Photo, Print, Drawing Railway Depot at Philadelphia.
About this Item
Title
- Railway Depot at Philadelphia.
Summary
- This lithograph of 1832 shows the depot of the Philadelphia, Germantown, and Norristown Rail Road Company, located at the junction of Green and Ninth Streets, Philadelphia. In the foreground is a locomotive, which is seen pulling passenger cars. The Philadelphia, Germantown, and Norristown Rail Road Company was incorporated on February 17, 1831, under a charter enacted by the Pennsylvania legislature. Rails were laid between Philadelphia and Germantown and the line was opened on June 6, 1832. The first trains were drawn by horses and covered the six miles (9.66 kilometers) from Philadelphia to Germantown in about 45 minutes, a speed of around eight miles (12.87 kilometers) per hour, considered very fast at the time. On November 23, 1832, a steam locomotive was introduced. It could pull four cars with passengers from Philadelphia to Germantown in 28 minutes. The fare was 25 cents. This print, made shortly after the introduction of the locomotive, has been attributed to William L. Breton, a watercolorist and early lithographer of Philadelphia scenes who was active in the city between about 1825 and 1855. Born in England circa 1773, Breton immigrated to Philadelphia around 1824. In the late 1820s, he contributed illustrations to Annals of Philadelphia, compiled by the antiquarian John F. Watson. In 1829 Breton entered the lithographic trade to execute the illustrations for the Annals. He continued to work with the printers of the plates, the first commercial Philadelphia lithographers, Kennedy & Lucas, throughout the early 1830s.
Names
- Breton, William L., circa 1773-1855 Artist.
Created / Published
- Philadelphia : Kennedy & Lucas's Lithography, 1832.
Headings
- - United States of America--Pennsylvania--Philadelphia
- - 1832
- - Cities and towns
- - Lithographs
- - Philadelphia, Germantown, and Norristown Rail Road Company
- - Railroad cars
- - Railroad locomotives
- - Railroad stations
- - Railroads
Notes
- - Title devised, in English, by Library staff.
- - "Digital catalog number: POS 634"--Note extracted from World Digital Library.
- - Original resource extent: 1 print : lithograph ; 14 x 21 centimeters.
- - Reference extracted from World Digital Library: William L. Breton, Philadelphia on Stone Biographical Dictionary, Library Company of Philadelphia, http://www.lcpdigital.org.|"Philadelphia External History: Early Railroad Transportation," http://www.ushistory.org/philadelphia/railroad.htm.|Philadelphia External on Stone Biographical Dictionary of Lithographers, http://www.librarycompany.org/pos/posdictionary.htm. External
- - Original resource at: The Library Company of Philadelphia.
- - Content in English.
- - Description based on data extracted from World Digital Library, which may be extracted from partner institutions.
Medium
- 1 online resource.
Source Collection
- Philadelphia on Stone
Digital Id
Library of Congress Control Number
- 2021670202
Online Format
- compressed data
- image