A more likely
explanation for the latter is the warehouse
on the Jefferson Wharf in the
1879 chart of the harbor and the 1868
Beer's Atlas map
church tower design
is similar to
that shown in a turn of the century University of Delaware Post Card Collection
picture, though different in scale and elevation.
The Moran painting's point of view appears to be just offshore of the Harmony Street Wharf. The
there were ice piers built in 1803 and 1837 in this area, and comparison of
pictures taken from these locations suggests that the latter (or a boat moored
near it) may have been from where Moran painted the scene.
The artist omitted a number of buildings that then existed on the Strand
near Harmony Street, and altered the appearance of what is probably the
Read House. A building across from the Read House (#47 The Strand) which
was removed by the Lairds in the 1930's, probably did partially obscure the view
of the Read House from the river in 1857.