Goal, in Walnut Street Philadelphia by W. Birch & Son, 1799

Although not mentioned in the title, the wooden shed in the foreground of this engraving is believed to be the future building for Bethel AME Church. The church was established in 1794. It was one of the first African American churches in the United States and is the oldest African Methodist congregation in the country. It sits on one of the oldest plots of land continuosly owned by an African American person. Click on the image for a full-size version in the Library Company Digital Collection.

Courtesy of Library Company of Philadelphia

Title: Goal, in Walnut Street Philadelphia by W. Birch & Son, 1799
Date: 1799
Location: Sixth and Walnut Streets in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Object Information: 1 print, hand-colored engraving mounted on paper; 33 x 40 cm (13 x 15.5 in.)
Repository: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department | Digital Collection | Birch's views [Sn 24/P.2276.56]

Description:
This is a 1799 engraving titled for the Goal, or Walnut Street Jail, at Sixth and Walnut Streets designed by Philadelphia architect Richard Smith, in the background of the image.* The image depicted a scene that occurred a block away from the Pennsylvania State House. A team of horses pulling a wooden shed, an old blacksmith shop, and believed to be the first edifice for the Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church, is featured prominently in the foreground of the engraving. The group was headed to the building’s new location, a plot of land purchased by Reverend Richard Allen for the purposes of establishing Bethel AME Church at Sixth and Lombard Streets. Just as Allen was known to have utilized an anvil, the tool of a blacksmith, as a pulpit when he established the church, today the church continues to utilize the anvil as a representative icon of self-determination.

* "Goal" is an unusual spelling of "gaol," the old spelling of "jail." Both "gaol" are "jail" are pronounced the same.

---

TRANSCRIPT
[Image caption - line 1]
[left] Drawn & Engraved by W. Birch & Son
[right] Published by R. Campbell & Co. No. 30 Ches[t]nut Street Philadel^phia 1799

[Title]
GOAL, in Walnut Street PHILADELPHIA.