The Philadelphia Bourse was a commodities exchange founded in 1891 by George E. Bartol, a grain and commodities exporter, who modeled it after the Bourse in Hamburg, Germany. The steel-framed building â€" one of the first to be constructed â€" was built from 1893 to 1895, and was designed by G. W. & W. D. Hewitt in the Beaux-Arts style. Carlisle redstone, Pompeian buff brick and terra cotta were all used in the facade. After the building's sale in 1979 and subsequent renovation, the internal area was approximately 286,000 square feet. As of 2012, the building is owned by Kaiserman Company.
History
Upon his return from a European trip in 1890, Bartol organized the Philadelphia business community. He asked each new member to pledge $1,000 to the project. The Bourse motto was "Buy, Sell, Ship via Philadelphia."
The Bourse stopped functioning as a commodities exchange in the 1960s. The structure continued to serve as an office building until 1979, when it was sold and renovated to include upscale retail space on floors near the street level. The upper levels of the building continued to house office space. A movie theater specializing in independent films, The Ritz at the Bourse, sits across the street at 4th and Ranstead streets.
As of 2017, the Bourse is "one of Philadelphia’s leading commercial complexes, home to 24 retail and food service stores and more than 50 businesses."
The 105-year-old Victorian building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
See also
- Philadelphia portal
References
- Notes
External links
Media related to Philadelphia Bourse at Wikimedia Commons
- "A History of the Bourse" on the Bourse website
- Virtual tour of the Bourse food court
- Listing and photographs at the Historic American Buildings Survey
