Prescott Place, the subject of Weber's 1953 etching and 1958 painting

by grandson Eric

I have searched for where Prescott Place is in Philadelphia and have had no luck. From the description included with the artist's etching in 1953 Philadelphia Sketch Club Engagement Calendar, Prescott Place was likely demolished by the city's housing authority in the 1950s.

"Like all older American cities, Philadelphia has outgrown its old residential districts which for a time bravely withstood the ravages of time, but have now finally succumbed. Many old districts, crumbling beneath the insidious onslaught of time, stand as in Mr. Weber's etching, picturesque but outmoded, waiting for the Housing Authority to catch up with them."

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UPDATE January 2026

With ChatGPT's assistance, I have determined where Prescott Place was:

Prescott Place appears by name in the Ordinances of the City of Philadelphia (1858):

“Smith’s court, north from Pleasant (now Arch Street) above Thirteenth street, hereafter to be called Prescott place.”

Pleasant Street was renamed Arch Street in the mid-19th century, absorbing earlier names like Mulberry and Pleasant as Philadelphia standardized east–west streets.

Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps for Center City, 1916–1929 show no surviving court or alley labeled Prescott Place in later volumes, indicating it had been:

• Built over
• Absorbed into adjacent parcels
• Or eliminated during early commercial redevelopment 

If you stood today near:

13th & Arch Street, and walked into the block northward (which you now can’t),
you would be crossing the former line of Prescott Place.

• Block bounded by:
  • South: Arch Street
  • North: Race Street
  • West: 13th Street
  • East: 12th Street

Prescott Place was inside this block, not on its edge.

Prescott Place would have been located within what is now the Pennsylvania Convention Center footprint, specifically along its western edge near 13th Street.
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Prescott Place was the subject of this 1953 etching as well a 1958 painting:

This original photo from the artist's papers must be the reference for his works:

And an early sketch: