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, it needed help to repair and restore the building.

Fortunately, says the Inquirer, much of the $1 million in repairs is being 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, dated 1773 and 1772. I also see one by Green Tree Insurance from the Mutual Assurance Company with the number 9207 on it; not sure what that is; and one by the Fire Association of Philadelphia, but I can’t read a date or number on that one.

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.

Sources:

• https://www.inquirer.com/arts/carpenters-hall-philadelphia-christmas-eve-fire-20230629.html

• https://www.firemanshallmuseum.org/fire-marks/