Fairmount was the site of the Centennial Exhibition in 1876, and numerous and costly buildings were erected there. Of these many were removed at once at the close of the Exhibition. The main building, a mammoth structure, covering eleven acres, was retained for several years for a permanent exhibition building, but was removed in 1883. Memorial Hall, erected by the State, at a cost of $1,500,000, standing on an elevated terrace between George's Hill and the river, and used as an art gallery during the Exhibition, still remains, and is designed for a permanent art and industrial collection. North of Memorial Hall stands the Horticultural Building, a picturesque structure, in the Mooresque style. It is a conservatory, filled with tropical and other plants, and is surrounded by thirty-five acres devoted to horticultural purposes.
In October, 1882, Philadelphia celebrated her Bi-centennial, and commemorated the landing of Penn, who first stepped upon her shores two hundred years before. This Bi-centennial lasted for three days, which were celebrated, the first as "Landing Day," the second as "Trades' Day," and the third as "Festival Day." On the first day, October twenty-fourth, the State House bell rang two hundred times, and the chimes of the churches were rung. The ship Welcome, which two hundred years before had conveyed Penn to our shores, made a second arrival, and a mimic Penn again visited the Blue Anchor, still standing to receive him, held treaty with the Indians, and then paraded through the city, followed by a large and brilliant procession, which presented the harmless anachronism of the Proprietor of two hundred years ago hob-nobbing with the city officials and others of the nineteenth century. On the second day the different trades and manufacturing interests made a great display. In the evening Pennsylvania history was represented by ten tableaux; eleven tableaux presented the illustrious women of history; and ten tableaux gave the principal scenes in the Romayana, the great poem of India. The display of this night pageant was gorgeous and beautiful beyond anything ever before seen in this country. On the third day the morning was devoted to a parade of Knights Templar, and the evening to a reception at the Academy of Music and Horticultural Hall. A musical festival was held during the day; also a naval regatta upon the Schuylkill, a bicycle meet at Fairmount, and archery contests at Agricultural Hall. During the entire three days Philadelphia held holiday. Her streets and pavements were crowded with throngs of people from the country, and elevated seats along the principal streets were constantly filled, at high prices.
If William Penn could really, in person, have stepped upon the scene, and beheld the city of his planning as it is to-day, he would undoubtedly be astonished beyond expression. In magnitude it must exceed his wildest dreams; in commercial and manufacturing enterprises its progress reads like some fable of the east. He would look almost in vain for his country residence upon the Delaware, once surrounded by noble forests, and we fear he would scorn the Blue Anchor and all its present associations. Time works wonders. Nearly a million people now find their homes where, in 1683, one year after Penn's arrival, there were but one hundred houses. In 1684 the population of Philadelphia was estimated at 2,500. In 1800 it had increased to 41,220. In 1850 it was 121,376. From this period to 1860, its growth was almost marvelous, at the latter period its inhabitants numbering 565,529. The census of 1880 gave it a population of 846,984.
The residents of Philadelphia include every nationality and class of people. The Quakers are in a small minority, though they have done much to mould the character of the city. Irish and Germans predominate among foreigners. Italians, French, Spanish, and Chinese are not so numerous as in New York. The society of the Quaker City bears the reputation of great exclusiveness. While culture will admit to the charmed circle in Boston, and money buys a ready passport to social recognition in New York, in Philadelphia the door is closed to all pretensions except those of family. Boston asks "How much do you know?" New York, "How much are you worth?" but in Philadelphia the question is, "Who was your grandfather?"
Philadelphia ranks fourth in commerce among the cities of the Union. As a manufacturing city it occupies the very front rank. With the inexhaustible coal and iron fields of Pennsylvania at its back, her manufacturing interests are certain to grow in extent and importance, maintaining the ascendency they have already gained. Its prosperity has a firm basis. Like all large cities, there is squalor, misery and crime within its borders; but the proportion is smaller than in some other cities, and the aggregate amount of domestic content, owing to its many comfortable homes, much greater. Thus Philadelphia offers an example, in more than one direction, which might be emulated by her sister cities. What she will have become when her tri-centennial comes around, who shall dare to predict?
CHAPTER XXVII.
PROVIDENCE.
Origin of the City.—Roger Williams.—Geographical Location and Importance.—Topography of Providence.—The Cove.—Railroad Connections.—Brown University.—Patriotism of Rhode Island.—Soldiers' Monument.—The Roger Williams Park.—Narragansett Bay.—Suburban Villages.—Points of Interest.—Butter Exchange.—Lamplighting on a New Plan.—Jewelry Manufactories.