Annual Meeting at The Philadelphia Rare Book and Manuscript Company

Join us for our annual meeting at The Philadelphia Rare Book and Manuscript Company, located at the historic Frankford Arsenal in the Bridesburg neighborhood of Northeast Philadelphia. This is truly a historical hidden gem with something for everyone – historic architecture, rare books, ancient trees, military history, and of course, Philly history. The Philadelphia Rare Book and Manuscript Company is about a 12 minute drive north from Center City, or a 15-minute train ride from 30^th Street Station (see details below).

We will be holding our annual meeting in The Philadelphia Rare Book and Manuscript Company’s beautiful building, a former officers’ quarters.

Come enjoy light refreshments, and a tour of the building with a full explanation of the history of the Arsenal, which dates back to 1814. After the tour, we will conduct our short annual meeting. We’ll give you a preview of exciting Club events in-the-works, and take a moment to elect new board members. Mark your calendars!

When: Saturday, May 4^th 2013, 2:30 pm – 4:30 pm. RSVP by 4/25 (details below). 

Where: The Philadelphia Rare Book and Manuscript Company, The Arsenal, Building #4, 2375 Bridge Street, Philadelphia, PA 19137

Directions:

Driving: The Philadelphia Rare Book and Manuscript Company is about a 12 minute drive north on 95 from Center City, near Exit 27 (Bridge Street) at the Betsy Ross Bridge. Easy parking (directly in front of building, free). NOTE: We’ll be entering through the Bridge Street entrance. GPS tends to fail once you get into the Arsenal, so please take a look at the directions below before departing.

GENERAL

(Bridge Street Entrance)

• Make your best way towards 2375 Bridge Street, Philadelphia, PA 19137 
• Turn into The Arsenal (you’ll see a sign for The Maritime Academy Charter School, Franklin Towne Charter School and for The Arsenal)
• At the checkpoint, say you’re visiting the Philadelphia Rare Book and Manuscript Room in Building #4, for the Smith event). 
• Turn left at the T
• When you enter the Parade Ground oval, go halfway around it you’ll see the building, which has a porch with white rocking chairs

From I-95 — Traveling NORTH

(Bridge Street Entrance)

• Take Exit 27 off I-95 North, staying to the right
• Swoop right onto Tacony
• Turn right onto Bridge Street
• Turn left into The Arsenal (you’ll see a sign for The Maritime Academy Charter School, Franklin Towne Charter School and for The Arsenal)
• At the checkpoint, say you’re visiting the Philadelphia Rare Book and Manuscript Room in Building #4, for the Smith event)
• Turn left at the T
• When you enter the Parade Ground oval, go halfway around it you’ll see the building, which has a porch with white rocking chairs

From I-95 — Traveling SOUTH

(Bridge Street Entrance)

• Take Exit 27 off I-95 South
• Turn left onto Bridge Street
• After passing the light at Tacony, turn left into The Arsenal (you’ll see a sign for The Maritime Academy Charter School, Franklin Towne Charter School and for The Arsenal)
• At the checkpoint, say you’re visiting the Philadelphia Rare Book and Manuscript Room in Building #4, for the Smith event)
• Turn left at the T
• When you enter the Parade Ground oval, go halfway around it you’ll see the building, which has a porch with white rocking chairs

PARKING OPTIONS

You can either pull up right in front of the building or you can pull in between the stone pillars just past it to park in an area off the street. Also, a large parking lot is available to you via a right turn just past the big building with the carriage entrance, before you make the left towards Building #4; if you choose that, you can then walk back to the building along the Parade Ground.

Public Transportation: The most direct route from Center City is by Regional Rail. Take Trenton Line train to the Bridesburg station (15-minute ride). From there, it’s only a 10-minute walk on Bridge Street to the Philadelphia Rare Book and Manuscript Company. For those taking public transportation, we will plan to meet up and travel as a group. Here’s the plan:

We will take the Trenton line train (9717). It departs Market East station at 1:40pm, departs Suburban Station at 1:45pm, and departs 30th St. Station at 1:49pm, arriving at Bridesburg, our final destination, at 2:04pm. Smithies will aim to sit in the first car of the train—meet us there or on the platform at Bridesburg! NOTE: this train only leaves once every hour. 

Cost: $15 for members; $18 for non-members. (Now is the perfect time to renew your membership!). Payment can be made by check made out to “Smith College Club of Philadelphia” and mailed to “Treasurer, 918 Pine Street, 2R, Philadelphia, PA 19107” or through Paypal:

RSVP: Please send in your payment by 4/25 to RSVP for the event (if you are mailing a check, please email the us at phillysmithclub@gmail.com at so we’ll know to expect it). You don’t want to miss this. Check out this book below – it’s the first book on fly fishing written by a woman!