Listen to a short description of this ghost garden, George Pepper's greenhouse, and then scroll down to see what used to be here on the site where you are now standing.
When George Pepper died in 1840, he was one of the wealthiest men in Philadelphia, owner of both a splendid townhouse and a country estate, Fairy Hill. The greenhouse garden he kept in town was praised for its variety of exotic species, and Fairy Hill for the beauty of its landscape. Yet Pepper--and his gardens--have been largely forgotten, to the extent that it's difficult to even figure out where Pepper kept his famous greenhouse or what it looked like. Suffice it to say this is probably near where Pepper lived in 1831, the year his greenhouse was first praised in print. If you had visited then and looked west across 8th Street, you would see this stately mansion on the northwest corner of 8th and Chestnut, built in 1794, home to Senator Pierce Butler from 1804 until 1822, and torn down in 1857.
When George Pepper died in 1840, he was one of the wealthiest men in Philadelphia, owner of both a splendid townhouse and a country estate, Fairy Hill. The greenhouse garden he kept in town was praised for its variety of exotic species, and Fairy Hill for the beauty of its landscape. Yet Pepper--and his gardens--have been largely forgotten, to the extent that it's difficult to even figure out where Pepper kept his famous greenhouse or what it looked like. Suffice it to say this is probably near where Pepper lived in 1831, the year his greenhouse was first praised in print. If you had visited then and looked west across 8th Street, you would see this stately mansion on the northwest corner of 8th and Chestnut, built in 1794, home to Senator Pierce Butler from 1804 until 1822, and torn down in 1857.
Perhaps Pepper's home looked like this too. City directories list his home as "above" (west) of the Masonic Hall located at 713-721 Chestnut, which is across the street from where you are now, and in images of the Masonic Hall such as the one below we get a tantalizing glimpse of the side of a large, elegant brick building, which might be Pepper's house. (There is a photograph of Pepper's brewery, the source of his fortune, which was located at 5th and Ludlow.) You are directly across the street from this vista now. The Masonic Hall sat on the site now occupied by the parking lot just east of the restaurant Union Trust through the Quaker City National Bank building.
Pepper's elegant neighborhood would change dramatically in the 19th century, becoming predominantly commercial. If we continue to orient from Masonic Hall, assuming Pepper's house was just to the west, the photograph below from the 1860s shows the Hall (elaborately rebuilt after an 1855 fire) along with another small glimpse of an elegant property next door to the west and, to the east, a number of awning-shaded storefronts.
The 1902 image, below, of the south side of Chestnut Street looking east from 8th Street (where you are now standing, so cross to the north side of the street to see this vista now) shows a street that is now almost entirely commercial, with businesses ranging from shoe stores to dentists to jewelers to a magic lantern operator. Although some of the buildings have changed, this resembles the Chestnut Street you are standing on over 100 years later.
Image credits: Top: Butler Mansion, courtesy of Library Company of Philadelphia. Second: Masonic Hall, ca. 1870, courtesy of Library Company of Philadelphia. Third: Philadelphia has changed... Evening Bulletin, after 1855, Philadelphiana Collection, Free Library of Philadelphia. Bottom: Chestnut East from Eighth Street, ca. 1902, PhillyHistory.org. The photograph of Pepper's brewery appears on the Places in Time website developed by Bryn Mawr College; the original is held by the Library Company of Philadelphia. 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.
