The southwest corner of 10th and Fitzwater is relatively inconspicuous today, standing across from a far more noticeable corner occupied by popular brunch spot Sam’s Morning Glory Diner and diagonal from the Palumbo Playground.  But at one time, this corner was occupied by quite the imposing structure.  Starting with its opening in 1872, The Maternity Hospital of Philadelphia served expectant mothers in the Bella Vista neighborhood.  G.W. Bromley’s Philadelphia Atlas from 1895 confirms that the Maternity Hospital was listed at 734 S. 10th Street.

The Maternity Hospital of Philadelphia in 1895

According to the Tyrone Daily Herald, the Maternity Hospital “was one of the leading institutions of its kind In Philadelphia.” The photo here below, taken from the Philadelphia Free Library, shows the Maternity Hospital in what is most likely the earliest part of the 20th century.    

Probably haunted Maternity Hospital in the early 1900s

By mid-century, the Maternity Hospital was no more.  In its place was the decidedly less prominent one-story structure shown in the 1959 photo taken from Philadelphia Department of Records. 

An unidentified one-story structure in 1959

Shortly thereafter, , the location would come to be occupied by the rather nondescript ‘Club.’  While we are left to ponder exactly what kind of club it might have been, the low key nature of the structure shown above suggests that is was not the kind where you might catch a set by Bobby Darin on any given Saturday.  Whatever its nature, its existence is evidenced only by the image taken here below from the Works Progress Administration’s 1962 Land Use Map.

A club of unspecified nature in 1962

Today, the same corner is occupied by something like a club in the respect that you have to pay dues to join it.  As the United Savings Bank, the structure looks virtually unchanged from the club that preceded it.

United Savings Bank in 2013

–David Tomar