text: seven walking tours through historic Philadelphia

Locust Street houses

Old house on Locust st
Locust Street window

The south side of Locust between 16th and 17th Streets is home to several Civil War-era buildings. (Colonial Philadelphia was concentrated to the east. Development this far west did not begin until after the Revolution). 1622 Locust, which once housed the Women's City Club, has been handsomely restored by a firm of lawyers. The Rosenbach brothers conducted their rare book business from number 1618 (an 1850 Italianate home attributed to John Notman, with alterations by Wilson Eyre in 1888). This elegant structure has a small projecting bay window, where a rare book or an illuminated manuscript used to be displayed. There is an unusual stained glass fanlight over the bay and an unusual, very wide door as well.

Continue east to the last building on the block, the Sinkler Mansion



Rittenhouse Square