The University of Pennsylvania, one of the oldest & most prestigious schools in the nation, was established in Old City. The university was founded at N. 4th and Arch Streets as the Charity School in 1740. In 1751, the school was reorganized as the Publik Academy of Philadelphia (1st photo (drawing)), which was based upon the ideals espoused in Benjamin Franklin's 1749 pamphlet entitled "Proposals Related to the Education of Youth in Pennsylvania."
Not long afterward, in 1755, the school was again reorganized and renamed the College of Philadelphia. The College resided in Old City until 1802, when it moved to larger quarters at 9th and Chestnut Streets.
Initially the school was housed in the unused house that had been built for U.S. Presidents when Philadelphia was the temporary capital. (2nd) This building was torn down in 1829 & replaced with twin buildings, College Hall and Medical Hall (3rd), which formed the core of the school at 9th and Chestnut St. until the move to West Philadelphia in 1872.
The University of Pennsylvania is not the only major university that traces its roots to Old City. Founded in 1811, St. Augustine’s Academy, affiliated with St. Augustine's Church, provided a parochial education (for men) in Old City. The building at 427 Vine Street still bears the name of the academy above its door. (4th & 5th photos)
Clergy affiliated with the Academy founded the Augustinian College of Villanova, now Villanova University, the oldest Catholic college in Pennsylvania, in 1842. The college closed from 1845 - 1846 after the burning of St Augustine's in the Nativist Riots of 1844. It reopened & graduated it's first class in 1847.
The Publik Academy, 4th & Unused President's House, Stereoscopic photo of
Arch 9th at Chestnut College Hall and Medical Hall
St Augustine Academy 1964 Today Villanova in 1849
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