Mount Pleasant (mansion)

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Mount Pleasant
Mount Pleasant mansion
Location: Fairmount Park
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
Coordinates: 39°59′0″N 75°11′59″W / 39.983333°N 75.19972°W / 39.983333; -75.19972Coordinates: 39°59′0″N 75°11′59″W / 39.983333°N 75.19972°W / 39.983333; -75.19972
Area: < 1-acre (4,000 m2)
Built: c. 1761
Architectural style: Georgian
Governing body: Local (Fairmount Park Commission)
NRHP Reference#: 66000685
Significant dates
Added to NRHP: October 15, 1966[1]
Designated NHL: May 30, 1974[2]

Mount Pleasant is a mansion located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and was built in what was then the countryside outside of the city by the privateer John Mcpherson.[3] It is administered by the Philadelphia Museum of Art in Fairmount Park.[4]

Captain John Macpherson (1726 - 1792)

At Mount Pleasant, Mcpherson had a residence constructed equipped with an entrance topped by a pediment supported by Doric columns.[5]

It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1974.[2][6]

It is located on Mount Pleasant Drive (road), between East River Drive and Columbia Avenue.

Mount Pleasant was also home to Benedict Arnold and his wife Peggy Shippen. Arnold purchased Mount Pleasant on March 22 1779 for his new bride, and specifically made the property over to her ownership and that of their future children. The couple occupied the property as their country estate in 1779 and 1780; Arnold's defection to the British in September 1780 ended their use of the estate.[7]

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. 2007-01-23. http://nrhp.focus.nps.gov/natreg/docs/All_Data.html. 
  2. ^ a b "Mount Pleasant". National Historic Landmark summary listing. National Park Service. http://tps.cr.nps.gov/nhl/detail.cfm?ResourceId=510&ResourceType=Building. Retrieved 2008-03-15. 
  3. ^ "Mount Pleasant." (html). Independence Hall Association. http://www.ushistory.org/districts/fairmountpark/mount.htm. "It was built in 1761-62 by Captain John Macpherson, a privateer who had had "an arm twice shot off" according to John Adams. The pirate called the house "Clunie" after the seat of his family's ancient clan in Scotland." 
  4. ^ Philadelphia Museum of Art. ""Fairmount Park Houses: Mount Pleasant."" (html). http://www.philamuseum.org/collections/216-20-244-37.html. "Scottish ship captain John Macpherson (1726–1792) and his first wife, Margaret, built their grand country estate on this site—high atop cliffs overlooking the Schuylkill River—between 1762 and 1765. They employed as their builder-architect Thomas Nevell (1721–1797), an apprentice of Edmund Woolley, the builder of Independence Hall." 
  5. ^ Mount Pleasant :: gophila.com - The Official Visitor Site for Greater Philadelphia
  6. ^ Patricia Heintzelman (August 30, 1974). National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination: PDF (32 KB). National Park Service  and Accompanying seven photos, exterior and interior, from 1974 and undatedPDF (32 KB)
  7. ^ New York Times, 7 June 1896

[edit] External links


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