The Farmers' & Mechanics' Bank Building was built in 1854-55 and designed by John M. Gries in the Italianate style with a marble facade. It was modeled after an Italian Renaissance palace, with a three-story main banking hall in the rear of the building topped by a skylight. At the time, it was the largest bank building in the city. The Farmers' and Mechanics' Bank was headquartered here from 1855 until it merged with the Philadelphia National Bank in 1918.
427 Chestnut hosted other banks for many years afterwards. In 1965 the Philadelphia Maritime Museum began renting space in the building, but moved out in 1974; it is now known as the Independence Seaport Museum. The American Philosophical Society acquired the building in 1981, renovated it and renamed it Benjamin Franklin Hall.
The building was placed on the Philadelphia Register of Historic Places on June 24, 1969.
1872 drawing 1972 today
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