Insurance helps Carpenters’ Hall with repairs
If you look carefully, you can count four Philadelphia fire marks on the front of Carpenters’ Hall. They mean the property is insured for fire. Photo by Jim Murphy, author of Real Philly History, Real Fast.
When Carpenters’ Hall was damaged during a Christmas Eve basement arson fire in 2022, it needed help to repair and restore the building.
Fortunately, says the Philadelphia Inquirer, much of the $1 million in repairs was covered by four insurance policies, including one by the Philadelphia Contributionship dating back to 1773.
In the photo above, you can see two fire marks by the Philadelphia Contributionship, started by Ben Franklin, that are dated 1773 and 1772. I also see one by Green Tree (from the Mutual Assurance Company) with what I think is number 0207; and one by the Fire Association of Philadelphia.
Fire marks indicated that the properly was insured for fire. To see more of them, visit the Fireman’s Hall Museum at 147 N. 2nd Street, Philadelphia.
Interesting Oddities (added Feb. 27, 2025)
As it was, the Philadelphia Contributionship did pay something on the claim by Carpenters’ Hall, its second-oldest policy. Pennsylvania Hospital’s was the first.
There were no cameras on that entire block before the fire. There are now.
Michael Norris. executive director of Carpenters’ Hall, says a National Park Service Ranger … who formerly worked in a rural area … first smelled smoke from the blaze … and pulled the alarm. Lucky for us, this ranger realized smoke wasn’t a normal occurrence here at Carpenters’ Hall, and helped save one of our greatest treasures.
Sources:
https://www.inquirer.com/arts/carpenters-hall-philadelphia-christmas-eve-fire-20230629.html
https://www.firemanshallmuseum.org/fire-marks/