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THE GILBERT STUART HOUSE  HISTORICAL EXPERIENCE   ﻿By: Parmenus

This is about the Gilbert Stuart House. Across 5th Street, in a small park you’ll see a big and dramatic statue. It’s located on the intersection of 5th and Chestnut Street. Gilbert Charles Stuart is famous for many paintings; in fact, he was the one who painted George Washington’s face as shown on a $1.00 bill. Washington endured boredom while sitting countless hours for the artist to paint his portrait. Gilbert Stuart was born in Rhode Island on December 3rd, 1755. I don’t know why, but he migrated to Pennsylvania in 1793. He moved to the house two years later or in other words, he moved to the house in 1795. He lived across the street from the U.S. Government, which was here from 1790 to 1800. The new 3 ½-story brick house was built in 1795, for Gilbert Stuart. All of America’s leaders lived really close together. The U.S. Government met only one block away, the Supreme Court held sessions across the street, and President George Washington lived minutes away. Unfortunately, Gilbert died on July 9th, 1823. But without him, George Washington’s face wouldn’t have been on the $1.00 bill. Now for some opinions I think of this. The statue I talked about was pretty weird looking. The American leaders were actually too close at hand. I wonder who painted the heads of the other presidents on the other dollars and cents. I kind of do agree with George Washington about countless hours of boredom while artists paint your portrait. I wonder what the house looks like now. It was tragic about Gilbert’s death. So if you ever visit Philly, you should visit the Gilbert Stuart House.



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