PFYFFER, CASIMIR. 



PHILADELPHIA. 



627 



which two editions appeared in 1874. A biog- 

 raphy of Peschel was published by Fr. Hell- 

 wald (" Oskar Peschel, sein Leben und Schaf- 

 fen " 1876). 



PFYFFER, CASIMIR, a Swiss lawyer, born 

 October 10, 1794; died November 11, 1875. 

 He studied law in Tubingen, and, having grad- 

 uated, he settled in Lucerne, where he soon 

 was one of the most popular lawyers. In 1826 

 he was elected to the Common Council of Lu- 

 cerne, and from 1831 to 1841 was President of 

 the Court of Appeals. He was a decided op- 

 ponent of the "Sonderbund," and, when the 

 rebellion had been suppressed, he was elected 

 under the new Federal Constitution, first into 

 the National Council, and subsequently into 

 the Supreme Federal Court. Of this court he 

 was twice elected president, in 1851 and again 

 in 1863. He wrote "Geschichte des Cantons 

 Luzern" (2 vols., 1850-'52) ; " Erlauterungen 

 des burgerlichen Gesetzbuch.es des Cantons 

 Luzern " (3 vols., 1832-'39) ; " Der Sempacher 

 Krieg" (1844); and "Dr. J. R. Steiger und 

 dessen Staatsprocess " (1845). 



PHILADELPHIA. The wide-spread inter- 

 est that will attach to Philadelphia, in conse- 

 quence of its being the place of the American 

 Centennial Exposition, renders timely an ex- 

 tended description of the city in this volume 

 of the ANNUAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 



Philadelphia is the chief city of Pennsylvania, 

 and the second of the United States in popula- 

 tion. It is situated on the Delaware River at 

 the mouth of the Schuylkill, 96 miles from 

 the Atlantic Ocean ; 125 miles in a direct line 

 northeast of Washington, and 85 miles south- 

 west of New York ; latitude of Independence 

 Hall, 39 57' north; longitude 75 10' west. 

 The city was founded by William Penn, as his 

 first act in taking possession of the grant of a 

 province by Charles II. He sent out a body of 

 colonists in August, 1681, but the town was not 

 laid out till near the close of 1682, Penn arriv- 

 ing meanwhile. The name was selected more 

 because of its intrinsic significance than from 

 historical regard to the city of that name in Asia 

 Minor. The Swedes had settled in consider- 

 able numbers on both shores of the Delaware 

 below the site of the city before Penn came, 

 and several proprietors of Swedish origin at 

 this time held small tracts on the present site 

 of the city by titles derived from the Dutch 

 and English Governors of New York. In 1683 

 and 1684 a large immigration arrived from Hol- 

 land and Germany as well as from England and 

 Wales. They were nearly all Friends, and the 

 city continued to be almost exclusively occu- 

 pied and controlled by Friends for half a cen- 

 tury after it was founded. 



The first Continental Congress met in Phila- 

 delphia in Carpenters' Hall, September 5, 1774, 

 and continued in session till October 26, 1774. 

 The second assembled in the State-House May 

 10, 1775, and on July 4, 1776, adopted the Dec- 

 laration of Independence. Other sessions of 

 Congress were begun here on March 4, 177T, 



and July 2, 1778. The British forces occupied 

 the city from September, 1777, to June, 1788. 

 Philadelphia was the capital of the colony and 

 State of Pennsylvania till 1799, except during 

 the British occupation. From 1790 to 1800 it 

 was the seat of government of the United 

 States. The growth of the city has been steady 

 and rapid. The total population in 1790 was 

 28,522; in 1800, 41,220; in 1810, 53,722; in 

 1820, 63,802 ; in 1830, 80,458 ; in 1840, 93,665 ; 

 in 1850, 121,376 ; in 1860, 565,529 ; and in 1870, 

 674,022. Of the total population in 1870, 22,- 

 147 were colored; 490,398 were natives, and 

 183,624 foreigners, of whom 96,698 were born 

 in Ireland, 50,746 in Germany, and 22,034 in 

 England. 



The city covers an area of 129 square miles, 

 its greatest length, north-northeast and south- 

 southwest, being 22 miles, and its breadth 

 from 5 to 10 miles. The densely-built portion 

 comprises about 15 square miles between the 

 rivers, on either side of and including the orig- 

 inal city. The district west of the Schuylkill 

 is popularly known as West Philadelphia, and 

 there are other localities which still retain the 

 names they bore prior to annexation. Among 

 these may be mentioned Bridesburg, Frankford, 

 and Holmesburg in the northeast, and Mana- 

 yunk (on the left bank of the Schuylkill), Ger- 

 mantown, and Chestnut Hill, in the northwest. 

 The last two are chiefly noted for their fine 

 residences, the others for their manufactures. 



The original city was regularly laid out, the 

 north and south streets, with few exceptions, 

 being numbered from the Delaware west to the 

 Schuylkill, which is reached at Twenty-third 

 Street, the first street west of that river being 

 Thirtieth. These are crossed at right angles 

 by named streets. This plan, though in gener- 

 al applied to the newer portions of the city, has 

 been modified by the conformation of the land 

 as determined by the curves of the rivers, while 

 the suburbs in some instances were laid out 

 upon an independent plan. A few irregular 

 avenues, formerly highways leading to the 

 country, stretch away from the original town 

 plot. The buildings on the east and west 

 streets are numbered toward the west, all be- 

 tween Front or First Street and Second Street 

 being between 100 and 200, and all between 

 Second and Third Streets between 200 and 300, 

 and so on. On the north and south streets the 

 buildings are numbered in either direction from 

 Market Street, certain streets being designated 

 as boundaries of the hundreds. Market Street, 

 the great central street east and west, is 100 

 feet wide, and built up for more than 5 miles. 

 Broad Street is the central street north and 

 south, 113 feet wide, and built upon for over 6 

 miles. The other great streets are from 50 to 

 66 feet wide, forming squares with sides of 

 from 300 to 450 feet. In most cases the squares 

 are subdivided by small streets laid out at a 

 later period. 



Chestnut Street, the first east and west street 

 south of Market, is the fashionable thorough- 



