Have a question about Philly’s neighborhoods or the systems that shape them? PlanPhilly reporters want to hear from you! Ask us a question or send us a story idea you think we should cover. Taking a stroll down Elfreth’s Alley in Old City Philadelphia, you may notice the markers of a fire insurance policy — known as badges or house plates— affixed front and center on the historic homes there built about 300 years ago. Some of those plates feature symbols such as four crossed hands holding each other .
It’s in reference to a “firefighter’s carry,” a technique used to transport people down narrow spiral staircases during a fire rescue. It’s also symbolic of mutual aid or support for volunteer firefighters, as the plates were essentially insurance policy documents. And that symbol was used by Benjamin Franklin, who co-created a fire insurance company with volunteer firefighters in 1752.
The concept was that the house plates were forged out of metal and cast with iron, brass, lead, copper or zinc. In the event of a rowhouse fire , where the only thing left of the structure would be the house plate, the insurance company would know which insurer would be responsible to pay for reconstruction. As for Ben Franklin’s business, The Philadelphia Contributionship , it still exists today and continues to insure urban dwellings for homeowners.
“Going back in time to the origins of colonial Philadelphia, there’s all these wooden structures that were pitched unevenly.
