Category Archives: Historical Sites

Donald W. Reynolds Center for American Art and Portraiture (Washington D.C., U.S.A.)

Posted on by — Leave a reply

The Donald W. Reynolds Center for American Art and Portraiture, actually a collection of institutions housed in the historic, gloriously renovated Old Patent Office Building, served as one of the earliest United States Patent Office buildings.  Here, Neo-Classicism meets 21st-century exuberance.

The Donald W. Reynolds Center for American Art and Portraiture

Covering an entire city block defined by F and G Streets and 7th and 9th Streets NW, just south of  Chinatown in downtown Washington, it now houses two Smithsonian Institution museums – the National Portrait Gallery and the Smithsonian American Art Museum.

The building’s Greek Rival-stye facade

It also houses the Lawrence A. Fleischman Gallery of the Archives of American Art; an art conservation facility (Lunder Conservation Center); an enclosed, 28,000-sq. ft. courtyard (Robert and Arlene Kogod Courtyard); a 20,400 sq. ft. open storage facility (Luce Foundation Center); a new 356-seat underground auditorium (Nan Tucker McEvoy Auditorium) and other operations within the Old Patent Office complex. By the end of 2007, more than 786,000 people had visited the two museums and, 10 years later, during the time of my visit, 1.3 million people have visited the place.

Check out “Donald W. Reynolds Center for American Art – National Portrait Gallery” and Portraiture and “Donald W. Reynolds Center for American Art and Portraiture – Smithsonian American Art Museum”

Before it became what it is today, through the Civil War and into the post-war period, the building was once home to many early government departments. It was used as a hospital, and The Bureau of Indian Affairs, the General Land Office, and the Bureau of Pensions jointly occupied the building with the Patent Office.

National Portrait Gallery

Both Clara Barton and American poet Walt Whitman worked as nurses there during the American Civil War. From 1854 to 1857, Barton worked in the building as a clerk to the Patent Commissioner, the first woman federal employee to receive equal pay. From January 24 to June 30, 1865, Waltman, who frequented “that noblest of Washington buildings” and read to wounded men, worked in Bureau of Indian Affairs before being fired for having a copy of Leaves of Grass in his desk.

Smithsonian American Art Museum

Here is the historical timeline of the building:

  • In 1836, construction of the building was started.
  • In 1851, architect Robert Mills was summarily dismissed as Congressional committees questioned his competence and his insistence on design changes that inserted unnecessary supporting columns and tie-rods. Construction continued under the direction of Thomas U. Walter, one of Mills’ harshest critics
  • During the Civil War, the building was turned into military barracks, hospital, and morgue. Wounded soldiers lay on cots in second-floor galleries, among glass cases holding models of inventions that had been submitted with patent applications.
  • In 1865, the building was completed
  • In March 1965, it was chosen as the venue for Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Ball.
  • In 1877, the building’s west wing suffered a fire, destroying some 87,000 patent models
  • From 1877–1885, it was restored by Adolf Cluss in the style he termed “modern Renaissance.”
  • In 1887, the Bureau of Pension moved to the new  Pension Bureau Building.
  • In 1898, the General Land Office and the Bureau of Indian Affairs vacated the building.
  • In 1932 the United States Civil Service Commission and the Government Accounting Office occupied the building after the Patent Office vacated it.
  • In 1942, the Government Accounting Office vacated the structure after its new headquarters nearby was complete.
  • In 1952, legislation to tear down the building and sell the land so a private parking garage could be built on the centrally located site was introduced in Congress in the waning days of the 82nd United States Congress but did not pass.
  • On March 21, 1958, Congress unanimously passed legislation authorizing the transfer of the building to the Smithsonian for a national art museum. President Dwight Eisenhower signed the legislation a few days later. Congress appropriated $33.5 million for the renovation.
  • In 1962, Congress passed legislation establishing the National Portrait Gallery
  • In November 1963, the Civil Service Commission moved out of the structure.
  • Starting in 1964, the Faulkner, Kingsbury & Stenhouse firm of architects supervised the renovation of the interior as museum space.
  • In November 1964, preparations for the buildings renovation began
  • On January 12, 1965, the building was designated as a S. National Historic Landmark.
  • By May 1965, the Grunley, Walsh Construction Co. began demolition of non-historic interior structures.
  • On October 15, 1966, it was added to S. National Register of Historic Places (NRHP reference No. 66000902).
  • By April 1968, the $6 million renovation was complete
  • In January 1968, the National Museum of American Art (now the Smithsonian American Art Museum) and the National Portrait Gallery opened. The north wing housed the art museum and the south wing housed the portrait gallery. Office space and a cafe occupied the east wing. The center courtyard had outdoor eating space for the cafe and several large trees.
  • In 1970, the renovation won the American Institute of Architects National Honor Award.
  • In 1995, the Smithsonian revealed that the building was in serious disrepair. The roof leaked, netting had to be placed in some galleries to catch falling ceiling plaster, window frames were rotting, the floor tiles in the Great Hall were crumbling, and the exterior facade was so degraded it was shedding fist-sized pieces of rock.
  • In January 1997, the Smithsonian announced that the building would close in January 2000 for a two-year, $42 million renovation (the estimated cost of the renovation then grew, initially in 2000 to $110-120 million). Hartman-Cox Architects was hired to oversee the conservation and repair. To be restored were the porticos modeled after the Parthenon in Athens, a curving double staircase, colonnades, vaulted galleries, large windows, and skylights as long as a city block.
  • Just three years later, as the renovation was about to begin, the cost of repairs had risen to $110 million to $120 million.
  • Prior to the building’s closure in January 2000, a decision was reached to allot about one-third of the building’s total space to the National Portrait Gallery while simultaneously eliminating the informal north–south division between the National Portrait Gallery and Smithsonian American Art Museum. The Smithsonian resolved the dispute practically – Art that best fit an exhibition space got it. Modern art, which often tends toward large canvases, was installed on the high-ceilinged third floor.
  • By March 2001, as the cost of the renovation rose to $180 million, Nan Tucker McEvoy (a California newspaper heiress and arts patron) donated $10 million for the renovation.
  • Later in 2001, the Henry Luce Foundation gave another $10 million.
  • In June 2001, reconstruction costs were estimated at $214 million.
  • In July 2001, the reopening was pushed back even further to July 2006.
  • In 2003, the government increased its contribution to $166 million and more than $40 million in private funds had been raised.
  • In August 2003, Congress approved a major change to the renovation design – adding a glass roof to the open courtyard in the center of the Old Patent Office Building.
  • In March 2004, the Smithsonian announced that architect Norman Foster of Foster and Partners would design the glass canopy.
  • In early November 2004, the National Capital Planning Commission(NCPC), which has statutory authority to approve all buildings and renovations in the D.C. metropolitan area, approved the preliminary design for the glass canopy.  That same month, real estate development executive Robert Kogod and his wife, Arlene (heiress to Charles E. Smith Construction fortune) donated $25 million to complete the canopy. By then, costs had risen to $298 million. $60 million in private funds still needed to be raised.
  • In January 2005, the United States Commission of Fine Arts, an advisory commission on design, approved the canopy.
  • In April 2005, the Smithsonian said that the canopy would not be ready by the time the museum reopened in July 2006, and would be installed in 2007.
  • On June 2, 2005, the the National Capital Planning Commission (NCPC) reversed its preliminary approval of the canopy
  • On August 4, 2005, the Smithsonian brought five alternatives to the NCPC.
  • On September 8, 2005, the NCPC reversed itself yet again, and approved one of the revised designs. The delay cost the Smithsonian $10 million.
  • In October 2005, the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation made a $45 million donation to the NPG to finish both the building renovation and the canopy. The Smithsonian agreed to call the two museums, the conservation center, courtyard, storage facility, and other operations within the Old Patent Office complex the “Donald W. Reynolds Center for American Art and Portraiture” in appreciation for the gift.
  • On July 1, 2006, after undergoing extensive renovations, the building and the Smithsonian American Art Museum was reopened. The total cost of the building’s renovation was $283 million.
  • In just two months, attendance at the renovated building rose significantly to 214,495.
  • On October 7, 1968, the National Portrait Gallery opened to the public.
  • In September 2007, video security cameras were hastily installed to stop vandalism as some patrons spit on art they did not like, while others kissed or touched some paintings.

Luce Foundation Center

The massive building, designed in the Greek Revival style by architect Robert Mills and Thomas U. Walter, took 31 years to complete. Mills spanned the interior spaces with masonry vaulting without the use of wooden beams. Skylights and interior light courts filled the spaces with daylight. It has a sandstone and marble façade, and a central portico modeled after the the Parthenon of Athens, a departure in Washington where previously ambitious public buildings had been based on Roman and Renaissance precedents.

The Donald W. Reynolds Center for American Art and Portraiture: 8th and F St. NW, Washington, D.C. 20001.  Tel: 202.633.1000 (recorded information/live voice).  E-mail:  info@si.edu.  Website:   www.si.edu/visit.  Coordinates: 38.89778°N 77.022936°W

Ford’s Theater (Washington D.C., U.S.A.)

Posted on by — Leave a reply

Ford’s Theater, site of President Abraham Lincoln’s assassination

The Late Victorian-style, 3-storey, 24 m. (78-ft.) high Ford’s Theater, restored by National Park Service architect Charles W. Lessig, is famous for being the site of the assassination of United States President Abraham Lincoln by actor and Southern sympathizer John Wilkes Booth on April 14, 1865. The site, originally a house of worship, was constructed in 1833 as the second meeting house of the First Baptist Church (with Obadiah Bruen Brown as the pastor) of Washington.

On December 10, 1861, after the congregation moved to a newly built structure, the former church was leased (and later bought) by Baltimore-based theatre entrepreneur John T. Ford (a family friend of the Booths) who, on February 28, 1862, renovated it into a theater, first calling it Ford’s Athenaeum.

Inaugurated on March 19, 1862, it was destroyed by fire on the evening of December 30, and was rebuilt and reopened as a 1,500-seat theater on August 27, 1863 as Ford’s New Theater.  Lincoln first attended the theater on May 28, 1862 and, up until 1865, attended the theater eight more times, five times in 1863 (he even watched John Wilkes Booth in “The Marble Heart” on November 9) and three times in 1864.

On April 14, 1865,Good Friday, just five days after General Robert E. Lee‘s surrender at Appomattox Court House, the 56-year-old Abraham Lincoln and his wife Mary attended a performance of Our American Cousin at Ford’s Theater. The famous actor John Wilkes Booth, desperate to aid the dying Confederacy, made his way into the presidential box and shot Lincoln with a Derringer pistol. Booth then jumped down to the stage, and escaped through a rear door. This event was witnessed by many, including 5-year-old Samuel J. Seymour who lived to 1956, becoming the last witness to the Lincoln assassination.

After Lincoln was shot, doctors had soldiers carry him into the street in search of a house in which he would be more comfortable. A man on the steps of Petersen House, the house of tailor William Petersen, beckoned to them. They took Lincoln into the first-floor bedroom and laid him on the bed (diagonally because of his unusual 6’-4” height). Throughout the night, many people came to visit him before he died the following morning at 7:22 AM.

Following the Lincoln assassination, the United States Government appropriated the theater, (the US Congress paid Ford US$88,000 in compensation) and an order was issued forever prohibiting its use as a place of public amusement. Between 1866 and 1887, the theater was taken over by the U.S. military, serving as a facility for the War Department.

Records were kept on the first floor, the Library of the Surgeon General’s Office on the second floor, and the Army Medical Museum on the third. In 1887, when the medical departments moved out, the building exclusively became a clerk’s office for the War Department.

Later, the theater was used as a warehouse and office building and, on June 9, 1893, a 40-ft. section of the front part of the building collapsed, killing 22 clerks and injuring another 68, leading some people to believe that the former church turned theater and storeroom was cursed.  After repairs, the building was used as a government warehouse until 1911.

Until 1918, it languished unused but, in 1928, the building was turned over, from the War Department Office, to the Office of Public Buildings and Parks of the National Capital. In 1932, Ford’s Theater and the Petersen House (purchased by the U.S. government in 1896) were designated as a National Historic Site and, on February 12, 1932 (Lincoln’s 123rd birthday), a Lincoln museum opened on the first floor of the theater building.

In 1964, restoration of Ford’s Theater was begun and, on January 21, 1968, the restored theater was dedicated by Vice President Hubert Humphrey and 500 others. On January 30, 1968, the theater reopened with a gala performance but the presidential box was never occupied.

It was renovated again during the 2000s, opening on February 11, 2009, in commemoration of the bicentennial of Lincoln’s birth. Today, this 0.12-hectare (0.9-acre) theater has a current seating capacity of 661. On February 12, 2012, a related Center for Education and Leadership (next to Petersen House) opened its museum experience. On October 15, 2013, the theater was added to the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP reference no. 66000034).

The Ford’s Theatre National Historic Site is administered by the National Park Service (administration transferred here in 1933). However, the programming within the theater and the Center for Education and Leadership is overseen separately by the Ford’s Theatre Society.

Center for Education and Leadership.  On the building’s right is the Petersen House where Lincoln was brought after his assassination

The Ford’s Theater Museum, located beneath the theater, is run through a partnership with the National Park Service and the private non-profit Ford’s Theater Society.  Containing portions of the Olroyd Collection of Lincolniana, its collection includes multiple items related to the assassination, including the Derringer pistol used to carry out the shooting, Booth’s diary and the original door to Lincoln’s theater box.

Also on display are a number of Lincoln’s family items such as his coat (without the blood-stained pieces), some statues of Lincoln, several large portraits of the President plus the blood-stained pillow from the president’s deathbed.

In addition to covering the assassination conspiracy, the museum also focuses on Lincoln’s arrival in Washington, his presidential cabinet, family life in the White House and his role as orator and emancipator. The museum also features exhibits about American Civil War milestones, the generals and about the building’s history as a theatrical venue.

The Petersen House (the “House Where Lincoln Died”), the federal government’s first purchase of a historic home, has been operated as a historic house museum since 1933.  The rooms are furnished as on the night Lincoln died.

Ford’s Theater: 511 10th St., NW Washington, D.C. 20004. Tel: +1 202-347-4833. E-mail: boxoffice@fords.org. Website: www.fords.org. Coordinates: 38°53′48″N 77°1′33″W.

Fort McHenry National Monument and Historic Shrine (Baltimore, Maryland, USA)

Posted on by — 10 Comments ↓

Fort McHenry National Monument and Historical Shrine

This historical American coastal pentagonal bastion fort is best known for its role in the War of 1812, when it successfully defended Baltimore Harbor from the September 13–14, 1814 attack by the British navy from Chesapeake Bay. The fort, a prominent tourist destination, is visited each year by thousands of visitors who come to see the “Birthplace of the Star Spangled Banner.”

Entrance to Fort McHenry

It’s also a popular spot for Baltimoreans to run, walk their dogs, enjoy a picnic or just sit by the waters of Chesapeake Bay  and enjoy the breeze and views of the city.

View of Baltimore Harbor as seen from the fort

Listed are some interesting trivia regarding the fort:

  • This was named after early American statesman James McHenry (November 16, 1753 – May 3, 1816), a Scots-Irish immigrant and surgeon-soldier who was a delegate to the Continental Congress from Maryland and a signer of the United States Constitution. Afterwards, he was appointed United States Secretary of War (1796–1800), serving under Presidents George Washington and John Adams.
  • Fort McHenry was built on the site of the former Fort Whetstone which stood on Whetstone Point (today’s residential and industrial area of Locust Point) peninsula, which juts into the opening of Baltimore Harbor between the Basin (today’s Inner Harbor) and Northwest branch on the north side and the Middle and Ferry (now Southern) branches of the Patapsco River on the south side. The fort defended Baltimore from 1776 to 1797.
  • The new fort, built to improve the defenses of the increasingly important Port of Baltimore from future enemy attacks, is a bastioned pentagon, surrounded by a dry moat (a deep, broad trench) that served as a shelter from which infantry might defend the fort from a land attack. In case of such an attack on this first line of defense, each point, or bastion could provide a crossfire of cannon and small arms fire.
  • During the War of 1812, the 5.2 m. × 7.6 m. (17 ft. by 25 ft.) storm flag flown over Fort McHenry during the bombardment was replaced early on the morning of September 14, 1814 with a larger 9.1 m. × 12.8 m. (30 ft. by 42 ft.) garrison flag, sewn by Mary Pickersgill for $405.90, which signaled American victory over the British in the Battle of Baltimore. Francis Scott Key, a Washington lawyer who had come to Baltimore to negotiate the release of Dr. William Beanes, a civilian prisoner of war, witnessed the bombardment from a nearby truce ship. The sight of the ensign inspired him  to write the poem “Defense of Fort M’Henry.” The poem was later set to the tune “To Anacreon in Heaven” and become known as the “Star Spangled Banner,” the national anthem of the United States.
  • It has become national tradition that when a new flag is designed, it first flies over Fort McHenry. The first official 49- and 50-star American flags were flown over the fort. The flags are still located on the premises.
  • In the event of a national emergency, the United States Codecurrently authorizes Fort McHenry’s closure to the public for use by the military for the duration of such an emergency.
  • Every September, the City of Baltimore commemorates Defenders Day in honor of the Battle of Baltimore. It is the biggest celebration of the year at the fort, it is accompanied by a weekend of programs, events and fireworks.
  • In 2013, under the America the Beautiful Quarters Program, Fort McHenry National Monument and Historic Shrine was honored with its own quarter.

The barracks

Here is a timeline of the fort’s history:

  • Designed by Frenchman Jean Foncin in 1798, the fort was built between 1798 and 1800.
  • During World War I, in order to convert the entire facility into an enormous U.S. Army hospital for the treatment of troops returning from the European conflict, an additional one hundred odd buildings (only a few of them remain) were built on the land surrounding the fort.
  • On September 13, 1814, beginning at 6 AM, British warships, under the command of Vice-Admiral Alexander Cochrane, continuously bombarded Fort McHenry, under the command of Major George Armistead (April 10, 1780 – April 25, 1818) of the 3rd Regiment of U. S. Artillery, for 25 hours. The British ships were unable to pass Fort McHenry and penetrate Baltimore Harbor because of its defenses which included a chain of 22 sunken ships and the American’s 8, 11 and 16 kg. (18, 24 and 32-pounder) cannons.  The British guns had a range of 3 kms. (2 miles) and their rockets had a 2.8 km. (1.75-mile) range, neither of which, fired at maximum range, were accurate. At one point during the bombardment, a bomb crashed through the fort’s powder magazine but,  fortunately for the Americans, either the rain extinguished the fuse or the bomb was a dud.
  • On the morning of September 14, the British, having depleted their ammunition, ceased their attack. Only one British warship, a bomb vessel, received a direct hit from the fort’s return fire, which wounded one crewman. The Americans lost four killed (including Private William Williams, an African-American soldier, and a woman who was cut in half by a bomb as she carried supplies to the troops) and 24 wounded.
  • During the American Civil War, Fort McHenry served as a military prison, confining  Confederate soldiers as well as a large number of Maryland political figures (including newly elected Baltimore Mayor George William Brown, the city council, the new police commissioner, George P. Kane; members of the Maryland General Assembly; several newspaper editors and owners; John Eager Howard,(local hero of the Revolutionary War; and Francis Scott Key‘s grandson, Francis Key Howard) who were suspected of being Confederate At this time, Fort McHenry also served to train artillery (hence the Rodman guns presently located and displayed at the fort).
  • During World War II, Fort McHenry was leased to the Coast Guard for port security work and as a fire training station aboard ships for nearly 28,000 U.S. Coast Guardsmen.
  • In 1925, the fort was made a national park
  • In 1931, the fort was finally deactivated and transferred to the National Park Service .
  • On August 11, 1939, it was redesignated a “National Monument and Historic Shrine, the only such doubly designated place in the United States.
  • On October 15, 1966, it was placed on the National Register of Historic Places.
  • On September 10–16, 2014, the Star Spangled Spectacular was held at Fort McHenry to celebrate the bicentennial of the writing of the Star Spangled Banner. The event included a parade of tall ships, a large fireworks show and the US Navy’s Blue Angels.

The Visitor Center

The kid-friendly Visitor Center has a Park Ranger-staffed information desk, book and souvenir store, a large museum, restrooms and a meeting place for Ranger programs.

The Park Ranger-staffed information desk

The kid-friendly Visitor Center has a Park Ranger-staffed information desk, book and souvenir store, a large museum, restrooms and a meeting place for Ranger programs.

Francis Scott Key and the Birth of the Star Spangled Banner. At right is the original draft of the song

The museum is divided into three main areas of interest. The first section, “Francis Scott Key and the Birth of the Star Spangled Banner,” is devoted to Francis Scott Key, the Star Spangled Banner, and the flag. An interactive touch-screen presentation details Key’s schedule leading up to his writing of the poem.

The Star Spangled Banner and the War of 1812.  At the right is a uniform, 2 muskets (one with bayonet), powder horn and personal items of a soldier

The second area of the museum, where I spent about an hour, focused on the War of 1812. Its interactive touch-screen presentation, a key exhibit, allowed me to read about every battle in the war. Also on exhibit are military memorabilia such as uniforms and a cannon as well as personal items used by soldiers.

A cannon

A second section of the museum covers the Battle of Baltimore, with its centerpiece being a 10-minute film about the Battle of Baltimore, a combination of live action and CGI animated battle maps, and ends with an inspirational rendition of “The Star Spangled Banner,” with the audience standing and singing along, as the curtain rises to reveal the flag at Fort McHenry outside.

L-R: Kyle, Cheska and Grace.  Behind is a copy of the original storm flag of the garrison

Film showings occur at the top of every hour and every half hour and its movie screen is part of the overall museum.  During the showing,  the lights were turned down, rendering the rest of the museum essentially shut down during this time. Only the exhibits that are backlit, such as the interactive touch-screens, can be seen.

Jandy at the entrance of the fort

The actual wheelchair accessible and stroller friendly fort is just a short walk from the Visitor Center.  Outside the fort were re-enacters such as women hand washing the service men’s clothes, sewing a flag and learning how to write on slate boards. Inside were probably a dozen servicemen in full dress and carrying muskets.

Women re-enacters

Servicemen in uniform

Within the fort are exhibits on a variety of topics relating to the fort and its history such as the restored Commander’s Quarters, Junior Officers’ Quarters, Guard House and the Enlisted Men’s Quarters, all mainly devoted to garrison life during its most famous period of the War of 1812; the Gunpowder Magazine  as well as the restored flag pole.  The flag flown here is not the size of the fabled Star-Spangled Banner, but is a garrison flag that is four sizes smaller. 

George Armistead

Junior Officers’ Quarters

Outside the fort proper is a reconstruction of the Upper Battery which, during the 1814 attack, was largely manned by volunteer militia artillerymen and merchant seamen (from ships within blockaded Baltimore Harbor) and armed with large-caliber smooth bore guns mounted on naval trucks or garrison carriages. They had wooden trucks with iron wheels and, to prevent their excessive recoil when fired, were attached to the wall by rope cables. 

Upper Battery

The fort also boasts a fine collection of mid-nineteenth century artillery pieces. The Lower Battery, with brick-reinforced earthen rampart (replacing the earth-and-wooden one of the War of 1812), have circa 1875 15-inch Rodman smoothbore guns of Civil War vintage that were sleeved with rifled inserts.

The author with the Rodman cannons in the background

Adjacent to Fort McHenry lies a monument of Orpheus that is dedicated to the soldiers of the fort and Francis Scott Key.

Monument of Orpheus by Charles Niehaus

Statue of Col. George Armistead

Fort McHenry National Monument and Historic Shrine: 2400 East Fort Ave, Baltimore, Maryland 21230, USA. Tel: +1-410-962-4290. Open daily, 9 AM – 6 PM (5 PM in the winter), closed on Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day and New Year’s Day. Admission: adults (US$10), children 15 years old and younger (free).

How to Get There: The fort is easily accessible by water taxi from the popular Baltimore Inner Harbor. However, to prevent abuse of the parking lots at the Fort, the National Park Service does not permit passengers to take the water taxi back to the Inner Harbor unless they have previously used it to arrive at the monument.

Old Philadelphia City Hall (Pennsylvania, U.S.A.)

Posted on by — Leave a reply

The two-storey Old Philadelphia City Hall, located within the Independence Hall complex of Independence National Historical Park, next to Independence Hall, in Center City, was built with red bricks in the Georgian and  Federal style from 1790 to 1791 by master carpenter David Evans, Jr.

Old Philadelphia City Hall

During the 1790s, Philadelphia was the nation’s temporary capital and, although originally intended as Philadelphia’s City Hall (its second), the building was lent to the federal judiciary, serving as the home of the U.S. Supreme Court from the completion of its construction, from August 1791 until February 1800, when the national capital was moved to Washington, D.C.  The City Council met on the second floor while court convened below.

Here, the U.S. Supreme Court made its first decisions. Three chief justices,  John Rutledge (Rutledge Court),  John Jay (Jay Court), and Oliver Ellsworth (Ellsworth Court), officiated the Supreme Court from this location. The portraits of the latter two (Rutledge did not attend any session in Philadelphia), as well as those of   associate justices William Cushing, Bushrod Washington (nephew of George Washington) and Samuel Chase, can be seen in the Second Bank portrait gallery.

The ground floor area where the Supreme Court met

Also in the Second Bank is a very large painting of Philadelphia’s first City Hall (the one that used to stand on 2nd Street). Naturalization ceremonies for new citizens also took place in this courtroom and the building was the volunteer headquarters in the battle against the Yellow Fever epidemic of 1793.

Afterward, the building continued to serve as Philadelphia’s City Hall until 1901 when the new city hall at Penn Square was completed. A contributing property to Independence National Historical Park, the building is owned by the City of Philadelphia which leases it to the National Park Service. The building was added to National Register of Historic Places on October 15, 1966.

Old Philadelphia City Hall: 501 Chestnut Street at 5th Street, Philadelphia 19106, Pennsylvania. Open daily, 9 AM – 5 PM.  Admission is free but entrance is on a first-come, first-served basis. Capacity is nine visitors at a time.  Coordinates: 39°56′52″N 75°8′53″W.

Arch Street Friends Meeting House (Philadelphia, U.S.A.)

Posted on by — Leave a reply

The Arch Street Friends Meeting House, within the Old City neighborhood, is a Meeting House of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers). Built in the Georgian architectural style to reflect the Friends’ testimonies of simplicity and equality, this building has, after more than two centuries of continuous use, changed little. Its grounds was the first burial ground for Quakers in Philadelphia.

Arch Street Friends Meeting House

The oldest Friends Meeting House still in use in Philadelphia, it is also the largest in the world. Originally designed by the Quaker carpenter Owen Biddle Jr. (best known as the author of a builder’s handbook, The Young Carpenter’s Assistant, published in 1805), architects Walter Ferris Price and Morris & Erskine also contributed to the design and construction of the building.

The two-storey meeting house has two separate entrances at the front of the building, a large first floor meeting space with benches, and an interior second-storey gallery. Since worship involves silent contemplation without clergy or ritual, there is no need for an altar, pulpit, steeples, stained glass windows and other religious symbols.

Here is the historical timeline of the building:

  • In 1701, Pennsylvania founder and Quaker William Penn deeded land to the Society of Friends to be used as a burial ground.
  • Between 1803 and 1805, the east wing and center of the meeting house was built according to a design by the Quaker carpenter Owen Biddle Jr.
  • From 1810–11, the building was enlarged with the addition of the west wing.
  • In 1896, an external restroom facility with toilets was added behind the West Room.
  • In 1902 and 1908, a kitchen was constructed
  • From 1968–69, the 1896, 1902, 1908 additions were removed and the well-known architecture firm Cope & Lippincott renovated the interior of the east wing and designed the two-storey addition (with a smaller room for meetings and worship and second floor conference rooms) behind the center building.
  • In 1971, the meeting house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
  • In 2011, as a consequence of the building being the only surviving documented work by Owen Biddle, it was declared as a National Historic Landmark and the Arch Street Meeting House Preservation Trust was formed.

Today, the Meeting House continues to be a center for worship and the activities of the Monthly Meeting of Friends of Philadelphia, conducted since the 19th century, and the Philadelphia Yearly Meeting of Friends living in Philadelphia, the southern half of New Jersey, Delaware and parts of Maryland is held here every spring.

Notable members of the Religious Society of Friends who worshiped at this meeting house include Sarah and Angelina Grimke, both abolitionists and woman rights advocates.  Noted painter Edward Hicks, the cousin of Elias Hicks, also attended meetings here.

The Meeting House has an entrance hall and three distinct sections.  The West Wing, added in 1811 to accommodate the women’s Monthly Meeting, is now the room used for worship.  Here, two staircases lead to the balcony. The middle section serves as the site of Monthly Meetings and special events.

The East Wing houses dioramas depicting the main events in the life of illustrious Quaker William Penn – Penn the Peacemaker laying down his sword (1668); Penn the Defender of Liberties in prison (1670); Penn the Builder of Democracy writing his “Frame of Government” (1682); Penn the Friend of the Indians completing a treaty with a tribe (1682); Penn the City Planner with his surveyor Thomas Holme, studying Holme’s map (1683); and Penn the Founder of Schools (1699).  Also on display is a dollhouse representing the home of noted Quaker journal-keeper Elizabeth Drinker and her husband Henry. Special shows are also held in the East Wing.

Since as early as 1683 (when Mary Lloyd was buried here), burials had been taking place at the ground  upon which the meetinghouse was built.  Around 20,000 are buried here including many victims of the yellow fever epidemic of 1793. In 1880, burials here were officially ended.  Samuel Carpenter (1649–1714), a Deputy Governor under William Penn and the “First Treasurer” of Pennsylvania, and most of his family and his brother Abraham Carpenter (a non-member who married a Quaker) were buried here.  At dawn of November 10, Marines mark the grave of Samuel Nicholas (1744–1790), the founder and first commandant of the United States Marine Corps (curious considering the pacific stance of Friends), with a wreath.

Other notable interments here include:

Arch Street Friends Meeting House: 320 Arch Street cor. 4th Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Our Open Tuesdays – Saturdays, 9 AM – 5 PM (Grounds), Fridays – Saturdays, 10 AM – 4 PM (Building).  Admission: US$5 (general) and US$2 (children, seniors, veterans and students).  Website: www.historicasmh.org. Coordinates: 39°57′7.2″N 75°8′50.17″W.

30th Street Station (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.A.)

Posted on by — Leave a reply

30th Street Station

The 52,000 m² (562,000 ft²) 30th Street Station, the main railroad station in Philadelphia and one of the seven stations in Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority‘s (SEPTA) Center City fare zone, sits across from the former United States Post Office-Main Branch. A major stop on Amtrak‘s (National Railroad Passenger Corporation) Northeast and Keystone Corridors, it is Amtrak’s 3rd-busiest station and the busiest of the 24 stations served in Pennsylvania. On an average day in 2013, about 11,300 people boarded or left trains in Philadelphia, nearly twice as many as in the rest of the Pennsylvania stations combined. This was to be our entry point to Philadelphia (from New York City) and exit point from Philadelphia to Baltimore (Maryland).

The main concourse

Originally known as the Pennsylvania Station–30th Street (in accord with the naming style of other Pennsylvania Stations), the enormous, steel-framed structure was designed by the Chicago architectural firm of Graham, Anderson, Probst and White (the successor to D.H. Burnham & Company). Construction began in 1927 and the station opened in 1933, starting with two platform tracks.

The author and son Jandy at the waiting area

From 1988-1991, the building was restored and renovated, at a cost of US$75 million,  by Dan Peter Kopple & Associates, with updated retail amenities added including several shops, a large food court, car rental facilities, Saxby’s Coffee, Dunkin’ Donuts, both in the South Arcade and South Concourse, and others.

Dunkin’ Donut outlet

Above the passenger areas, 280,000 sq. ft. of office space was modernized to house approximately 1,100 Amtrak employees.  The former mail handling facility was converted into an underground parking garage. The 30th Street Station is now listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Train Schedule Display Board

The building’s architecturally interesting exterior, an adaptation and transformation of Neo-Classical elements into a more modern, streamlined Art Deco architectural style, has a pair of soaring, columned porte-cocheres on the west and east façade, its best known features.

Waiting Area

The cavernous, 290 by 135 ft. main passenger concourse, notable for its stylistic and functional elements, has ornate Art Deco décor, with a vast waiting room faced with travertine and a soaring  coffered ceiling, painted gold, red and cream, with beautiful chandeliers.

Ticket offices

Works of art are located throughout the building. Prominently displayed within the waiting area is the Pennsylvania Railroad World War II Memorial, sculpted in 1950 by Walker Hancock. Honoring 1,307 Pennsylvania Railroad employees (listed in alphabetical order on the four sides of the base of that sculpture) killed in World War II (out of the more than 54,000 who served), it consists of a bronze statue of the archangel Michael lifting the body of a dead soldier out of the flames of war.

Pennsylvania Railroad World War II Memorial

The Spirit of Transportation, a bas relief sculpture of Karl Bitter, was executed in 1895 and originally placed in the waiting room of Broad Street Station, Philadelphia. On January, 1955, it was moved to current site in the North Waiting Room. The Spirit of Transportation is represented in triumphal procession of progress. It features a central female figure sitting in a horse-drawn carriage, while children cradle models of a steamship, steam locomotive and dirigible, a prophetic vision of a mode of transportation to come.

Spirit of Transportation bas-relief sculpture

The station was featured in the 1981 film Blow Out, the 1983 film Trading Places, the 1985 film Witness, the 2000 film Unbreakable, the 2010 video game Heavy Rain, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 2 Episode 7, and the 2015 film The Visit. It is within walking distance of various attractions in West Philadelphia, notably the University of Pennsylvania, Drexel University, and the University City Science Center, all in University City. 

Kyle, Grace, Cheska and Jandy waiting for our train to Baltimore at the train platform

30th Street Station: 2955 Market Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States

Castle Clinton National Monument (New York City, U.S.A.)

Posted on by — Leave a reply

Castle Clinton National Monument

The 0.4-hectare (1 acre), Medieval-looking Castle Clinton (or Fort Clinton), a circular sandstone fort previously originally known as West Battery and sometimes as Southwest Battery and Castle Garden, was the first American immigration station (predating Ellis Island), where approximately 7.7 million people arrived in the United States from 1855 to 1890. Lying near the northwestern corner of Battery Park, it serves as the park’s main attraction.

Some of the few noteworthy immigrants who passed through here include:

 Check out “Ellis Island National Museum of Immigration”

Built from 1808 to 1811, it has, over its active life, functioned as an administrative headquarters, a paymaster’s quarters and storage area for the United States Army (until 1821), a beer garden, exhibition hall, theater, and public aquarium. Castle Clinton stood slightly two blocks west of where Fort Amsterdam was built in 1626 (when New York City was known by the Dutch name New Amsterdam). By 1790, after the American Revolutionary War, Fort Amsterdam was demolished.

Castle Clinton National Monument plaque

Here is the historical timeline of Castle Clinton:

  • In 1807, a group of three commissioners, including Lt.-Col. Jonathan Williams (a grandnephew of Benjamin Franklin) of the United States Army Engineers, submitted a report that recommended the construction of fortifications in New York Harbor.
  • In 1808, construction of the fort began on a small artificial island just off shore which was connected to Battery Park by a 200-ft. long wood causeway and drawbridge.
  • In 1811, the fort was completed although modifications continued through the 1820s.
  • In 1817, West battery was renamed Castle Clinton, its current official name, in honor of New York City Mayor De Witt Clinton (who eventually became Governor of New York).
  • In March 1822, it was ceded to the city by an act of Congress.
  • In June 1824, the fort was leased to New York City as a place of public entertainment.
  • On July 3, 1824, it opened as Castle Garden (a name by which it was popularly known for most of its existence), an open-air structure serving, in turn, as a promenade, beer garden/restaurant, exhibition hall (new inventions such as the telegraph, Colt revolving rifles, steam-powered fire engines, and underwater electronic explosives were demonstrated there), opera house and theater.
  • That same year, it celebrated the arrival of Gen. Lafayette at the beginning of his year-long triumphal tour of America.
  • In 1844, a domed roof was placed to accommodate a 6,000-seat theater.
  • In 1850, to initiate her American tour, Swedish soprano Jenny Lind (the “Swedish Nightingale”), brought to America by by P.T. Barnum (famous for his American Museum full of “freaks” and, later, the famous circus which bears his name), gave two concerts for charity at the castle.
  • In 1851, European dancing star Lola Montez performed her notorious “tarantula dance” in Castle Garden.
  • In 1853–54, Louis-Antoine Jullien, the eccentric French conductor and composer of light music, gave dozens of very successful concerts mixing Classical and light music.
  • On June 17, 1851, the Max Maretzek Italian Opera Company notably staged the New York premiere of Gaetano Donizetti‘s Marino Faliero.
  • On July 20, 1854, the Max Maretzek Italian Opera Company also staged the New York premiere of Giuseppe Verdi‘s Luisa Miller  at Castle Garden.
  • During the 1860s, landfill was used to expand Battery Park at which point the island containing the fort was incorporated into the rest of Manhattan Island.
  • In the first half of the 19th century, most immigrants arriving in New York City landed at docks on the east side of the tip of Manhattan, around South Street.
  • On August 1, 1855, Castle Clinton became the Emigrant Landing Depot, functioning as the New York State immigrant registration center (the nation’s first such entity).
  • On April 18, 1890, the  S. government assumed control of immigration processing from the state government.
  • On January 2, 1892, after many unnecessary deaths and scandals over immigration workers cheating and stealing from immigrants, the immigration control was taken over by the federal government and the immigrant registration center was moved to the larger, more isolated Ellis Island
  • On June 15, 1897, a fire consumed the first structures on Ellis Island, destroying most of Castle Clinton’s original immigrant passenger records (it is generally accepted that approximately 7.7 million immigrants and, perhaps, as many as 10 million were processed during its operation).
  • On December 10, 1896, Castle Garden was opened as the site of the New York City Aquarium (designed by McKim, Mead & White) which, for many years, was the city’s most popular attraction, drawing hundreds of thousands of visitors each year to see its Beluga whale, sea lions and exotic fish. The structure was extensively altered and roofed over to a height of several stories, though the original masonry fort remained.
  • In 1941, Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority Commissioner Robert Moses wanted to tear the structure down completely, claiming that this was necessary to build the Brooklyn–Battery Tunnel.
  • In September 1941, to expedite construction of the tunnel, the city closed the New York Aquarium and moved its fish to other aquariums. The aquarium was not replaced until Moses opened a new facility on Coney Island in 1957.
  • On August 12, 1946, President Harry S. Truman signed the legislation making the castle a U.S. National Monument.
  • In July 1947, the New York City Board of Estimate voted to demolish Castle Garden. However, the Board delayed the demolition for another year to allow the federal government to review the decision.
  • In May 1948, the Board voted to demolish the castle for the sixth time in as many years.
  • After another year of discussion, the New York State Assembly reversed its decision to allow the castle to be demolished.
  • On July 18, 1950, the federal government finally obtained the property after the city deeded the land and castle to the federal government.
  • In 1956, after funding had been secured, a project to renovate Castle Clinton was announced.
  • On October 15, 1966, Castle Clinton National Monument was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
  • In the 1970s, a major rehabilitation took place, largely restoring it to its original appearance.
  • In 1975, Castle Clinton was reopened.

Designed by John McComb Jr. and Jonathan Williams, West Battery had a red brick facade, 8-ft. thick walls and was roughly circular in shape, with a radius of approximately 28 m. (92 ft.).

The ticket office

About one-eighth of the circle was left “unfinished,” with a straight wall constructed between the “unfinished” segments.

Intended to complement the three-tiered Castle Williams (the East Battery, on Governors Island, named after Jonathan Williams) with crosshair fire so that the channel between them could be closed, West Battery was armed with 28 cannons, in casemated gun positions, which could fire a 32 pound cannonball a distance of 1.5 miles into the harbor.   Although garrisoned in 1812, the fort never saw action in any war.

Currently administered by the National Park Service and now part of the Statue of Liberty National Monument, Castle Clinton is now a departure point for visitors to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, housing an information center and ticket booths for the ferries.

Castle Clinton Museum

In 2009, it recorded nearly 4.08 million visitors. In addition, the fort contains a small history exhibit and occasionally hosts concerts.

Check out “Statue of Liberty National Monument”

Castle Clinton National Monument: Battery Park, 26 Wall St., Manhattan, New York City 10005. Tel: (212) 344-7220.

Mactan Shrine (Lapu-Lapu City, Cebu)

Posted on by — Leave a reply

Mactan Shrine.  On the left is the small building housing two plaques while on the right is the Magellan Monument

Part 4 of the Bluewater Maribago Beach Resort & Spa-sponsored City Tour

This shrine is dedicated in honor of Lapu-Lapu (the Philippines’ first National Hero) and the Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan and was erected on the supposed spot where the Battle of Mactan (April 27, 1521) took place. The shrine has three prominent monuments

Lapu-Lapu Monument

The 20-ft. high Lapu-Lapu Monument, beside the shore, features a bronze statue, on a pedestal, of Datu Lapu-Lapu, sculpted with great realism, holding a kampilan (curved sword) on his right hand and a shield on the left.  The Magellan Marker, shaped like a large headstone, allegedly marks the spot where Magellan fell dead in the hands of Lapu-Lapu’s men.

Magellan Monument

A little farther away is the 30-ft. high Magellan Monument, on a base of several levels and surrounded by a low fence. It consists of plain, coralstone obelisk, on whose apex rests a sphere, mounted on a tall plinth that rests on a tripartite structure – an octagonal base, on which rests a tall quadrilateral structure, divided into a lower part, decorated with high relieves of vases, and an upper part pierced by narrow arches.

Relief of a vase

The monument is inscribed with texts. On one side is A Hernando de Magallanes, Ferdinand Magellan’s name written in the original Portuguese language.

Inscription with Magellan’s name

On a second side is the phrase Glorias Españolas (“Glory to Spain”),  on the third is the phrase Siendo Gobernaor Don Miguel Creus (the Spanish governor of the Philippines at the time) and on the fourth side is the phrase 1866 Reinando Ysabel II (the Spanish monarch at that time).

Inscription with Gov. Miguel Creus’s name

The monument was said to have been built in 1866 during the administration of Augustinian Fr. Simon Aguirre, who was cura (parish priest), from 1857 to 1871, of Opon (the old name of Lapu-Lapu City).

The plinth with two plaques

Between the Lapu-Lapu and Magellan monuments stands the Philippine flag.  East of the Magellan Monument is a small building housing a plinth flanked by plaques.

The Lapu-Lapu plaque

The plaque about Lapu-Lapu (installed by the Philippine Historical Committee in 1951) reads:

Lapulapu

Here on 27 April 1521, Lapulapu and his men repulsed the Spanish invaders, killing their leader Ferdinand Magellan thus Lapu Lapu became the first Filipino to have repelled European aggression.

The plaque about Magellan’s death

The other plaque about Ferdinand Magellan (installed by the Philippine Historical Committee in 1941) reads:

Ferdinand Magellan’s Death

On this spot Ferdinand Magellan died on April 27, 1521 wounded in an encounter with the soldiers of Lapu Lapu, Chief of Mactan Islands. One of Magellan’s ships, The Victoria, under the command of Juan Sebastian Elcano, sailed from Cebu on May 1, 1521 and anchored at San Lucar de Barrameda on September 6, 1522 thus completing the first circumnavigation of the earth.

The huge mural painting

Behind the plinth is a huge mural painting depicting the battle. The Battle of Mactan is reenacted along the shores near the shrine during the 27 April Kadaugan sa Mactan Festival.

The Kadaugan sa Mactan re-enactment site

Mactan Shrine: Punta Engano, Lapu-Lapu City, Cebu.

Bluewater Maribago Beach Resort & Spa: Buyong, Maribago, Lapu-Lapu City, 6015, Cebu. Tel: (032) 492-0100. Fax: (032) 492-1808.  E-mail: maribago@bluewater.com.ph.   Website: www.bluewatermaribago.com.ph.  Metro Manila sales office: Rm. 704, Cityland Herrera Tower, 98 Herrera cor. Valero Sts., Salcedo Village, Makati City, Metro Manila. Tel: (02) 887-1348 and (02) 817-5751. Fax: (02) 893-5391.

Bonifacio Trial Museum (Maragondon, Cavite)

Posted on by — Leave a reply

After our visit to the Church of the Assumption of Our Lady in Maragondon, Jandy and I drove about 500 m. to the nearby Bonifacio Trial Museum.  As it was Holy Week, the museum was closed. On the facade are two historical markers.

Bonifacio Trial Museum

The first marker, in English, was installed in 1948 by the Philippines Historical Committee (PHC) and the second, in Filipino, was installed in 2000 by the National Historical Institute (NHI), the later predecessor of the National Historical Commission of the Philippines.

This two-storey bahay-na-bato (stone house) was the site where brothers Andres Bonifacio and Procopio Bonifacio were court martialed by a military court presided by Gen. Mariano Noriel from May 5 to 6, 1897. The court  found the two accused guilty of treason and recommended execution.

 Check out “VIsita Iglesia 2017”  and “Church of the Assumption of Our Lady” 

The house has capiz sliding windows, ventanillas and calado woodwork on the eaves

Built by Teodorico Reyes in 1889, this house was formerly known as the Roderico Reyes House (which was the name of the former owner). The house now belongs to Mr. Jose Angeles.  On June 4, 1997, the house was designated as a National Historical Landmark by the National Historical Institute and, in 1999, it was fully restored and declared as a National Heritage Site.

National Historical Institute (NHI) Plaque

Today, this stone, brick and wood ancestral house has been converted into a museum called the Museo ng Paglilitis ni Andres Bonifacio or Bonifacio Trial Museum. It was formally inaugurated on November 28, 2014.

Philippine Historical Committee (PHC) Plaque

Bonifacio Trial Museum: Col. Crisostomo Riel St., Brgy. Poblacion 1-A, Maragondon, Cavite. Mobile number: (0917) 553-7375 (Mr. Melanio Guevarra – museum curator). E-mail: bonifaciotrialmuseum@gmail.com. Open Tuesdays to Saturdays, 8 AM – 5 PM. Admission is free.

Diocesan Shrine of the Immaculate Conception (Naic, Cavite)

Posted on by — Leave a reply

Diocesan Shrine of the Immaculate Conception

From the Church of the Holy Cross in Tanza, Jandy and I next drove the long 21.6 kms. distance to the Diocesan Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Naic.  First constructed in the 1800s with wood and cogon grass, six years after its initial construction, a kopa, a pair of cruets and ornamentation was added. In 1835, the construction of a new stone church was started by Don Pedro Florentino. Its bell tower was completed in 1892.

 Check out “VIsita Iglesia 2017” and “Church of the Holy Cross“

The church convent

After the Tejeros Convention of March 22, 1897, the the church convent was used as the headquarters of Andres Bonifacio and the Naic Conference was held there. In this conference, the old Tagalog letter of the flag was replaced by the “Sun of Liberty,” with two eyes, a nose and a mouth and its symbolic eight rays.

The church interior

Before World War II, the church was one of the tallest (about 5 storeys high) and the longest (almost 10 blocks long) churches in Cavite. In width, it was second to the Imus Cathedral. On November 17, 1996, it was made into a Diocesan Shrine.

The church’s Neo-Gothic facade

AUTHOR’S NOTES:

The church’s three-level Neo-Gothic façade, the only one of its kind in Cavite, has a pointed, lancet-like arched main entrance flanked by square pilasters and similarly pointed arched windows.

The 4-storey bell tower

The second level has three pointed arched windows while the triangular pediment, with inverted traceries below the eaves, has a circular window at the tympanum.  The central pilasters rise up to the pediment and end up in pinnacles, dividing the façade into 3 vertical sections. The sides of the church are reinforced by thick buttresses.

The thick buttresses

The 4-storey, square bell tower, on the church’s left, has alternating circular and pointed arched windows and is topped by a pyramidal roof.

The main altar

Its interior has 3 major and 2 minor Gothic-style altars with the Very Venerated Image of the Immaculate Concepcion, Patron Lady of Naic, in the main altar.

Diocesan Shrine of the Immaculate Conception: Capt. Ciriaco Nazareno St., Poblacion, Naic 4110, Cavite. Tel: (046) 412-0456. Feast of the Immaculate Conception: December 8.

How to Get There: Naic is located 47 kms. from Manila, 13.3 kms. from Trece Martires City, 12.9 kms. from Maragondon and 12.8 kms. from Tanza.