Listen to a short description of this ghost garden, the Cherry Garden, and then scroll down to see what used to be here on the site where you are now standing.
By the 1830s, all that was left of the once-popular Cherry Garden were memories--and the small cottage where visitors bought refreshments. This little sketch of the cottage was made by John Fanning Watson in the late 1820s or early 1830s while researching his history of old Philadelphia.
By the 1830s, all that was left of the once-popular Cherry Garden were memories--and the small cottage where visitors bought refreshments. This little sketch of the cottage was made by John Fanning Watson in the late 1820s or early 1830s while researching his history of old Philadelphia.
Some of the lots which made up the Cherry Garden were sold in 1756, and although the 1796 map of Philadelphia below shows these blocks as still largely open space, urban development was encroaching. A blue dot marks the approximate spot where the refreshment cottage stood near Front and Bainbridge. The red square is likely larger than the garden actually was--it's not clear from descriptions where the northern and southern boundaries were. You can also see from this map how close the river once was to the location where you are now standing. Almond Street is now called Kenilworth; Cedar Street is now called South. (Want more detail than you can see on your mobile device? Check out the full map from home.)
Visitors to the Cherry Garden would have looked out to Windmill Island, shown below some time before its destruction in 1894. By the 19th century Windmill Island was a popular resort in its own right, but shipping companies who wanted to bring larger vessels up the river launched a successful campaign to have it removed. The canal cut into the middle of the island (which was then called Smith Island to the north, Windmill Island to the south) was to facilitate ferry traffic to Camden.
Image credits: Top: Cherry Garden house, John Fanning Watson, ca. 1831, courtesy of the Library Company of Philadelphia. Middle: This plan of the city of Philadelphia..., P. C. Varte, 1796, Library of Congress. Bottom: Smith and Windmill Islands, F. Gutekunst, before 1894, American Philosophical Society. iPhone with GPS users: visit PhillyHistory.org's mobile site to find additional images of your current location.
Want to revisit this page later or view the pages for all the sites that are part of Ghost Gardens, Lost Landscapes? Click here. Ghost Gardens explores lost, vanished, or forgotten Philadelphia gardens, landscapes, and animals related to those showcased in Of Elephants and Roses, an exhibition by the American Philosophical Society Museum on view until December 31, 2011 (admission is free). Ghost Gardens was funded by The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage through the Heritage Philadelphia Program. Ghost Gardens was created by Erin McLeary and is maintained by the American Philosophical Society Museum.
Want to revisit this page later or view the pages for all the sites that are part of Ghost Gardens, Lost Landscapes? Click here. Ghost Gardens explores lost, vanished, or forgotten Philadelphia gardens, landscapes, and animals related to those showcased in Of Elephants and Roses, an exhibition by the American Philosophical Society Museum on view until December 31, 2011 (admission is free). Ghost Gardens was funded by The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage through the Heritage Philadelphia Program. Ghost Gardens was created by Erin McLeary and is maintained by the American Philosophical Society Museum.
