| Mercantile Library | |
|---|---|
&sq=&lang=&file=File:The_stranger%27s_illustrated_pocket_guide_to_Philadelphia,_embracing_a_description_of_the_principal_objects_of_interest_in_and_around_the_city,_with_directions_how_to_reach_them_(1876)_(14779403095).jpg) The second Mercantile Library building on Tenth Street in 1876. It was replaced by the Chestnut Street building in 1952 and was promptly demolished. | |
 | |
| 39°57′01″N 75°09′28″W / 39.9503°N 75.1579°W | |
| Location | 125 South Fifth Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States (1845–1869)
Tenth Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. (1869–1952) 1021–1023 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. (1952–1989) |
| Established | 1821 |
| Closed | 1989 |
| Architect(s) | William L. Johnston (first building)
Frank Furness (second building) Martin, Stewart & Noble (third building) |
| Branch of | Free Library of Philadelphia (circa unknown point after 1894) |
The Mercantile Library Company was a library in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, that operated from 1821 to 1989.[1][2] Like other "Mercantile Libraries" of the era, it was originally a subscription library focused on serving merchants, but gradually shifted focus over time to serve more as a public library, and ultimately became a freely-accessible branch of the Free Library of Philadelphia. The library moved to three different locations during its 168 years of existence, but only the third library building, opened in 1952, still stands; this building was added to the Philadelphia Register of Historic Places in 1990.
- ^ Philadelphia, Mercantile Library of (1850). A Catalogue of the Mercantile Library Company of Philadelphia. Mercantile Library Company.
- ^ John Thomas Scharf, Thompson Westcott. History of Philadelphia, 1609–1884, v.2. 1884.