National Historic Landmark

Eakins, Thomas, House

Philadelphia, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania
Listed
October 14, 1966
Type
Building
Period
Industrial
Ref No.
66000679

About this property

The Thomas Eakins House is a historic house at 1727-29 Mount Vernon Street in the Spring Garden section of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, US. Built about 1854, it was for most of his life the home of Thomas Eakins (1844-1916), one of the most influential American artists of the late 19th century. It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1965, and is now home to a local artist cooperative. The Thomas Eakins House is located north of downtown Philadelphia, on the north side of Mount Vernon Street between North 18th and 17th Streets in the city's Spring Garden neighborhood. It is a four-story rowhouse, its first three stories brick and the fourth floor of wood-frame construction. The front facade is three bays wide, with the main entrance in the right bay. Windows are set in rectangular openings, with simple marble sills and lintels. The rowhouse was built about 1854 for Benjamin Eakins, father of the artist. Benjamin Eakins added the fourth story in 1874 as a studio for his son. Thomas Eakins inherited the house in 1899, and lived there until his death in 1916. Eakins was a leading figure in the development of realism in painting, and an innovator in the use of photography for artistic purposes. He also taught a generation of artists at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, where he introduced new techniques for studying and painting the human form. Many of his portrait subjects are from all walks of life in Philadelphia, his lifelong home. The Mural Arts Program, a Philadelphia-based art program that creates outdoor murals, is currently based in the Thomas Eakins house. List of National Historic Landmarks in Philadelphia National Register of Historic Places listings in North Philadelphia Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS) No. PA-1728, "Thomas Eakins House"

Location

1729 Mount Vernon Pl.
Philadelphia, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania
39.96543, -75.16696

Categories

ART
National Register nomination ›
Sources

Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).

Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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Nearby Historic Sites

Spring Garden District
Listed
0.1 mi
Philadelphia High School for Girls
Early Republic
0.2 mi
Wills Hospital
Industrial
0.2 mi
Fairmount Avenue Historic District
Civil War
0.2 mi
Darrah, Lydia, School
Industrial
0.2 mi

Nearby Battles

Battle of Germantown Oct 4 1777
1777Revolutionary War
3 mi
Battle of Barren Hill
1778Revolutionary War
4.6 mi
Battle of Germantown (approach actions)
1777Revolutionary War
5.2 mi

Questions about this property

When was Eakins, Thomas, House listed on the National Register?

Eakins, Thomas, House was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on October 14, 1966.

What type of historic resource is Eakins, Thomas, House?

Eakins, Thomas, House is classified as a building in the National Register of Historic Places.

Is Eakins, Thomas, House a National Historic Landmark?

Yes. Eakins, Thomas, House has been designated a National Historic Landmark (NHL), the highest level of federal recognition for historic properties in the United States.

What is the period of significance for Eakins, Thomas, House?

The period of significance for Eakins, Thomas, House is recorded as the industrial era.

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