Image: Farmers' & Mechanics' Bank 427 Chestnut Street

Description: The Farmers' & Mechanics' Bank Building at 427 Chestnut Street between S. 4th and S. 5th Streets in the Center City area of Philadelphia was built in 1854-55 and designed by John M. Gries in the Italianate style with a marble facade. It was modeled after an Italian Renaissance palace, with a three-story main banking hall in the rear of the building topped by a skylight. Wrought- and cast-iron was used throughout the building, which had Corinthian columns in the grand hallway that lead to the banking hall. The bank merged with the Philadelphia National Bank in 1918, but the building remained in use as a bank until 1976. In 1965 the Philadelphia Maritime Museum began renting space in the building, but moved out in 1974; it is now known as the Independence Seaport Museum. The building was bought by the American Philosophical Society in 1981 and in 1983 was renovated into Benjamin Franklin Hall by Bower Lewis Thrower. The Hall is now the site of mosyt major events hosted or produced by the Society, and of their meetings. (Sources: Philadelphia Architecture: A Guide (2nd ed.) and [http://www.amphilsoc.org/about/campus/franklinhall "Benjamin Franklin Hall" on the American Philosophical Society website)
Title: Farmers' & Mechanics' Bank 427 Chestnut Street
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Author: Beyond My Ken
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License: CC BY-SA 4.0
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