Public Record – Philadelphia Record

Founder: William James Swain

Editor: William James Swain

Publisher: William James Swain

[No. 6, June 1879, 300 Block Chestnut St., South Side]
Baxter's Panoramic Business Directories, Athenaeum of Philadelphia.

The Public Record was published in the same building as the Public Ledger.

William Miskey Singerly (1832 - 1898)
"William Miskey Singerly, the son of Joseph Singerly, was born in Philadelphia December 27, 1832. Leaving school in 1850, he went into busniess. He entered the management of the Germantown Passenger Railway in 1816, in which he father was a large stockholder. Toward the end of his father's life, William had virtual fianacial control of the railroad. In 1872, he established the "Record Farms" at his century house in Whitpain at Franklinville Gwynedd Station for the purpose of studying advanced horticultural techniques and stock breeding. On June 1, 1877, Singerly gained control of the Philadelphia Record newspaper. He invested in 75 acres of land in Philadelphia's 28th ward where he undertook a real estate development in the late 1880's that involved at first the erection of 800 dwelling units: a number that was intended to increase eventually to 1500. In 1885 he bought that Old Masonic Hall on Chestnut Street which he converted into the Temple Theater and Egyptian Musee. Singerly invested as well in a knitting mill at 8th and Dauphin Streets in Philadelphia and in a gleaner and binder factory at Norristown, Pennsylvania." James Foss, Willis Gaylord Hale and Philadelphia's Rebellion of the Picturesque: 1880-1890. Masters Thesis, Penn State University, 1964. From William Singerly, A Biographical Album of Prominent Pennsylvanians -- First Series (Philadelphia, 1888), 371-378.

[917-919 Chestnut Street; Philadelphia Record Building]
9th & Chestnut St
(copy by City of Philadelphia Records Department)
Philadelphia Historical Commission Files, Philadelphia Historical Commission.

After William James Swain sold the Public Record it was renamed the Philadelphia Record and relocated to the 900 block of Chestnut Street.

The US Post Office with the Philadelphia Record Building seen at the left at 917 Chestnut prior to the expansion to 919 Chestnut Street.

Current site of Federal Reserve Bank, the location of Philadelphia Record Company, what the Public Record became after it was sold by William James Swain. It was said that William J. spent over $500,000 on the newspaper and sold it for $37,000.

Additional photo depicting the Philadelphia Record Building with it’s expansion and second tower.

Postcard depicting Singerly’s Record Building. Seen to the left of the tall tower is Charles Moseley Swain’s City Trust, Safe Deposit and Surety Company Building designed by and housing the office of architect Wilson Eyre.

Postcard showing William Singerly and the Philadelphia Record Building.

home | index | contacts | resources