martha Newkirk, via the Philadelphia Museum of Art, identifies the house as "Newkirk Mansion, S.W. corner, 13th and Arch Streets, 1836", and shows a building similar to the perspective drawing cataloged here. An unpublished student research paper (1991) by Winifred Fong, located at the Athenaeum, states that Newkirk lost the house through forecloser in 1861, but repurchased it from William M. Smith, then owner, in 1864. In 1868, upon Newkirk's death, it passed to his son Matthew Newkirk, Jr., who sold it to three merchants, who in turn sold it to the St. George's Hall Association in 1875. As St. George's Hall, the building was greatly enlarged, with a bronze statue of St. George and the Dragon above the pediment. An article in the Philadelphia evening bulletin, Apr. 12, 1902, documents the demolition of the hall to make way for the Livenwright, Greenwald & Co. clothing store. The original portico from the house/hall was later erected on the facade of Mercer Manor in Princeton, N.J., which in turn was slated for demolition in 1957. A letter in the Athenaeum's files, dated in 1980 states that the portico was known to be standing alone as ruins in the Princeton Battlefield State Park, N.J. at that time.

Forms part of: Walter, Thomas Ustick. Architectural drawings collection.

Cited in:

Laverty, v.1, p. 236, WTU*010/002