Cultural Landscape Report: Independence Square: Volume I Historical Narrative

Toogood, Anna

Since Independence Park’s establishment in 1948, many historic structure and furnishings reports have been prepared to tell the physical history of the buildings on the square, while archeology reports document the below-ground evidence of man’s presence there. In 1959 park staff prepared an historic grounds report to record the site’s first landscape, laid out by Samuel Vaughan following the American Revolution. The report gave only cursory information, however, on the subsequent 200 years of landscape history. This study aims to fill several gaps in the park’s documentation of Independence Square. As no historic resource study has ever been programmed, this volume one incorporates as much information as possible on the public use and context of the grounds over the last 300 years. Context specifically focuses on the relationship of Independence and Washington Squares, to determine whether the two squares warrant similar maintenance treatment. Independence Square’s nineteenth and twentieth century landscape design changes are documented in some detail, as is the square’s use as a rallying place for a diverse range of ethnic and political groups. The work of former park historians and historic architects who researched in national and international record centers during the 1950s and 1960s greatly facilitated the research for this report. Their extensive research was compiled into a note card file, which is maintained in the park’s library. Besides Independence Square as a topic, the note cards provided information on 18th century horticulture. Research published by Gary B. Nash, Morris J. Vogel, Nicholas Wainright, John Cotter, and Edwin Wolf 2nd, among others, served as principal summaries of Philadelphia’s cultural and economic history. The Pennsylvania Horticultural Society and Historical Society, the Athenaeum and the City Archives provided significant new material, particularly for documenting the nineteenth and twentieth century history of the square. This historical narrative benefited from several document and photograph collections available at Independence Park. Microfilm rolls of the Etting collection (from the Historical Society of Pennsylvania) gave evidence of the grounds during the nation’s Centennial anniversary in 1876. INDE’s City Collection, generated by city employees in charge of Independence Square during the first half of the 20th century, provided administrative files and historic photographs. The park’s Horace Wells Sellers Collection documented much of the 1915-16 A.I.A. restoration effort on the square. Sellers was the principal architect for the landscape design changes during that project. The park’s stereopticon views furnished late 19th century/early 20th century images of the grounds, while the park’s photographic study collection offered copy prints from all three centuries. The papers of the Independence Hall Association in the park’s archives documented the story of Independence Park’s creation, and newspaper clippings from several Philadelphia papers gave added insights on the early park movement. Several planning and research reports prepared for the park, the Photostat collection of maps, drawings, and articles on the square, and the map files in the park library all furnished evidence of the minimal landscape alterations to the grounds since the National Park Service’s takeover.

Cultural Landscape Report: Independence Square: Volume I Historical Narrative

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