Old World Philadelphia - Philly, 1681-1907

TIMELINE 1681-1907

1632 Area to be known as Philadelphia is included in the Maryland Charter.

1646 Swedes form on Tinicum Island.

1681 William Penn lays out city.

1682 Land purchased from Swedes. Great Treaty of Friendship with Lenape Indians est.

1684 The first wharfs are built.

1687 Log Cabin Prison erected at Second/High.

1689 Friends Public School est.

1690's Philadelphia becomes a trafficker of pirated goods. Large waves of German immigrants begins.

1693 Slate Roof House built house Samuel Carpenter as well as William Penn.

1696 The Great Meeting House is constructed at the corner of High and Second Street.

1701 Municipal Charter est. Christ Church est at Second/High/Mulberry.

1702 Queen Anne's War begins.

1704 Buttonwood Presbyterian Church est. at High/Bank.

1708 First court house est at High/Second.

1713 Treaty of Utrecht ends Queen Ann's War.

1719 First newspaper American Weekly started.

1722 New prison at Third/High erected.

1723 Ben Franklin arrives in Philadelphia.

1724 Christ Church est at Second/Market.

1729 Philadelphia Gazette begins.

1730 Large waves of Northern Irish begins. Large fire rages in city.

1732 State House building begins. Friends Alms House erected.

1733 Poor Richard's Almanac est. German Reformed Church erected. First Catholic Chapel erected in St. Joseph's parish.

1736 Philadelphia Fire Dept began.

1740 Large waves of Scot-Irish.

1741 State House completed. First large riots recorded in Philadelphia.

1743 St. Michael's German Lutheran Church erected.

1747 Union Library Company est. Batteries are est to protect against French and Spanish pirates. Franklin published The Plain Truth.

1751 Liberty Bell rings. Franklin's Philadelphia Experiments propels science.

1753 Due to crack bell is recast. Anti Catholic sentiment surges as bigots try to burn down St. Joseph's Chapel.

1754 French Indian War.

1755 College of Philadelphia est. Pennsylvania Hospital est. Regular mail service begins to New York.

1758 Franklin writes The Way to Wealth, Poor Richard's Almanac. St. Peter's Chapel added.

1760 Large group of German immigrants. St. Paul's Chapel added.

1763 British victory signed in Paris.

1765 The Stamp Act - the beginning of the end for England in the colonies.

1764 The Currency Act - England tries to control colonial paper.

1767 Townshend Revenue Acts - more fuel on the fire.

1773 The Tea Act - the final blow. Riots and protest follow in force.

1766 Southwark Theater opens.

1774 Paul Revere rides into town with news. The first Continental Congress meets in Philadelphia.

1775 Lexington and Concord news reaches Philadelphia. America is at war. George Washington enters the city to command the Continental forces.

1776 A call for the est of government free from British rule. Founders like Thomas Jefferson and John Hancock work to est uniformed voting. Jefferson writes the Declaration of Independence at Market/Seventh. On the 4th of July the Liberty Bell ring to proclaim freedom throughout the land. Smallpox hits population.

1777 Cornwallis marches into Philadelphia. Battle of Germantown occurs.

1778 American soldiers are almost starved to death in British prisoner camps. American troops return to capture Philadelphia. A great fire hits the city.

1779 University of Pennsylvania est.

1782 Cornwallis surrenders at Yorktown.

1783 Signing of the peace treaty Paris. George Washington enters the city victorious.

1790 Philadelphia temporary federal capital.

1791 Chestnut Theater built.

1793 First Presbyterian Church built. Yellow fever hits.

1794 John Jay's treaty signed.

1799 George Washington dies.

1800 Philadelphia is America's largest city with a pop of 65,000.

1805 Academy of Fine Arts est.

1812 War. Academy of Natural Sciences est.

1824 Historical Society of Pennsylvania est.

1829 Delaware Canal completed.

1832 Germantown railroad completed.

1833 US Mint built.

1834 Alms house built at Blockley. Merchant's Exchange built on Walnut.

1836 Philadelphia Bank built.

1837 Pennsylvania Anti-Slavery Society est.

1835 Worker strike to get 10hr day.

1836 Philadelphia's Central High School is built.

1837 Edgar Allan Poe enters Philadelphia.

1839 St. Patrick's built.

1840 Large foundries and factories start est. With the Irish famine large masses of rural Irish immigrants flood the city. Anti Irish Catholic and anti Black (pro slavery) bias erupts for the 1840's. The Industrial Revolution begins as poverty escalates.

1843 Large riot against Irish Catholics occurs.

1844 Another large riot against Irish Catholics occurs.

1847 Philadelphia College of Medicine is est along with the American Medical Association.

1849 Cholera hits the city.

1850 Gangs start to show their faces.

1851 St. Joseph's College est.

1852 Smallpox hits.

1853 Several Streets change names High St to Market St, Mulberry to Arch, Sassatime to Race, Cedar to South. St. Peter's School est.

1855 Sanford Opera House est. Know Nothing Party est.

1861 Civil War begins.

1863 Battle of Gettysburg. Emancipation Proclamation. LaSalle College est.

1865 Abe Lincoln killed.

1866 Civil War ends.

1870 Synagogue of Congregation Rodeph Shalom built.

1873 Masonic Temple est.

1875 James Frederic Wood becomes first Roman Catholic archbishop of Philadelphia.

1876 Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts built.

1877 Museum of Art est.

1882 Pennsylvania Railroad Depot built.

1883 Phillies baseball team est.

1900 Large Italian immigrant increase.

1904 Bellevue-Stratford skyscraper built.

1905 Large Russian immigrant flood.