The Site of a Philadelphia Tavern

A sad errand brought us down to Philadelphia over the weekend, and I took the opportunity to visit a site from my family history, not far from Independence Hall. 

My (8th) great grandfather Reese Price (1679-1760) was landlord at the Blue Anchor Tavern at the intersection of Dock Creek (now Dock Street) and Front Street, at the Riverfront in Philadelphia. 

I’m not sure which corner the tavern was on, so I photographed all four. 

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Visiting the spot in person was edifying, as there were other clues about the neighborhood nearby, namely in the form of two other nearby taverns, just yards away, which provides a portrait of a riverfront neighborhood that was once full of such taverns. 

One was an establishment started and run by the self-same Samuel Fraunces who operated the still standing Fraunces Tavern in lower Manhattan, where we presented Androboros a couple of years ago.

The original City Tavern was torn down in 1975 and subsequently rebuilt. 

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In 1747 Reese donated some Price land for the building of a school for the Friends Community in the Welsh Tract, where the family had settled. In August and September 1777 the Revolutionary War came to the Price’s front yard. The battles of Germantown and Brandywine were fought nearby and Washington’s troops camped out on the Price’s lands. There is an anecdote about officers coming into the house and being disappointed in their request for spirits, as it was Sunday, although the Prices did provide them with refreshments. But visiting those sites, father afield, will await a future visit.