SammarliaCollectibles

Subject: Home of William Penn, 1682, Philadelphia, PA
Condition: Very Good (See scans)
Back side: Divided
Circulated: Yes
Year: 1911
Publisher: The Leighton and Valentine, Co
Postmark: October 14, 1911, Philadelphia, PA

"Penn's conceptions of Philadelphia may be characterized as one of the earliest attempts at utopian city planning, and they certainly represented the most extensively 'pre-planned' American city at that time. Paradoxically, Penn's early plans grew from his love of the country estate, as opposed to the metropolis. Much of his wealth was derived from rents from his rural properties in England and Ireland. Perhaps self-exculpatorly, he viewed moneys gained from the as land less morally tainted than those gained in trade. Thus his original vision of a "greene Country Towne" seeks to replicate this model of life in the New World. The first plan called for individual houses to be separated from their neighbors by sizable areas of green, thus replicating the gentleman's farm that he so loved.

Though Penn envisioned country estates, he could scarcely ignore the occupation of most of his colony's investors. They were tradesmen, and trade would be the economic engine of the new city. So, in addition having to fertile farm lands, the 'towne' would still have to be accessible to trading ships. It would be situated "in the most Convenient place upon the river for health & Navigation." The chosen site, at the convergence the Delaware and Schuykill rivers, was already farmed by a heterogeneous group of Swedes, Finns, Dutch and English. It was not an ideal port however. Its high banks made unloading difficult, and the river froze more readily than did port of New York. However, the site also provided a safe, deep harbor and the Schuykill river gave the best access to the interior of the state. And extremely fertile farm land that surrounded the site of the city could not be ignored."    (Attribution: http://xroads.virginia.edu/~cap/penn/pnplan.html)

Lot #8343