Rittenhouse Square Corporation - Pennsylvania 1928

Beautiful RARE certificate from the Rittenhouse Square Corporation issued in 1928. This historic document was printed by E.A.Wright Banknote Company and has an ornate border around it. This item has the signatures of the Company's President and Secretary, Henry Penn Burke and is over 79 years old. The Penn Athletic Club guaranteed the payment of the bond and is signed by the the club's President, J. Willis Martin and Secretary, H. Eugene Heine.

The Rittenhouse Square Corporation owned that building that was leased to the Penn Athletic Club. The building had 278 bedrooms, a gym, swimming pool and 8 shops.

Rittenhouse Square is one of the five original open-space parks planned by William Penn during the late 17th century in central Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Originally called Southwest Square, Rittenhouse Square is named after David Rittenhouse, a descendant of the first paper-maker in Philadelphia, the German immigrant William Rittenhouse. William Rittenhouse's original paper-mill site is known as Rittenhousetown, located in the rural setting of Fairmount Park along Paper Mill Run. David Rittenhouse was a clockmaker and friend of the American Revolution, as well as a noted astronomer; a lunar crater is named after him.

Rittenhouse Philadelphia has been a prestigious neighborhood since the mid-1800s and many elegant Victorian houses still line the nearby streets. More recent constructions have made the Rittenhouse skyline worthy of note. Large apartment buildings surround the urban park, and a place in a Rittenhouse skyline building is one of the most sough-after addresses in the city. The exquisite building at 1801 Walnut Street stands out on the Rittenhouse skyline. The 1898 beaux-arts building was once home to the Pennsylvania athletic club. That it is now home to a leading national clothing store is indicative of Rittenhouse Philadelphia’s status as the city’s premier shopping district. The block between 17th and 18th streets on Walnut Street, known as Rittenhouse Row, is home to both national box stores and some local independent boutiques.



Today, the tree-filled park is surrounded with trendy shops, fine restaurants, luxury apartments and two hotels, including a five-star. Its green grasses and benches are major lunch-time destinations for workers in Philadelphia's Center City neighborhood, while its lion and goat statues are popular gathering spots for small children and their parents.

The beauty of the Park is due largely to the efforts of Friends of Rittenhouse Square, a public-private partnership with Fairmount Park. Landscaping, lighting, restoration of fountains and fencing -- even the installation and stocking of doggie bag dispensers -- are all projects of the Friends of Rittenhouse Square.

More broadly, the name Rittenhouse Square is used informally to designate the neighborhood surrounding the square itself, at its greatest extent encompassing most of the western half of Center City, from Market Street in the north to South Street in the south, and from Broad Street on the east to the Schuylkill River on the west. This area of the city, particularly the blocks to the south of the square, contain the most expensive real estate in Philadelphia. Though most popular with the affluent 25-35 year old segment, the residents of the area vary widely in age.

Dr. J. William White MemorialThe Rittenhouse neighborhood is also home to many cultural institutions, including the Curtis Institute of Music, the Philadelphia Art Alliance, the Rosenbach Museum & Library, and the Civil War and Underground Railroad Museum. The Square is home to many works of public art. Among them is a bas-relief bust of J. William White done by R. Tait McKenzie.

History from Wikipedia and OldCompanyResearch.com (old stock certificate research service).