inated. At the time of monthly, quarterly and yearly meetings
whole families of Friends often visited other families for several days
at a time, a custom which became an important element in the social
intercourse of the province.

Cock fighting and bull baiting were among the frequent pastimes of
Philadelphians, although frowned upon by the strict Quaker element. The
same was true of theatrical entertainments, which began in 1754 and
continued occasionally thereafter. Following the first Shakespearean
performance in America at Philadelphia in 1749, a storehouse on Water
Street near Pine Street, belonging to William Plumstead, was fitted up
as a theater, and in April, 1754, the drama was really introduced to
Philadelphia by a series of plays given by William Hallam's old American
Company. In 1759 the first theater in Philadelphia purposely erected for
the exhibition of plays was built at the southwest corner of Vernon and
South (then Cedar) streets, and was opened by David Douglass, the
manager of the company started by Hallam. A few years later, in 1766,
was built the old Southwark or South Street Theater in South Street
above Fourth, where Major John Andre and Captain John Peter De Lancy
acted during the British occupation of the city, and which after twenty
years of illegal existence was opened "by authority" in 1789. None of
these now remains, but the Walnut Street Theater, erected in 1808, is
said to be the oldest playhouse in the United States.

Taking all these facts into consideration, it is not surprising that,
except for some of the earliest houses now remaining and others built
with less ample fortunes, little difference is distinguishable between
the homes of Quakers and "World's People", and that the distinctive
characteristics of the Colonial architecture of Philadelphia are more or
less common to all buildings of the period.

Shortly after the Revolution the built-up portion of the city was
bounded by the Delaware River on the east and Seventh Street on the
west, and by Poplar Street on the north and Christian Street on the
south. While houses in blocks were the rule, numerous unoccupied lots
made many trees and gardens in the rear and at the sides of detached
houses quite common. This was regarded as not entirely sufficient by the
wealthier families, which considered country living essential to health,
comfort and pleasure, and so maintained two establishments,--a town
house for winter occupancy and a