The Comly Rich House is a historic house in the Frankford

Frankford, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Frankford is a large and important neighborhood in the lower Northeast section of Philadelphia situated about six miles northeast of Center City. Although its borders are vaguely defined, the neighborhood is bounded roughly by the original course of Frankford Creek, now roughly Adams to Aramingo...

 neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...

, notable as the first home in the United States financed by a savings and loan association

Savings and loan association

A savings and loan association , also known as a thrift, is a financial institution that specializes in accepting savings deposits and making mortgage and other loans...

, the Oxford Provident Building Society, founded 1831. To buy the house, which cost $500, Rich, variously described as a lamplighter or a maker of combs, received a loan of $375 in April 1831 from the Oxford Provident Building Association, founded the same year.

The two-and-a-half-story house, built around 1826, still stands at 4276 Orchard Street. It was listed on the Philadelphia Register of Historic Places in 1960.

External links

• History at the U.S. Treasury's Office of Thrift Supervision
• Listing and photographs at the Historic American Buildings Survey
  Historic American Buildings Survey
  The Historic American Buildings Survey , Historic American Engineering Record , and Historic American Landscapes Survey are programs of the National Park Service established for the purpose of documenting historic places. Records consists of measured drawings, archival photographs, and written...
  
  
• Listing at Philadelphia Architects and Buildings