McPherson Square was the country estate of William MacPherson, an officer in the Continental Army. He often entertained George Washington there. In 1805 it passed into the hands of the Webster family where they operated a farm until 1891. The property was sold to the city of Philadelphia in 1893 for $74, 546. It was then developed into a public park named McPherson Square in 1895. As it was a predominately Irish Catholic neighborhood, they dropped the "a" from MacPherson's Scottish/Protestant last name.
The old mansion was opened as a library on July 1, 1898. On the first day more than 1000 children came to look at the 4000 books held there. The mansion was torn down in 1915 to make way for a new library that was donated by Andrew Carnegie and opened in 1917. On September 17, 1904 an organization of Civil War Veterans, The US Grant Circle #75 Brotherhood of the Union, held a parade and memorial flag raising at the Square. On August 4, 1917 the citizens of Kensington erected a statue of Charles Allen Smith in the Square. Smith lived at 2168 Sergeant Street and was the second American killed at Vera Cruz in 1914. The statue was rejected by The City of Philadelphia Art Jury on the grounds that it looked more mortuary than heroic but the defiant Kensingtonians erected the statue anyway. The Art Jury cried foul claiming that the Kensingtonians were "taking advantage of the patriotic emotion of the time" (we had just entered WWI). Ten thousand people filled the park to see the unveiling. Seaman Allen's mother broke down in tears and wailed all during the ceremony. The trees in the Square were planted in the Summer of 1919 as "Tribute Trees" in memory of fallen WW 1 soldiers. The city used to have an official municipal concert band who performed in the park every summer from 1897 until the 1930's.
In 1922 an "Underground Public Comfort Station" was built at McPherson Squares front entrance, where F st and E st meet ant Kensington Ave. It was filled in sometime after WWII but a cave-in during the late 70's allowed me a peek of this underground bathroom. I recall the walls were ceramic tile. It looked a lot like the old Broad Street subway stations. I wonder how many people know that there is an old bathroom under McPherson Square?
why did they need an underground public comfort station?!?
ReplyDeleteIs there anything going on to mark 100 years celebrating for the Statue I need to know I now live in Nevada and cant get out there I need photos taken on MEMORIAL day six guns sulute for family tree can anyone help please jkennedym@aol.com
ReplyDeleteAmazing history!
ReplyDeleteA sinkhole happened again in the 80’s off to the right of the steps. Me and my friends explored it and found green and white subway tiling. It was amazing.
ReplyDeleteA sink hole happened again in the 80’s and me and my friends were able to see it. I remember green and white subway tiling. It look just like Ghostbusters 2.
ReplyDeleteA sink hole happened again in the 80’s and me and my friends were able to see it. I remember green and white subway tiling. It look just like Ghostbusters 2.
ReplyDeleteIt's such a shame that this park has come to its present existence. To answer anonymous persons question there is no memorial services at any time
ReplyDeleteThe park is filled with homeless people and drug addicts and there is nothing to commemorate the historical history of the park.
This is true. What a travesty.
DeleteWhen did this deterioration begin (roughly)? Posts at the Googlemaps page say that there were no (or significantly fewer at least) homeless and addicts even back during the early 2000s. Is this within the last 10 years? 5?
DeleteI found them bath rooms when I was a kid in the late 70’s playing freedom lol and they were at F and Kensington and Indiana, the neighborhood was the st growing up there and I wouldn’t have changed a thing, by the late 80’s we had a mass exodus with left the neighborhood with cheap home for low income/poor and by late 90’s drugs and abandoned homes were everywhere
ReplyDeleteI walked along the F Street side of McPherson to and from the Ascension School 5 days a week going to school in the morning , returning home for lunch and repeat in the afternoon after lunch and then home again in the late 50's up to 1964. Right past Allen Smith, as we called him. Also made that walk on Sunday morning to Church at the Ascension. We would play there sometimes but since we owned the Franklin playground that's where we spent most of our play time. The trees and the hills, the library was at the top of a slight hill, stopped any serious ball games but was great for sledding when it snowed, sliding right around the trees and between the parked cars into F Street traffic. Dangerous and stupid, so we loved it as kids. Coming home from school we could turn on Kensington Ave. to Levin's Furniture store and the Phillies would, sometimes, be on a black and white TV in the store window. When I went into the Army in 1970 my neighborhood was in a slight decline but a lot of good, but elderly, neighbors still lived there. As they died their children didn't want to live there, mostly, so the houses were sold and turned into apartments. The start of the slow decline in the 1970s. After the Army I never returned home to Orleans St. as I bought a house near the Jersey shore for my family, this was so 1980s . So I am part of the problem. My father and brother lived there until 2005 and 2020 respectively. Starting in the 1980s boarded up house, filthy streets, crime, store closings, prostitution, drug sales etc. increased became common a decade later. And then a total downward spiral. There is a revival coming, like Fishtown had, but it is still a few years away.
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