Admin

The Athenaeum of Philadelphia was established as a
member-funded library and archive dedicated to collecting books, artifacts, and
other items "connected with the history and
antiquities of America, and the useful arts, and generally to disseminate
useful knowledge" in order to benefit the general public of the United
States. Much of the library’s collection duties were concerned with
architectural and building design history, housing drawings, photographs, and
other items relevant to its specific interests.



The Athenaeum itself is heralded as an innovative building
for its architectural design, which was devised by architect John Notman. Built
in the Italianate Revival Style, the building was purposefully designed to seem
plain on the outside, being built out of brownstone. The interior, however, was
lavishly furnished to resemble a British sitting and reading room, with 24-foot
ceilings and rooms which adequately contain the Athenaeum’s collection of
historical artifacts.&nbsp;

Today, the Athenaeum of Philadelphia is open to the public
as a library and a museum, free of charge. Patrons may view exhibition
galleries on the first floor in order to get a glimpse of the history of
architecture and building design. Those interested in more serious research,
however, may make appointments with the Athenaeum in order to take tours of the
restored reading rooms, or to use the collection of photographs, documents, and
drawings related to design history.

Designed in 1845 in the Italianate Revival Style, the Athenaeum is a National Historic Landmark and public archive supported by private donations

Website

More Info

NY Times article on subscription libraries in New England

The Athenaeum of Philadelphia dates back to 1814 when it was established as a library and archive. The building is unique in that it was created in a classic Italianate style, and its holdings chronicle the history and culture of Philadelphia. The collection is also particularly strong in the field of early American architecture and the decorative arts. The archives are home to over three hundred thousand photographs and a thousand manuscript collections. The Athenaeum is both a National Historic Landmark (1977) and an active library and archive, and it is open to the public.

Athenaeum of Philadelphia

This tour offers something for local as well as first-time visitors to the city, starting with the Athenaeum and Washington Park. The tour winds its way north and east to include famous landmarks such as the Liberty Bell, but also includes many lesser-known monuments, museums, buildings, and markers.

Established in 1789 to serve the German Catholic community, Holy Trinity Church was the first American parish created to serve a specific national or linguistic group.  Stephen Girard was buried in the churchyard in 1831, before being reinterred in Girard College in 1851. The churchyard is also referenced in Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s poem "Evangeline". In addition to the churchyard, Holy Trinity also acquired a strip of the St Mary’s graveyard between 5th and 6th street. Holy Trinity merged with St. Mary’s in 2009 and the church was closed in 2019. Mariner, merchant, banker, and philanthropist Stephen Girard (1750-1831) was one of America’s first millionaires and left approximately 80% of his estate to create Girard College, a boarding school for financially-disadvantaged students which still exists today. He had no children and his wife (buried at Pennsylvania Hospital) predeceased him, but he had indicated to his nieces that he wished to be buried at Holy Trinity. Born in Bordeaux France, Girard had been baptized Catholic and while largely non-practicing (and married in the Episcopal church), he never formally renounced his faith and so Bishop Francis Kenrick permitted the burial. Stephen Girard was interred on the north side of the yard, next to General Henri Lallemand, the first husband of his niece Henriette Girard. Girard was buried on December 30, 1831. Three thousand people marched in his funeral procession and twenty-thousand lined the streets. Flags were flown at half-mast. Girard’s body was brought into the church, but because of the presence of Girard’s Masonic brothers, who entered the church wearing Masonic jewels and insignia, Bishop Kenrick wrote that he “refused to go on with the [burial] rite of the Church and the body was buried without the presence of a priest.” Once Girard College was constructed, in 1851 Stephen Girard’s body was removed from Holy Trinity and reinterred in a marble sarcophagus in the main building. Holy Trinity churchyard is also associated with Longfellow’s poem "Evangeline", published in 1847, which tells the story of an Acadian expelled form Nova Scotia, who spends her life searching for her lost love. She finally moved to Philadelphia and works among the poor, finally finding her dying beloved as she cares for the sick in an epidemic and being buried with him. Longfellow had visited Philadelphia in 1824 and Holy Trinity is considered the best match for the “little Catholic churchyard” mentioned in his poem: <blockquote>Side by side, in their nameless graves, the lovers are sleeping.</blockquote><blockquote>Under the humble walls of the little Catholic churchyard,</blockquote><blockquote>In the heart of the city, they lie, unknown and unnoticed.</blockquote><blockquote>Daily the tides of life go ebbing and flowing beside them,</blockquote>

Established in 1789 to serve the German Catholic community, Holy Trinity Church was the first American parish created to serve a specific national or linguistic group. Stephen Girard was buried in the churchyard in 1831, before being reinterred in Girard College in 1851. The churchyard is also referenced in Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s poem "Evangeline". In addition to the churchyard, Holy Trinity also acquired a strip of the St. Mary’s graveyard between 5th and 6th street. Holy Trinity parish merged with St. Mary’s in 2009 and the church was closed in 2019.

Holy Trinity Churchyard

When the Curtis Publishing Company, which published such popular magazines as the Saturday Evening Post and Ladies Home Journal, completed their new headquarters in 1910, senior editor Edward Bok was tasked with placing a suitable mural on one of the lobby’s large, blank walls. He attempted to commission several artists, but they all died suddenly. He then contacted Louis C. Tiffany to assess the viability of a glass mosaic and Tiffany was willing to oblige as soon as Bok provided him with an artist’s rendition to work from. Bok then reached out to the artist who had painted several works in the building’s public dining room, Maxfield Parrish.    Parrish, at the time, was quite a popular artist and his works appeared in numerous American homes in the form of the covers of Life, Collier’s and Harper’s Weekly Magazines as well as on calendars and posters. He also produced art for the advertising campaigns of Hines Root Beer and General Electric. However, by the 1930s he was considered not much more than an illustrator and his popularity faded. He painted until the age of 91 and died in 1966. As with many artists, his popularity has experienced a rebirth and many of his original works are sought after by art aficionados.    The resulting mosaic was first displayed at Tiffany and Company in New York City to critical acclaim. It was then disassembled and shipped to Philadelphia where it was meticulously reassembled by hand in 1916, and a marble fountain was placed at its fore to serve as a small reflecting pool. There it resided peacefully, occasionally admired if largely under-appreciated, until 1998. In that year, casino magnate, Steve Wynn sought to purchase The Dream Garden and ship it off to a Las Vegas casino. Suddenly, Philadelphians rushed to the mural’s defense, public protests ensued and the Arts Defense League was formed. Wynn, sensing a lengthy battle, relented and the Pew Charitable Trust stepped in and agreed to provide $3.5 million to purchase the mural in order to ensure its stayed in place at the Curtis Center. It has since been designated as a historic object under the city of Philadelphia’s historic preservation ordinance and is now owned by the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts.

The Dream Garden is a massive glass mosaic that graces the lobby of the Curtis Center in Philadelphia. It represents an artistic collaboration between popular early 20th century artist Maxfield Parrish and the Tiffany Company. The 15 x 49-foot mosaic consists of over 100,000 pieces of individually fired, asymmetrical, glass tiles that were installed by hand in the building’s lobby over a six-month period in 1916. The tiles’ 260 colors create a dream-like landscape of blooming plants, old-growth trees, mountains and a waterfall that possesses an iridescent glow. The mural is now owned by the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts.

Curtis Center and the Dream Garden

Apollo 14 launched in the late afternoon of January 31,
1971, USA’s third trip to the lunar surface. Five days later Alan Shepard and
Edgar Mitchell walked on the Moon while Stuart Roosa, a former U.S. Forest
Service smoke jumper, orbited above in the command module. Packed in small
containers in Roosa's personal kit were hundreds of tree seeds, part of a joint
NASA/USFS project. Upon return to Earth, the seeds were germinated by the
Forest Service. Known as the "Moon Trees", the resulting seedlings
were planted throughout the United States (often as part of the nation's
bicentennial in 1976) and the world. They stand as a tribute to astronaut Roosa
and the Apollo program.Before joining the Air Force, Roosa had worked for the U.S.
Forest Service as a smokejumper. When he was later selected for the Apollo 14
mission, the Chief of the Forest Service asked him to consider carrying some
tree seeds with him into space. Roosa agreed and carried a small container of five
different types of trees - Loblolly Pine, Sycamore, Sweetgum, Redwood, and
Douglas Fir - in a small container in his personnel bag. Upon the Astronauts return to Earth, the seed canister burst
after f being exposed to a vacuum, scattering and mixing up the different types
of seeds. All was not lost; the seeds were recollected and sent off to two
research facilities in Gulfport, Mississippi and Placerville, California for
germination experiments. The majority of the seeds germinated successfully and
the Forest Service had some 420 to 450 tree seedlings after a few years. These "Moon Trees" were planted between 1975 and
1976 as part of the United States bicentennial celebrations. The sycamores,
loblolly pines, sweetgums, redwoods, and Douglas firs flourished just like
other trees, despite their experience out of gravity. However, after the
fanfare, the extraterrestrial origin story for&nbsp;many of the trees was
forgotten.

Bicentennial Moon Tree, commonly known as the “Moon Tree”, was a special sycamore tree planted in Philadelphia’s Washington Square Park in 1975 to honor the U.S. Bicentennial from seeds transported to the moon and back on the Apollo XIV mission in 1971, by astronaut Stuart A. Roosa. 
The sycamore tree that was planted in Washington Square Park died circa 2008. As of 2011 there was still the base of the tree standing. In a ceremony on September 24th (which is National Public Lands Day) gardeners at Independence National Historical Park planted a clone created from the ailing Moon Tree. The tree that went to outer space was recycled to be made into wooden features or plaques on the park’s grounds. 

Bicentennial Moon Tree

Philadelphia's Washington Square, set aside by the city's
founder, William Penn, is home to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, honoring
Revolutionary fighters, as well as to the <a title="Link: https://theclio.com/web/entry?id=11831" href="https://theclio.com/web/entry?id=11831" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Bicentennial Moon Tree</a>.
Historically, the 6.4-acre square has been used as a pasture, hay field,
fishing hole, burial ground, revival meeting ground, public park, and site of
the oldest extant publishing house in America [1; 2].



History of the Square

When William Penn founded Philadelphia in 1682, he planned
the city with a grid system for the streets and five squares set aside for
public parks, knowing that green space was both healthy and, in preventing the
spread of fire, practical for a large city [2; 7]. Surveyor Thomas Holme laid
out the city plan based on Penn's ideas, including the five squares. Originally
known as Southeast Square, Washington Square may have been intended as a public
park, but from 1704-1794 served, instead, as a potter's field (pauper cemetery)
and for the burial of strangers who died unidentified in the city, such as
travelers and sailors [7; 13]. Other early burials included victims of suicide
(who could not be buried in churchyards), African Americans, Catholics,
epidemic victims, and convicts [10; 13; 14]. Most of the deceased were buried
without coffins, simply bound in canvas. In spite of its rather somber role in the
city, Southeast Square was frequented by many living visitors. Some came for
the excellent fishing (at the time, two good fishing creeks and a pond were
present, none of which remain today) and duck hunting [14]. Local African
Americans, both free and enslaved, called it "Congo Square," and came
to perform rites in the vein of the Mexican Day of the Dead, holding dances and
leaving food and libations of rum for their deceased [10; 13]. By the 1760s,
the Square was doubling as a pasture, and in 1775 the Walnut Street Jail was
established at the northeast corner of the Square [14].



During the American Revolution, both the jail and the
burying grounds would be filled with both British and Revolutionary soldiers.
The first of the burials came in the form of 20 by 30 foot mass graves along
7th and Walnut Streets and along the south side, where between 1776 and 1777
over 2,000 casualties from Washington's Army were interred. Some had died in
battle, many more of small pox and other diseases, according to a letter
written by John Adams to his wife, Abigail [12; 13; 14]. The British occupied
Philadelphia later in the year, locking prisoners of war in the Walnut Street
jail, where they were starved, beaten, and allowed to freeze to death by their
captors; one survivor, Jacob Ritter, recalled rats as a delicacy, as the alternatives
were eating grass, leather scraps, and "pieces of a rotten pump,"
[13]. An estimated dozen prisoners per day died under these conditions, and
were buried in mass graves within the Square [12; 13; 14]. The Colonial Army
overtook the British at Philadelphia in 1778, reoccupying the Square and the
jail. As a result, many British soldiers are also buried at Southeast Square
[13].



After the war, the publishing house of Lea &amp; Febiger,
founded by Mathew Carey in 1785, was originally located at 6th and Locust,
facing the Square. Though operating in a different location now, Lea &amp;
Febiger is the oldest extant publishing company in the United States. The
Walnut Street Jail was reformed in 1790, becoming the site of the first
American criminal rehabilitation programs. Reforms included the separation of
male and female prisoners, adult and juvenile prisoners, and debtors and
felons. One of the debtors, Robert Morris, had helped finance the Revolution
and was a close friend of George Washington, who came to visit him often while
Morris was in prison. Prisoners could work off their sentences by training with
artisans and producing goods in prison workshops, which resulted in a decline
in repeat offenses. It was from the prison yard, too, that on January 9, 1793, the
first flight in America was launched by French aeronaut Jean Pierre Blanchard. President
George Washington provided Blanchard with a passport authorizing him to land
his hot air balloon wherever necessary [14].



Later in the same year, a much grimmer event occurred in Philadelphia:
a <a href="https://theclio.com/web/entry?id=23382" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Yellow Fever epidemic</a> which killed thousands. The death
toll is estimated at between 5,000 (or one tenth Philadelphia's population at
the time) and 10,000 (one fifth the population). Mass graves in Southeast
Square were once again opened and filled with shrouded bodies [13; 14]. Though
we now know Yellow Fever spread via the Aedes mosquito, in the 18th century
both physicians and laypeople believed its source to be "miasmas", or
infectious vapors in the air, particularly from malodorous sources such as
rotting food, swamp waters, and mass graves [12; 13]. Thus, the Square was finally
closed as a cemetery in 1793 [12].



In 1815, the city began improvements to the Square. A public
walk was added and over 60 species of trees were planted, and Southeast Square
was renamed Washington Square in 1825. The area was leveled, removing the pond
and streams where people had fished in the 17th and 18th centuries, and
geometric paths, benches, ornamental fencing, and lamps were installed in 1833
[1; 2; 14]. Efforts to construct a monument for the Revolutionary soldiers
buried anonymously in the Square's mass graves began in 1832. A cornerstone was
even laid the following year, but not enough funds were raised to pay for a statue,
and the project was abandoned for the next hundred years [11].



In 1835, the Walnut Street Jail closed, replaced three years
later with an Egyptian Revival building designed by John Haviland for the
Pennsylvania Fire Insurance Company (in turn, replaced by the current two buildings
of the Penn Mutual Insurance Company, which retain the original Haviland facade).
Other institutions and companies sprang up on the properties adjoining
Washington Square during the 19th century. The Pennsylvania Bible Society at
701 Walnut Street opened their Bible House in 1808, and are the oldest Bible
society in the United States. The first Italianate building in the nation,
designed by John Notman, was built in 1845 at 219 South 6th Street: the
National Historic Landmark Philadelphia Athenaeum, an institution promoting
literary and scientific endeavors. Its reading room has been visited by Charles
Dickens, Edgar Allan Poe, and Giuseppe Garibaldi. The
Philadelphia Savings Fund Society (PSFS), founded as a benevolent institution
with no stockholders, was established at its first headquarters in 1816, and at
its second headquarters on the Square in 1869. The Italianate PSFS bank
building design was selected from a design competition, won by architect Addison
Hutton of the firm Sloan and Hutton. Lea &amp; Febiger was joined by other
publishing companies at Washington Square: J. B. Lippincott was established in
1789, The Farm Journal in 1827, W. B. Saunders in 1888, and Curtis Publishing
in 1891. Each of these companies built headquarters at the Square in the early
20th century; Lippincott's Italianate designed by William B. Pritchett in 1900,
Curtis' Beaux Arts designed by Edgar Seeler in 1910 (featuring a Tiffany glass
mosaic of Maxfield Parrish's painting The
Dream Garden), and the Farm Journal's cornucopia-sporting headquarters in
1911 on the site of the Orange Street Friends' Meeting House. In addition, the
Art Deco former headquarters of America's oldest advertising company, N. W.
Ayer &amp; Son (founded in 1869) was built on the Square in 1928 [14].

Some other interesting neighbors of the park include 245
South 6th Street, where General Count Groucy retired after fleeing Napoleon's
Army when he failed to show up at the Battle of Waterloo; and the home of
Philadelphia author Christopher Morley, which later became the Christopher
Morley Inn, central to the art community of Washington Square for a time. A
Colonial Revival mansion, designed by G. Edwin Brumbaugh, was constructed in
1957 for Mayor Richardson Dilworth and his wife Ann, between the Athenaeum and
the Lippincott Publishing building [14].



Brumbaugh had also been the architect in charge of the
restoration of Washington Square in 1954-1956 [14]. The Square was finally to
have its Revolutionary soldier memorial. Archaeologists were employed to
rediscover the graves of the soldiers. Several pauper and individual burials
were excavated before a mass grave was located. Within this grave, a
twenty-year-old male with a head wound evident on the skull (likely from a
musket ball) was found in the remnants of an oak coffin. This anonymous young soldier,
who could either have been British or Colonial, was selected for reinterment in
the monument's tomb. The monument also includes an eternal flame and a bronze
sculpture of George Washington, replicated from Jean Antoine Houdon's original
piece commissioned by Thomas Jefferson [13].

&nbsp;Marker and Monument Inscriptions:



Washington Square

Washington Square (6.4 acres) is
one of the original five squares laid out by William Penn and his surveyor Thomas
Holme in the plan for the city of Philadelphia in 1682. First designated as
Southeast Square, it was renamed Washington Square in 1825 in honor of
America's most illustrious Revolutionary War General and First President of the
United States, General George Washington. / During the American Revolution, Washington Square served as a burial ground for
over 2,000 Continental soldiers and British prisoners. It has remained an open
space public parkland since 1816 as have three of the other original squares -
Franklin, Logan and Rittenhouse. Center Square, at Broad and Market Streets, is
now the site of Philadelphia's landmark City Hall. / Park Rules: No dogs, bicycles or alcoholic beverages are permitted in the Square. Your
cooperation in helping protect and maintain this historic area is requested and
appreciated [4].

&nbsp;

Welcome to Washington
Square

Founder William Penn had a plan for
Philadelphia. He wanted a prosperous, bustling city with straight, orderly
streets. He also set aside five squares, establishing parks for the public.
Both ideas influenced the design of many later American towns and cities. / Southeast Square, renamed for George Washington in 1825, only slowly lived up
to Penn's ideal. In the 18th century, it served as a burial ground and pasture.
In the 19th century the city added trees, walks, benches, lamps, and an
ornamental fence. An 1846 guidebook described the Square as "beautiful and
fashionable." / In the mid-2oth century, residents added the memorial to Washington and unknown
soldiers of the American Revolution. It remains the Square's centerpiece. / The Square's importance to the nation was formally recognized when it became
part of Independence National Historical Park at the beginning of the 21st
century [3].

&nbsp;

Penn's Plan

William Penn learned many lessons
in life. Living in 17th century England taught him that open space offered
breathing places for great cities and also slowed the spread of fire. 
He applied what he had learned to Philadelphia. He insisted on a site that was
"navigable, high, dry, and healthy." He wanted "uniform"
streets with "houses built in a line." He envisioned "gardens,
orchards, or fields" around the houses. Penn wanted "a green country
town which will never be burnt, and always be wholesome." / Penn's city plan, drawn up by surveyor Thomas Holme included five public
squares, the center one for "houses for Publick affairs" and the
others as green oases carefully placed throughout the developing city [7].

&nbsp;

The Capital City

Philadelphia thrived. Founded in
1682, it became a haven of religious tolerance. As a Quaker and a victim of
discrimination, William Penn believed strongly in allowing others to worship
freely. / The city's growth rested on economics as well. By the 1770s, it ranked as the
most important commercial city in North America and one of the British Empire's
largest. Its importance and central location made it the logical place for
aggrieved colonists to gather. / In 1774, the First Continental Congress met in Carpenters Hall, a few blocks
from here. In nearby Independence Hall, the Second Continental Congress
approved the Declaration of Independence. In 1787, the Constitutional
Convention met there to write the Constitution of the United States. And from
1790 to 1800, the new federal government used the city as its national capital. / Thus from 1774 to 1800, Philadelphia functioned, with brief interludes, as the
political capital of the emerging nation [8].

&nbsp;

A Fashionable
Promenade

In the 17th century, when the
Square first appeared in the city plan, streams drained into a deep gully in
front of you. Then, beginning in 1833, geometric paths invited visitors into a
leveled square planted with hundreds of trees. / By 1846, Washington Square, with its seats, lamps and ornamental fence, had
dramatically changed from the "offensive nuisance" of the 18th
century into "a beautiful and fashionable promenade" where adults
strolled and children played marbles. / In 1853, American landscape architect Andrew Jackson Downing's Rural Essays
praised Washington Square, reporting that it had "more well grown
specimens and different species of forest trees than any similar space of
ground in America." [9]

&nbsp;

In Memory of the Many
American Soldiers

who, during the War for
Independence, died prisoners of war in the jails of Philadelphia, and were
buried in this ground during the years 1777 and 1778. / Erected 1900 by Quaker City
Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution [6].

&nbsp;

Linked in Memory

A statue of the most famous
American, George Washington, stands near the Square's center. It keeps a vigil
at the tomb of an unknown soldier who died during the War for Independence.
Revolution linked them in life. This shrine joins them in our memory. 
In 1825 the city renamed its five public squares. This one became Washington
Square. Organizers raising money for a suitable monument hoped for success as
the 1832 centennial of the president's birth approached. They actually laid a
cornerstone in 1833, but failed to raise enough cash for a statue. 
Success waited for over a century. A new drive begun in 1953, finally funded
the joint memorial that you see today.



Freedom
is a Light 
For Which Many Men Have Died in Darkness

In unmarked graves within this
square lie thousands of unknown soldiers of Washington’s Army who died of
wounds and sickness during the Revolutionary War. / “The independence and liberty you possess are the work of joint councils and
joint efforts of common dangers, sufferings and success.” —Washington’s
farewell address Sept. 17, 1796 [11]

&nbsp;

Sorrow and Joy

Until the 19th century this was
often a sorrowful place. Many people knew it as a potters field, a
"publick burying place for all strangers," for soldiers, sailors,
convicts, and the "destitute whose remains are walked over." A lonely
Acadian refugee found eternal rest here, along with epidemic victims,
Catholics, and African Americans. 
Only free and enslaved African Americans brought a measure of mirth to this
Square which, according to oral tradition, they called "Congo
Square." One 19th century historian recorded that during fairs and
holidays perhaps as many as a thousand Black Philadelphians came here to dance
"after the manner of their several nations in Africa, speaking and singing
in their native dialects...over the sleeping dust below." He also wrote of
those from Guinea (a term once used to encompass several African areas)
"going to the graves of their friends early in the morning, and there
leaving them victuals and rum." [10]

&nbsp;

Congregation of the
Dead

On January 27, 1777, Deborah Norris
wrote to her friend Sally Wister of a "shocking sight." Large pits
are dug in the negroes burying ground (Washington Square), and forty or fifty
(soldiers) coffins are put in the same hole. / Throughout that winter, disease
thinned the ranks of the American army. John Adams, a member of the Continental
Congress meeting in Independence Hall, visited the Square in April 1777. He
spent an hour "in the congregation of the dead." The graves of the
soldiers, perhaps 2,000 he had been told, "are enough to make the heart of
stone melt away." / During the British occupation later
that year, American captives died every day. Their bodies were dragged into
carts, hauled here and dumped into the earth. / Only after yellow fever ravaged
Philadelphia in 1793, did burials in the Square stop. Some believed that graves
emitted miasmas, vapors suspected as sources of epidemics [12].

&nbsp;

<a href="https://theclio.com/web/entry?id=11831" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Bicentennial Moon Tree</a>

Sycamore planted May 6, 1975 from
seed carried to the moon by Astronaut Stuart A. Roosa on Apollo XIV, February
1971. 
National Aeronautics &amp; Space Administration 
Forest Service USDA 
Pennsylvania Horticultural Society 
Honoring Earth's green world of trees [5]

Philadelphia's Washington Square, set aside by the city's founder, William Penn, is home to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, honoring Revolutionary fighters, as well as to the Bicentennial Moon Tree. Historically, the 6.4-acre square has been used as a pasture, hay field, fishing hole, burial ground, revival meeting ground, public park, and site of the oldest extant publishing house in America [1; 2].

Washington Square

Prior to the construction of the Washington Square Park, this area housed a cemetery for Revolutionary War soldiers and veterans. The tomb has the remains of an unidentified soldier from the war, and stands as a memorial for the soldiers who served from the Philadelphia area. Reflecting the imperfect historical record of the colonial era, it is not known exactly how many men are buried at Washington Square Park.

The origins of this unique monument date back to the early 1950s, when the Washington Square Planning Committee of Philadelphia discussed the creation of a monument to George Washington. After months of discussion, the committee decided to incorporate the image of Washington into a tribute to all of the Soldiers and Sailors of the Revolutionary War. The monument was named the “Tomb of the Unknown Revolutionary War Soldier” and designed by Edwin Brumbaugh. 

Tomb of the Unknown Revolutionary War Soldier  

Luke Wistar Morris was the first of a long line of Morris owners of the Reynolds-Morris House; he bought the home in 1817. Luke was the son of Captain Samuel Morris, the founder of Philadelphia's First City Troop. Luke was a brewer by occupation and loved to entertain. In 1820, his household, in the city's Locust Ward, included eight White people and two free Black people. The Whites were: one male over 45 years, one male 26-45, one female over 45, two females 16-25, 1 female 10-15, and 1 female under 10. The free Blacks were a female 26-44 and a male under 14. Only one resident - Luke Morris - was engaged in commerce. By 1890, the mansion was the home of Effingham B. Morris [Sr.]. Morris was a lawyer and the President of Girard Life Insurance, Annuity &amp; Trust Company. Over the decades, the Morris family built onto the rear of the house. The family also had homes built for other family members on the adjacent lots, but tore them down in 1914. The Morris family then had the mansion's north and south facades restored to the original appearance; they also built a two-car garage and a chauffeur's room on the cleared lots. The house's interior was renovated by Effingham B. Morris, Jr., the last Morris owner. In 1921, Effingham Jr., a lawyer, resided in the mansion, at 225 S. 8th Street. Effingham Jr. was the vice president of a bank but lived elsewhere in 1935 and 1940 - in Plymouth Township, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania - in a home worth $40,000 on Township Road. The 49-year-old widower resided with his 18-year-old daughter, Julia P. Morris, and three servants. Effingham Jr. was listed in a Philadelphia city directory in 1950 as living in the mansion at 225 S. 8th Street; he died in 1955. A. W. Ayer and Company owned the house in the early 1960s and used the property as a guest house. They sold the house in 1968 and it returned to use as a private residence. The Reynolds-Morris House was the home of Dr. and Mrs. Frank A. Elliott in 1974 when it was nominated to the National Register. When the house was documented for the National Register, dormer windows pierced the roof and prominent stone lintels scored to resemble keystones topped all of the windows. The pedimented central entrance led to a narrow center hall which led to a garden.

The 3-1/2 story, L-shaped brick building at 225 S. 8th Street was built in 1786 to 1787 for John and William Reynolds. John was a brickmaker and William was a physician; John  may have been the home's architect and builder. It is a rare surviving example of a Philadelphia Georgian double townhouse, built on two lots. The Reynolds family lost the home in 1796 due to debts. The house was sold to the Morris family in 1817 and it stayed in their family for 120 years. The Reynolds-Morris House was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1967, when it was a mere 180 years old. The building is still in use and has become the Morris House Hotel.

Reynolds-Morris House

The Musical Fund Hall was the brainchild of the Musical Fund
Society of Philadelphia, one of the oldest musical societies in the United
States. After the Society came together in February of 1820, they held many
concerts in the Masonic Hall, as well as Washington Hall, but soon decided that
they needed their own permanent residence for their musical exploits. The
Society quickly purchased a lot of land on Locust Street between 8th
and 9th, which used to house the 5th Presbyterian Church,
and the Hall’s cornerstone was laid on May 25th, 1824. On Christmas Eve
that year, the Musical Fund Hall was completed, and began playing concerts five
days later. The Hall continued to be the most popular music hall in the city
for decades.

During the Musical Fund Hall’s peak of popularity, it hosted
more than just musical events. Over the years, the Hall played host to
political receptions and events, theatrical performances, and in 1856, it was
the site of the Republican Party’s first national convention. The Hall
continued to flourish until 1857, when the Academy of Music was constructed.
The Hall still hosted concerts, but most were moved to the Academy of Music,
which was heralded as the new premier location for musical events. After this
point, the Musical Fund Society of Philadelphia purchased and re-sold the Hall
numerous times, in which it became a tobacco warehouse, a boxing arena, a
basketball arena, and finally, in 1980, an apartment complex. Though the Hall
remains as an apartment complex to this day, the building is still listed on
the National Register of Historic Places for its illustrious history.

The Musical Fund Hall is a historic building in Center City, Philadelphia famous for once being the greatest concert hall in the city. After serving as a concert hall, the Musical Fund Hall also saw use as a tobacco warehouse, a boxing arena, and, today, condominiums. While it was once on the registry of National Historic Landmarks, that title was stripped from the Hall. However, it is still listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The Musical Fund Hall

On February 2, 1809 the building that would become the Walnut Street Theatre opened as “The New Circus” and featured a sawdust ring for equestrian acts. A few years later, an 80-foot dome was added to the top of the building, making it the tallest structure in the city at the time. However, the equestrian circus did not last long – a stage and orchestra pit were added beside the riding ring by English architect William Strickland in 1811. The newly created theatre was termed the “Olympic Theatre” and in 1812 its first production, The Rivals, had President Thomas Jefferson and the Marquis de Lafayette in attendance. In 1829 the theatre was renamed the “Walnut Street Theatre,” but quickly changed back to the “Olympic” in 1822 when the interior was restored to its circus roots. John Haviland revived the theatre in 1828 when he oversaw major renovations to the interior and exterior of the building. The Walnut became the first theatre to install gas footlights in 1837 and the first to have air-conditioning in 1855. The theatre was renovated once again in 1920 by architect William H. Lee who added an ornate chandelier which hung from the center of the building’s dome for 47 years.After being named a National Historic Landmark and the State Theatre of Pennsylvania in 1964, the theatre was purchased by the Haas Foundation in 1969 and turned over to the newly created Walnut Street Theatre Corporation. Architect F. Bryan Loving directed the multi-million dollar “Grand Renovation” that the foundation funded. In 1971 the theatre reopened as a full-fledged performing arts center with the capacity to feature opera, theatre, music, dance, and film. In 1983-84 the Walnut Street Theatre Company and Walnut Street Theatre School were formed and continue to operate today.Many of America’s most notable actors of the 19th and 20th century have appeared at the Walnut Street Theatre. These actors include: Edwin Booth, Edwin Forrest, Helen Hayes, George M. Cohan, Edward G. Robinson, George C. Scott, Jack Lemmon, Mike Nichols, Claudette Colbert, Jane Fonda, Julie Harris, Audrey and Katharine Hepburn, Ethel Waters and Jessica Tandy. The Walnut was home to many “pre-Broadway try-outs” that went on to become theatre classics.[i] Among these were A Raisin in the Sun, A Streetcar Named Desire, Mister Roberts, and The Diary of Anne Frank. The theatre also hosted the first televised presidential debate between candidates Gerald R. Ford and Jimmy Carter in 1976; the debate was interrupted by a 30-minute sound system malfunction in which television viewers couldn’t hear the candidates speaking.Today, the Walnut Street Theatre is the most subscribed theatre in the world with more than 55,000 subscribers annually. The theatre holds over 20 productions, 600 performances, and 350,000 attendees each season and more than 1,200 students enroll annually in the theatre school. It holds proudly to its traditions as the oldest continuously operating theatre in America.The marker outside the theatre reads:WALNUT STREET THEATRE. Founded 1809. The oldest theater in America and the oldest playhouse in continuous use in the English-speaking world. A National Historic Landmark. Many of the greatest actors of America and Europe have appeared on stage here.[i] https://www.walnutstreettheatre.org/about/theatre-history.php

The Walnut Street Theatre of Philadelphia holds the title of the oldest continuously operating theatre in the English-speaking world. The theatre opened in 1809 and has since become the most subscribed theatre company in the world. Its stage has held some of the most influential actors and actresses of the 19th and 20th centuries: Edwin Forrest, Audrey Hepburn, Jack Lemmon, Jessica Tandy, and many others debuted at the Walnut Street Theatre throughout its history. The theatre was appointed the State Theatre of Pennsylvania in 1964, and today it puts on more than 20 productions each season.

Walnut Street Theatre

Philadelphia History Museum was founded by City Ordinance in 1938 to coincide with the 150th anniversary of the signing of the United States Constitution in Philadelphia. The effort brought together City officials and preservation leaders to secure the original home of the Franklin Institute at 15 South 7th Street, an elegant Greek-Revival structure designed in 1826 by John Haviland, one of the country's foremost architects. Haviland’s largely unchanged façade was loosely based upon drawings of an ancient Greek monument. It features marble stairs flanked by faux-grained cast iron lamps approaching an inviting main entrance set in a marble surround. The structure was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1978.With the building unused after the Franklin Institute moved to its present-day home on the Ben Franklin Parkway, the Philadelphia City Planning Commission considered demolishing the structure to make way for a parking lot. Henry Ford, the automobile manufacturer, offered to move the façade to his museum, Greenfield Village, near Detroit, Michigan.Hoping to save the historic building, newly elected Mayor S. Davis Wilson and Frances Wistar, president of the Philadelphia Society for the Preservation of Landmarks, reached out A. Atwater Kent. In 1938, A. Atwater Kent, one of the world’s great radio inventors and manufacturers, purchased the building and agreed to save the building on the condition that it be used as a city history museum. After three years of renovations carried out by the Works Progress Administration, the&nbsp;was formally dedicated on April 19, 1941.&nbsp;Renamed the Philadelphia History Museum at the Atwater Kent in 2010, the museum holds a collection of Philadelphia history composed of over 100,000 objects. Since its founding, PHM has been a partner in the Public History movement, collaborating with academic and cultural organizations to present the history of the city in ways that reflect the daily lives and issues of all Philadelphians.&nbsp;

Located in a historic 1826 building and located just around the corner from Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell, the Philadelphia History Museum has served as a gateway into Philadelphia History for nearly 70 years. The Philadelphia History Museum at the Atwater Kent serves Greater Philadelphia by fostering among its citizens and visitors a deeper understanding and appreciation of the city, its historical artifacts, and its rich legacy. Drawing on its premiere 100,000 piece collection of objects, paintings, and photographs for exhibitions, programs, and electronic media, the museum's purpose is to educate present generations, especially school children, to learn from the past in ways that enrich their lives and improve their futures. 

Philadelphia History Museum at the Atwater Kent

The store made famous by the Lit brothers actually began with a
business operated by their sister, Rachel. Rachel Lit Wedell operated a
millinery shop in the 1890s, and her business flourished because of her offer
to trim hats purchased at the store free of charge. In 1893, her brothers,
Jacob and Samuel Lit, built a new store at the corner of Eighth and Market
Streets.&nbsp;

Lit Brothers was an affordable alternative to other department stores
in the city, like Wanamaker’s and Strawbridge and Clothier. But the store
offered a number of amenities, such as motorized delivery trucks and a subway
entrance that led directly to the bargain basement.&nbsp;

Eventually, the Lit Brothers were successful enough that they expanded
into the suburbs. They built locations in malls in the greater Philadelphia
area and into southern New Jersey. The brothers also bought Blatt Department
Store in Atlantic City and renamed it Lits. By the 1970s, however, the
franchise was no longer as successful as it once was, and the department store
closed its doors in 1977 after filing for bankruptcy.&nbsp;

Numerous businesses have occupied the Lit Building since the department
store closed. The renovation of the building helped spur a renewed interest in
Center City. The Lit Building is listed on the National Register of Historic
Places.

At a time when Philadelphia had no shortage of upscale department stores, the Lit brothers—Jacob and Samuel—opened a moderately-priced alternative. The brothers opened the store in 1893 and continued operations until 1977. The building sat vacant until the late 1980s when it was repurposed as Mellon Independence Center. Since 2013, the building has operated as a retail center known as Market Place East. The building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Lit Brothers Department Store (Market Place East, Philadelphia) 

Built by bricklayer Jacob Graff, Jr. in 1775, the Graff House originally stood on the rural outskirts of Philadelphia, surrounded by fields. Seeking a peaceful setting in which to work on the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson rented the two furnished second-story rooms above the Graff family's lodgings beginning in June of 1776. Jefferson had been selected as Virginia's alternate delegate to the Second Continental Congress, officially taking on the role of when Peyton Randolph, Virginia's First Continental Congress delegate in 1774, stayed in Williamsburg to help create a central state government in 1775. After a ten-day journey from his home state, Thomas Jefferson arrived in Philadelphia on June 21 and took lodgings with cabinetmaker Benjamin Randolph at The Golden Eagle near City Tavern, where delegates often dined and met. Congress adjourned on August 2 and reconvened on September 5; however, due to the death of Jefferson's 18-month-old daughter Jane, he did not return to Philadelphia from Monticello until the 25th of September. Jefferson spent one day of each week writing letters home to his grief-stricken wife, Martha, whose lack of replies worried Jefferson throughout November and December, in spite of reassurance from home that she was not ill. As British and Colonial relations worsened, so did Jefferson's family life, until finally he left Congress at the end of December, staying at Monticello with his wife until April of 1776. In addition to Martha's grief (and his own) over their daughter's death, Jefferson's mother died suddenly on March 31st at age 57. For over a month afterward, Jefferson suffered from acute migraines which delayed his return to Philadelphia; he even requested to be replaced in the Virginia delegation, but was re-elected to Congress instead, and returned to the capitol in May. At first, Jefferson resumed his lodgings with Benjamin Randolph, who made the portable lap-desk for him before Jefferson moved to the three-story Graff House the next month. Graff, his wife, and their infant son lived on the first floor, while Jefferson's bedroom and parlor were upstairs, on either side of the stairwell. Jefferson wrote and entertained guests in the parlor, including other members of Congress. Having made a name for himself with the publication in 1774 of Summary View of the Rights of British America and his drafting of a proposed Virginia constitution, and having caught the attention of Massachusetts delegate John Adams, Jefferson's youth (at only 33) did not prevent him from being chosen to draft the Declaration of Independence. On June 7, Congress chose The Committee of Five to write the Declaration: Adams, Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman, (Connecticut), and Robert Livingston (New York). Adams, though eight years his senior, picked Jefferson to write the document, in part, because Jefferson was from Virginia, a Southern state—and the issue of independence required the support of the South in order to carry. In addition, Adams had pushed the issue of independence to the point of irritating the rest of Congress, while Jefferson was popular and well-liked. However, the primary reason was Adams' admiration for Jefferson's talent as a writer.

The first draft of the Declaration was written in just 17 days, with only Franklin and Adams providing input from the committee, and was presented to Congress on June 28, 1776. The public was unaware of Jefferson's authorship of the document until after the end of the American Revolution eight years later, in 1784. In part, this was because the writing of the document amounted to an act of treason, and it would be eight months before the names of those who signed the Declaration on July 4, 1776, were even revealed. Throughout the writing process, Jefferson had fretted about Martha and had found time to send home presents for her and for their four-year-old daughter, also named Martha. When his wife finally wrote to him, she begged him to come home, but he was left as the only delegate for Virginia in late July. Finally, fellow champion of independence Richard Henry Lee relieved Jefferson in early September, at which time Jefferson vacated Graff House for Monticello. During the Revolution, Jefferson served as a legislator and then Governor of Virginia.



Perhaps, in part, due to the delay in public knowledge of the authorship of the Declaration, Graff House received no recognition as a significant building in the 18th or 19th centuries. It later housed a print shop and a diner, and it was demolished in 1883. Thankfully, the building had survived long enough to be photographed before its demolition, and the National Park Service combined photographic evidence, known dimensions of the house, and descriptions from historical documents to reconstruct the building at the Independence Hall Association's request in 1975. A Georgian Style house featuring Flemish bond brickwork, the reconstructed Declaration House now serves as a museum.



Historic Marker Inscriptions:



Marker 1: In 1776, while attending the Continental Congress, Thomas Jefferson rented two rooms from Jacob Graff, Jr., to avoid the "excessive heats of the city." Here, in Graff's house on the outskirts of town, Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence.



Marker 2:



In which Thomas Jefferson wrote The Declaration of Independence was reconstructed in 1975 with funds provided by the National Park Service and the Independence Hall Association Arthur C. Kaufmann, Chairman

Built by bricklayer Jacob Graff, Jr. in 1775, two rooms of the Graff House were rented by Thomas Jefferson during the summer of 1776 while he wrote the Declaration of Independence. In honor of the Bicentennial in 1976, the Declaration House was reconstructed from photographs and descriptions of the original building and refurnished with reproduced period furniture including Jefferson's swivel chair and lap desk. The house museum also includes exhibits and a film on the drafting of the Declaration.

Declaration House (Graff House)

The President's House: Freedom and Slavery in the Making of a New Nation is an open-air commemoration of America's first executive mansion, the residence of George Washington and John Adams during their terms as President while Philadelphia was the temporary national capital following the Revolution. It is also a commemoration to the nine enslaved African Americans who worked in this house during George Washington's time there, two of whom escaped. It is part of the Independence National Historical Park site, and features a house outline and partial elevation, with interpretive displays on Porcelite panels and illustrated glass, including text and video 24 hours a day. In addition to the history of the site and the people who lived and worked there, the interpretive material explores the paradox of a nation founded on the principle of equality and freedom while still allowing the institution of slavery [1; 9].

The President's House - Washington and Adams

<div>In 1751,&nbsp;three representatives of Pennsylvania's assembly began a successful campaign to create and&nbsp;hang a ceremonial bell in the State House. The bell was cast in the Whitechapel Foundry and arrived on September 1, 1752 in Philadelphia. Speaker of the Pennsylvania Assembly Issac Norris first ordered a bell for the bell tower in independence hall and that bell cracked on the first test ring. John Pass and John Stowe, who were two local metal workers, then melted down that bell and created a new one which is what we currently know as the Liberty Bell. A thin crack emerged on the bell and though the first crack wasn't recorded it was estimated to be around 1840 after 90 years of use. Metal workers tried to fix the crack by widening it to ensure that it didn't crack any further, but they were unsuccessful and a second crack emerged going up the bell, silencing it forever. &nbsp;&nbsp; The bell weighs over 2000 pounds and is over 13 feet in circumference. It&nbsp;was originally used to call lawmakers to there meetings and townspeople to hear the reading of the news. It wasn’t until almost 80 years later that bell began to become a symbol of liberty. The&nbsp;bell also tolled for many special events during the late colonial era and may have been one of the many bells that tolled in commemoration of the reading of the Declaration of Independence. It also probably helped spread the news of the&nbsp;Battle of Lexington &amp; Concord in 1775. By&nbsp;1772, nearby residents&nbsp;petitioned the government, asking them to&nbsp;stop tolling the bell so often.&nbsp;</div><div> </div><div>The complaints likely succeeded as the bell was out of the public eye and largely forgotten during the&nbsp;1800s.&nbsp;In the 1830s, abolitionists started referring to the&nbsp;bell as the Liberty Bell instead of the&nbsp;"State House Bell" as it was commonly known. The movement&nbsp;adopted eventually the bell as a symbol of their&nbsp;commitment to the abolition of slaves.&nbsp;William Lloyd Garrison even&nbsp;published a poem about the bell in The Liberator, his&nbsp;antislavery newspaper. Perhaps ironically given its abolitionist roots and the nation's retreat from liberty for former slaves&nbsp;during Reconstruction, the&nbsp;Liberty Bell embarked on a cross-country journey&nbsp;to symbolize unity after the Civil War. A replica bell was sent around the country during the Women's suffrage movement in 1915. </div><div> </div>The Liberty Bell Center opened in 2003 and explores the history of the bell. Every year on the 4th of July, descendants of the signers of the Declaration of independence have the opportunity to tap the bell thirteen times, symbolizing the freedom of the thirteen colonies.

The Liberty Bell is one of the iconic American historical artifacts. It was commissioned in 1751 to commemorate William Penn's Charter of Privileges (1701), which was the first constitution of Pennsylvania colony. It hung in the steeple of the Pennsylvania State House (what is now called Independence Hall; this is where colonial delegates debated and signed the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution) and is now on display inside the Liberty Bell Center at Independence National Historical Park.

A verse from Leviticus 25:10 is inscribed on the bell: "Proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all inhabitants thereof." The crack in the bell appeared in the 1830s, but the quality of the bell was suspect from its earliest day. After being recast, the colony ordered a second bell but decided to keep the original. That second bell was sold to a Philadelphia Catholic church in 1828. After an anti-Catholic mob destroyed that church and damaged the second bell in 1844, that bell was recast and is now the property of Villanova University. 

Liberty Bell

In the early years of the gay rights movement, committed LGBT activists from the Washington, DC and New York City chapters of the Mattachine Society, Philadelphia’s Janus Society and the New York chapter of the Daughters of Bilitus coordinated their efforts and held protests. The activists gathered at the White House in April 1965 to demand equal rights for LGBT citizens. Together, the groups operated as the East Coast Homophile Organizations (ECHO). The organizer of the White House picket was Frank Kameny, who would come to be regarded as one of the most significant figures in the early years of the LGBT movement. Inspired by the Washington, DC pickets, activist Craig Rodwell conceived an idea for a similar event in Philadelphia. Led by Kameny and local activist Barbara Gittings, the Philadelphia event was planned for just three months later, in July of 1965. Kameny insisted that picketers follow a strict dress code of jackets and ties for men and dresses for women. The move angered some LGBT supporters but Kameny wanted to project an image of homosexuals as “presentable and employable” in hopes of winning more supporters. The choice of Independence Hall for the event was a calculated one. It was important to Kameny and other activists to highlight the fact that they were simply demanding the basic individual freedoms enshrined in the Declaration of Independence. Thirty-nine people picketed, carrying placards demanding equal treatment under the law. At the time, it was the largest known demonstration for homosexual rights in the United States. The event, which came to be known as the Annual Reminder, took place every July 4th in Philadelphia until 1969. The final reminder event took place on July 4 of that year, just days after the Stonewall Riots in New York City, an event that led organizers to conclude that the course of homosexual activism was permanently changed. After 1969, Reminders were gradually replaced with pride parades, most of which are held in June, on or near the anniversary of the Stonewall Riots. The marker that commemorates the Reminders was placed in 2005 by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission. In 2015, a number of events, including a reenactment, were held to recognize the fiftieth anniversary of the first Reminder.

From 1965 to 1969, gay rights activists from Washington, DC, New York, and Philadelphia met each July 4th to picket in front of Independence Hall to demand legislation that would protect the rights of LGBT citizens. The event came to be known as the “Annual Reminder” that many American citizens were denied the basic rights enshrined in the Declaration of Independence. The events were commemorated in 2005 with the dedication of this historical marker across the street from Independence Hall.

Annual Reminders Historical Marker (Gay Pioneers Historical Marker)

Adjacent to
Independence Hall, Congress Hall became the home to the U.S. Congress after the
newly ratified Constitution allowed for the creation of a federal district to
serve as the nation’s capital.&nbsp; Congress,
meeting in New York City, passed the Residence Act in 1790 that established the
District of Columbia as the nation’s new capital.&nbsp; While this new capital was being constructed,
Robert Morris convinced Congress to move the capital back to Philadelphia and
the Residence Act dictated that the city would be the temporary capital for ten
years.

As a result,
the Philadelphia County Courthouse was expanded, its interior altered and it
was renamed Congress Hall.&nbsp; The House of
Representatives met on the building’s first floor.&nbsp; The chamber was austerely furnished with dark
mahogany desks, plain leather chairs and with minimal ornamentation.&nbsp; However, the second floor, upon which the
Senate met, was ornately decorated and furnished with heavy red curtains,
individual secretary’s desks, a hunter green coat of paint and a thick carpet
with the shields of the first thirteen states.&nbsp;
A fresco of a bald eagle holding the requisite olive branch was painted
on the ceiling and a plaster medallion of a sunburst was also added to the
ceiling with thirteen stars representing the original thirteen colonies.

Some of the
more famous acts passed by Congress while in residence here include the
admission of three states to the Union: Vermont in 1791, Kentucky in 1792 and
Tennessee in 1796.&nbsp; Congress Hall also
witnessed the passage of the Bill of Rights, George Washington’s second
inauguration in 1793 and the inauguration of John Adams in 1797.&nbsp; Congress also established the First Bank of
The United States, the Federal Mint and the U.S. Navy while in session at Congress
Hall.

In 1800,
Congress Hall reverted back to the Philadelphia County Courthouse and added
state and federal courts during the first half of the 19th
century.&nbsp; However, the courts eventually
moved to more modern facilities and the building fell into disrepair.&nbsp; Renovations to the old Senate chamber took
place in 1895-96 and the American Institute of Architects undertook fund
raising efforts in 1900.&nbsp; Their efforts
were successful as the building was restored by 1912 and rededicated by
President Woodrow Wilson in 1913.&nbsp; More
work took place in 1934 and the Independence National Historical Park took control of the building in 1956.&nbsp;&nbsp;Today, Congress Hall has been restored to its
simplistic grandeur of the 1790s.&nbsp; &nbsp;

Congress Hall, located on Philadelphia’s Independence Square, served as the seat of the U.S. Congress from December 6, 1790 through May 14, 1800 while Philadelphia was the nation’s capital.  The building was initially the Philadelphia County Courthouse when construction was completed in 1789.  It went back to that function after Congress moved to the newly created Washington D.C.  Congress Hall has since been restored, is now part of the larger Independence National Historical Park and is open for guided tours on a daily basis from March through December.  

Congress Hall

<blockquote>"We hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal..."</blockquote>Construction on Independence Hall began in 1732, originally designed to be the Pennsylvania State House and house all three branches of its colonial government; the legislative, the executive, and the judicial branches. During the Second Continental Congress, which later became the Constitutional Convention of 1787, the state of Pennsylvania loaned out their assembly room for the convention to meet. It was there at Independence Hall in 1776 that George Washington was named Commander in Chief of the Continental Army. In 1781, the Articles of Confederation were adopted in Independence Hall. And in 1787, our founding fathers and statesmen from the newly independent country signed the U.S. Constitution, the same constitution that is in place today. The living document has been amended, but the ideals of the founding fathers still live on. The Independence Hall would be the site of the funeral for President Abraham Lincoln as he was shot in the back of the head by stage actor John Wilkes Booth. This incident happened on April 14 and Lincoln succumbed to his injuries the very next morning. A train traveled with his casket onboard retracing the same route that President Lincoln took when he was first inaugurated in 1861. His funeral would then be held inside the Assembly Room at Independence Hall and over 300,000 guests attended his viewing prior to the burial. President Lincoln is now buried at Oak Grove Cemetery in his own tomb in Illinois, a state he once served as a congressman for.President William Howard Taft also used Independence Hall in order to push for the formation of an international organization designated to keeping peace between countries. The League to Enforce Peace (later League of Nations and then the United Nations) was established in 1915 for the purpose of keeping world peace. It was created due to American citizens being concerned of the outbreak of war in Europe. However, a year prior to this organization being established, World War I broke out due to multiple factors including the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary. The organization ceased operations in 1923 after the war.Independence Hall became apart of Independence National Historical Park, which was established by the U.S. Congress in 1948. This was an effort to preserve the history of structures dating back to the American Revolution and declaration of America’s independence. In Independence Hall, visitors can explore the building by taking a guided tour. The guided tour takes the visitors through a number of rooms that are set up in the way that they would have appeared during the Revolution. The Assembly Room, which is the most famous, is where visitors can see the exact room where both the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution were signed. Across the hall from the Assembly Room is the Courtroom of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. The second floor of the building houses the Long Gallery, Governor's Council Chamber, and the Committee of the Assembly Chamber.The Long Gallery originally served as a reception area for visitors waiting to see the Governor. It was also the host of parties and dinners hosted by the Governor. During British occupation, the Long Gallery was used as a hospital to care for wounded American prisoners of war. The Governor's Council Chamber was where Pennsylvania's Supreme Executive Council met during the 1700s. The Committee of the Assembly Chamber was used as a room for meetings and military storage during the 1700s and was the office of the U.S. Marshal during the 1800s.

Completed in 1753, Independence Hall is considered the birthplace of the United States. It was here that both the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution were signed establishing the foundation of the law in this country. It served as the first capitol building for the United States, but was originally built to serve as the state house for Pennsylvania. It was also a convention site hosted by President William Howard Taft which would lead to the creation of the League to Enforce Peace. It is a part of Independence National Historical Park, which also includes the Liberty Bell Center and the Benjamin Franklin Museum along with a visitor center that includes theaters, exhibits, and a gift shop.

Independence Hall

Franklin founded several societies and organizations, two of which proved significant in the evolution and maturation of the American Philosophical Society. In 1743, he urged creating a community to stimulate an interest in learning. A group responded to Franklin's calling by forming the Philosophical Society, which the American Philosophical Society claims direct descent. However, the newly-formed Society enjoyed little success or participation during its first few decades. In 1768, the rival American Society, which they claim had descended from Ben Franklin's Junto Club (founded in 1727), interjected life into the 1743-created Philosophical Society. The American Society members consisted primarily of people opposed to Pennsylvania's proprietary clique. So, to meet the challenge, the Philosophical Society decided in 1768 to choose eighteen new members, mainly from the supporters of the proprietors: the Penn family. Shortly thereafter, the two rival groups merged into the organization that exists today, and Franklin, who ostensibly founded both groups, served as the newly-formed American Philosophical Society's first president.As president, Franklin instituted a focus on the sciences, and the Society's journal, Transaction, first published in 1771, stands today as the oldest scholarly journal in America. The Society's first undertaking involved making observations of the transit of Venus, an infrequent occurrence that could provide data used in computing the earth's distance from the sun. The compiled information was transmitted to the Astronomer Royal in England and then published in the Society's first opus, Transactions, vol. 1, in 1771. The Society's findings were met with great acclaim; the Society's findings received the "great eclat" in Europe.By 1789, the Society met in the now-historic American Philosophical Society Hall. Construction began in 1785, but a lack of funding slowed the building process. Finally, with considerable aid from Benjamin Franklin, the Hall was completed. The two-story, Late Georgian brick building, designed by Samuel Vaughan, received a third-story addition in 1890, but that was removed during a recent restoration. Meanwhile, the Society desired to expand into a national organization; by 1834, a little more than one-third of the 301 members lived within ten miles of the now-historic Hall, with roughly another third living throughout the rest of the U.S. and the rest of the approximately one-third n foreign countries. In addition to hosting the American Philosophical Society meetings, the building has served as a museum of natural and archeological artifacts, an ipso facto patent office for the arrangement and description of inventions such as John Fitch's steamboat and Franklin's and Rittenhouse's electrical apparatus. The Society's library also includes the Lewis and Clark Expedition records, Jefferson's handwritten copy of the Declaration of Independence, the Mason and Dixon records, and the most comprehensive collection of Ben Franklin artifacts. Furthermore, the library enjoys a focus on American culture and science history, as well as North American Native American linguistics and archaeology.

The American Philosophical Society Hall has housed, since its completion in 1789, the organization Benjamin Franklin founded in 1743: The American Philosophical Society. Franklin founded it to stimulate interest in learning and promote "useful knowledge." In addition to Franklin's contributions, Thomas Jefferson served concurrently as U.S. President and president of the American Philosophical Society. The Hall building serves as our nation's first museum, national library, and academy of science. Inside, changing exhibitions highlight the intersections of science, history, and art. Jefferson's handwritten copy of the Declaration of Independence and the Lewis and Clark journals are among the critical documents, scientific specimens, patent models, portraits, maps, rare books, and manuscripts that comprise this extraordinary collection..

American Philosophical Society Museum

Robert Morris’ nine-foot bronze statue on a limestone base
was sculpted in 1925 by Paul Wayland Bartlett as a commission from the Pennsylvania
Bankers Association, the Fairmount Park Commission, and Commonwealth of
Pennyslvania. &nbsp;After Limerick Brothers of
Baltimore cast the statue of Robert Morris in 1926, it was placed on the
Chestnut Street steps of the Second Bank of the United States where it remained
until its removal to the current location in 1961. 

"Robert Morris (1734-1806), an English-born merchant and
statesman, and later one of America’s “Founding Fathers”. A patriot, he signed
the Declaration of Independence, Articles of Confederation, and U.S.
Constitution. 

An immigrant orphaned at 16, Robert Morris became a partner
in a leading Philadelphia mercantile firm, the Willing &amp; Morris Company, by
the age of 22. The company traded throughout Europe, America and the West
Indies. Like many merchants, their cargo included grain, animal hides, and
enslaved Africans. 

During the Revolutionary war (1734 – 1806), Morris used his
genius for finance and his maritime trading connections to secure vital funds
and supplies for the Continental Army. As superintendent for finance
(1781-1784), Morris rescued the new nation from financial ruin. He stabilized
the economy by creating the first national bank, a model for our modern banking
system. As one of the first U.S. senators from Pennsylvania (1789 – 1795),
Morris was instrumental in making Philadelphia the temporary capital during the
construction of Washington, D.C. 

One of the wealthiest men in America, Morris speculated
heavily in land. Overextended, he fell into bankruptcy and spent three years in
debtors’ prison (Walnut Street Prison). Washington did not forget Morris' loyal
service and often visited the financier while he was jailed. He lived modestly
until his death in 1806, while the new nation he did so much to create
prospered and grew.&nbsp;

Robert Morris’ statue is situated between the First and Second National Banks, in the Independence National Historical Park, as a reminder of his pivotal role in the Revolution, 1734 - 1806. The monument represents Robert Morris, dressed in great coat and Tricorn hat, struggling through the snow to raise money for Washington's troops at Valley Forge. 
Robert Morris Jr. (1734-1806) was an American merchant and a signer to the United States Declaration of Independence, the Articles of Confederation, and the United States Constitution. Morris was known as the Financier of the Revolution, because of his role in securing financial assistance for the American side in the Revolutionary War. Ironically, he was sent to debtor's prison in later life. 

Robert Morris Statue 

Philadelphia’s first city hall was located near the Delaware River on 2nd Street and was built during the lifetime of William Penn. Construction on the city’s second city hall, now known as Old City Hall, began in 1790 and was completed the next year. This simple building is an excellent example of Federalist architecture and features Palladian windows. The mayor’s office and council chamber were located on the second floor, while the first floor was home to the Mayor’s Court. However, it came to share space with the United States Supreme Court while Philadelphia served as the federal capital from 1790-1800. The creation of a Supreme Court was called for in Article III of the U.S. Constitution and the Judiciary Act of 1789 brought it into the open. In 1791, it first met in the Merchants’ Exchange building of New York City and later transferred to Philadelphia in order to join the rest of the federal government. It initially consisted of a chief justice with five associate justices. However, during its early years, the Court had little power. In fact, it heard no cases for the first two years of its existence. Also, the justices served as “circuit riders” as the country was divided into different “circuits” or courts. They often considered cases alongside local judges despite the travel difficulties this practice created. This practice was officially abolished in 1891.The first real case of significance heard by the Supreme Court was the Chisholm v. Georgia case in 1793. In this case, a resident of South Carolina sought to recoup payment from Georgia for goods supplied during the Revolutionary War. The Court ruled in favor of the plaintiff. However, the decision was overturned by passage of the 11th Amendment into the Constitution. Another case of consequence was the 1794 Georgia v. Brailsford case that dealt with the issue of repaying debt after the colonies gained their independence from Britain. This case was reenacted in 2016 by Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Stephen Breyer and Samuel Alito in Old City Hall.Old City Hall also served as the volunteer headquarters during Philadelphia’s yellow fever epidemic of 1793. Many African-Americans, working under the umbrella of the Free African Society, to include Richard Allen and Absalom Jones, labored within Old City Hall to ease the pain of the afflicted. Additionally, Old City Hall hosted municipal government courts and served as the city’s immigration center during the 19th century. Today, visitors can view the room where the Supreme Court met, which has been adorned with period furnishings although not all are original to the room.

Completed in 1901, Philadelphia’s Independence Hall is flanked by two buildings: Congress Hall, where the country’s first congressional sessions took place, and Old City Hall. That structure is the city’s second city hall and it did not exclusively serve as a seat of government for much of its history. Designed by David Evans Jr., in the Federalist style, Old City Hall was completed in 1791 and then shut down in 1854. Old City Hall shared space with the U.S. Supreme Court until 1800 when the federal capital moved the court to Washington D.C. It is part of the Independence Hall Complex which is contained within the larger Independence National Historical Park.

Philadelphia's Old City Hall

George E. Bartol, a grain and commodities exporter, took a trip to Europe in 1890 and visited the Bourse in Hamburg, Germany. So inspired by his visit, he created the Philadelphia Bourse Corporation, modeling it after the Hamburg Bourse. Bartol organized the Philadelphia business community and asked each new member of his new company to pledge $1,000 to the project. When the building opened (1895), it functioned as the nation's first commodities exchange. The Bourse offered ample space for Philadelphia manufacturers to display and market their products in a centralized location available to merchants from around the globe who could arrive by train or ship.G. W. &amp; W. D. Hewitt designed the steel-framed Beaux-Arts building – one of the first to be constructed (1893 to 1895). The eye-catching exterior consists of Carlisle redstone, Pompeian buff brick, and terra cotta. Also, the building enjoyed some of the best technology available in 1895. The latest financial news from across the globe arrived at the Philadelphia Bourse via the telegraph, and pneumatic tubes connected the Bourse directly with the United States Post Office. The Bourse stopped functioning as a commodities exchange in the 1960s. Still, the historic structure operated as an office building until 1979, when it was sold and renovated to include upscale retail space on floors near the street level. The sale also came with a name change, renamed simply The Bourse. However, the decades-long westward shift in the Philadelphia community made drawing tenants challenging for The Bourse. Thus, renovations during the early 1980s allowed The Bourse to transition into a building that dually supported offices and service industry businesses; it opened in 1982 as a combination office complex and shopping mall. More recently, a $40 million renovation project from 2016-2018 included creating a food hall with thirty vendors. In addition to the food hall, the building is home to nine floors of office space, which includes a Mexican Consulate.

Although bourse means "stock exchange," the Philadelphia Bourse stood as the world's first to simultaneously house a stock exchange, maritime exchange, and grain-trading center. George E. Bartol, a successful Philadelphia businessman, founded the Philadelphia Bourse Corporation in 1891; the historic building opened in 1895. The beautiful Beaux-Arts Philadelphia Bourse opened as the nation's first commodities exchange. Today, the landmark structure houses a food hall, retail outlets, and office spaces.

Philadelphia Bourse

The National
Museum of American Jewish History initially shared space with the Congregation
Mikveh Israel when it was founded back in 1976.&nbsp;
By 2005 discussion of creating a new home began and fund raising efforts
began in earnest as well.&nbsp; A site
formerly owned by a CBS news affiliate along Independence Mall was selected and
the glass and terra cotta building, designed by James Polshek, was completed in
2010.&nbsp; The opening ceremony was attended
by the likes of Vice President Joe Biden, Mayor Michael Nutter and Rabbi Irving
Goldberg.

The museum
is anchored by a core exhibition that spans 3.5 of the building’s five
stories.&nbsp; It is centered on the different
backgrounds and experiences of Jews who immigrated to America as well as the following
generations that were born and raised here.&nbsp;
It examines who they were, the places they came from, the challenges
they faced, the choices they made and how they were influenced by America, and
how they, in turn, influenced their adopted country.&nbsp; Visitors get to listen to their stories, both
joyous and sorrowful.&nbsp; Through historical
artifacts, period settings, media, and interactive technology, one learns about
various aspects of Jewish religious, social and economic experiences in
America.

The
exhibition follows a roughly chronological order beginning on the fourth floor
with a section entitled “Foundations of Freedom, 1654-1880.”&nbsp; On the third floor, visitors travel through
the “Dreams of Freedom, 1880-1945” piece, while on the second floor they are
greeted by the “Choices and Challenges of Freedom, 1945-Today” section.&nbsp; Finally, on the first floor, the museum
features its “Only in America Gallery and Hall of Fame.”&nbsp; This exhibit features 18 famous (Albert
Einstein, Sandy Koufax, Golda Meir) and not-so-famous Jewish-Americans (Rose
Scheiderman, Isaac Leeser, Menachem Mendel Schneerson) who each made significant
contributions in their own manner.

The museum
also features rotating or special exhibitions and recent ones have included “Bill
Graham and the Rock &amp; Roll Revolution” that focused on influential concert
promoter Bill Graham and his Fillmore Auditorium, as well as his interactions
with legends such as Jimi Hendrix and the Rolling Stones.&nbsp; A special 2017 exhibition will be/is/was “1917:
How One Year Changed the World” that looks at how America’s entry into World
War I, the Bolshevik Revolution and the Balfour Declaration…well, changed the
world.

The museum
also sponsors traveling exhibitions such as “Chasing Dreams: Baseball and
Becoming American” that looks at the role the national pastime has played in,
not just the Jewish community, but all minority communities in America.&nbsp; Finally, the museum offers numerous educational
opportunities in the form of K-12 lessons and activities, summer camps,
professional development for educators and adult education classes.&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

Focused on the formation of the Jewish-American identity, the National Museum of American Jewish History was founded back in 1976.  It moved to its current, 100,000-square foot home on Philadelphia’s Independence Mall in late 2010.  The museum covers the Jewish-American experience from colonial times to present day through permanent and rotating exhibitions as well as educational programs.  This Smithsonian affiliated museum is open every day except Mondays and certain holidays, Jewish and national alike.

National Museum of American Jewish History

<div>The museum itself is divided into five distinction sections, all representing certain personality traits of Benjamin Franklin: ambition, curiosity, self-motivation, persuasiveness, and charm. The museum itself is arranged to mimic rooms of Franklin's house. This museum is unique in that it does not focus on a certain timeline in his life, but instead, explores his personal interests as well as his various occupations, from being a printer all the way up to his time as a diplomat. For the musically inclined, Franklin's invention of the glass instrument, harmonica, is on display. In fact there are more than forty-five historical artifacts that give visitors a glimpse into the life and times of a Founding Father. Some artifacts that visitors might find especially interesting are: a family Bible, Franklin's personal chess set, and the sedan chair in which he sat on to be taken to the Constitutional Convention, to name a few. There around thirty computer animations, including audio and interactive displays, and eleven tactile displays as well, making exhibits accessible to people of all abilities.</div><div> </div><div>&nbsp; The last and most pungent reminder of Franklin's life is a projection room meant to mimic Franklin's library. On the screen, is a movie style depiction of Franklin's life. &nbsp;Ultimately, the goal of this museum is bring back the relevance of Franklin as a significant historical figure to the City of Brotherly Love by reminding Americans of his achievements and correcting some misconceptions, such as the one of the most common misconceptions about him; that he discovered electricity, when he did not.&nbsp;</div><div> </div>The museum is fully handicapped accessible. The fees to enter the museum: $5 for adults and $2 for children (16 years old &amp; younger) Schools are eligible for free admission, for more information on this, please call: 215-597-7122 two weeks prior of the intended visit Benjamin Franklin's favorite animal was the squirrel and there is a special guide for families: Skuggs the squirrel!

This museum is located adjacent to where Benjamin Franklin's house once stood back in the 1700s, and is taking up residence in the Independence National Historic Park. The museum is 20,000 square feet and underground. The exhibits and museum store are underground as well. To get visitors in the appropriate mind set, before the museum entrance is the Benjamin Franklin Ghost house.  Above ground, this ghost house is a steel structure designed by architects to trace outlines  of Franklin's old house and his old printing shop. Established in 1976, the museum has gone through a massive upgrade within the last two years and reopened to the public in August 2013.

  



Benjamin Franklin Museum

In 1979, the American Chemistry Society
proposed a plan to construct a national center for the history of chemistry.
Through the efforts of chemist and museum curator Arnold Thackray, funds from
private and institutional sources were secured for the construction of such a
project in Philadelphia, and in 1981, the proposal was approved for
constructing the center in the city with the cooperation of the University of
Pennsylvania. In 1983, the Center for the History of Chemistry was established,
occupying only two basement rooms of the University of Pennsylvania. Even in
its fledgling years, the Center gained support and hosted a number of traveling
exhibits, though it had high hopes to one day have the resources and space
available to collaborate with the likes of the Smithsonian Institute.

The Center quickly gained support
over the years, gaining funds from sources such as the Arnold and Mabel Beckman
Foundation’s challenge grants, and support from other institutions in order to
expand the Center. Through this continued support, the Center changed its name
first to the National Foundation for the History of Chemistry, and then again
in 1992 to the Chemical Heritage Foundation, in order to reflect that the
support given to the Foundation reached beyond the United States. As the
collection and support of the Foundation continued to grow, so too did the need
for permanent exhibits and a more solid location. It was not until October of
2008 that the Foundation unveiled the museum and conference center components.

The Science History Institute offers exhibits and programs dedicated to preserving the history of chemistry and related sciences such as chemical engineering and the life sciences. Founded in 1982 as the Center for the History of Chemistry and as a collaboration between the University of Pennsylvania and the American Chemical Society, the organization was known as the Chemical Heritage Foundation for many years prior to the merger of that organization with the Life Sciences Foundation. Today, the Science HIstory Institute collects items and stories related to the history of science. In addition to serving as the headquarters of the organization, this building houses a museum, library, archives, conference center, and a research center dedicated to expanding the knowledge and ever-expanding history of the life sciences and chemistry. 

Science History Institute (Formerly the Chemical Heritage Foundation)

Bishop White
was born in Philadelphia in 1748 and was educated at Philadelphia College, now
known as the University of Pennsylvania.&nbsp;
He was ordained as a deacon (1770), an Anglican priest (1772) and finally
a bishop (1787), all in England.&nbsp; When
the American Revolution broke out, White faced a difficult decision, remain
true to Britain and its Anglican faith, or support the American cause.&nbsp; He chose the latter and went on to become one
of the most influential leaders of the Episcopalian church.&nbsp; He consecrated most of the Episcopal bishops
during the country’s first twenty years, to include two African-American bishops,
Absalom Jones and William Levington of New York.

A spiritual
guide to many founding fathers, his home was visited by many of them, such as
George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Robert
Morris (who was married to White’s younger sisiter), and the Marquis de
Lafayette.&nbsp; However, White did not just
minister to the elite.&nbsp; He helped found
the Pennsylvania Institute for the Deaf and Dumb in 1820 (now the Pennsylvania School
for the Deaf) and served as its president for 16 years.&nbsp; He also ministered to prisoners and was
president of the Philadelphia Society for the Alleviation of Miseries of Public
Prisons. &nbsp;Additionally, during the yellow
fever epidemics of 1793 and 1797, he stayed within the city, caring for its
sick, along with his neighbor, Dr. Benjamin Rush, while many others fled to the
countryside. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

He married
Mary Harrison, a member of the First Families of Virginia.&nbsp; Her father had been mayor of
Philadelphia.&nbsp; Together, they had eight
children, of which, only three survived to adulthood.&nbsp; However, they provided him with twelve
grandchildren, many of which, at one time or another, lived with him at his
home on Walnut Street, along with his daughter who managed his household from
1813 until her death in 1831.&nbsp; &nbsp;

The Bishop
White House, located equidistant between the two churches he cared for, now
permits visitors to tour the Bishop’s former parlor, kitchen, dining room,
study, and bedroom.&nbsp; The study, to include
his library, looks exactly as it did when White wrote sermons there as a
painting of the room was completed while he still lived and resides there
now.&nbsp; The parlor is where he entertained
his many guests with music, card games and good conversations, while his
servants fed them in the large dining room.&nbsp;
The home also contained a wine and root cellar, and an indoor privy,
which was rare for the time.&nbsp; Finally,
his bedroom appears as it did the night before his death, to include the book
he read, sitting on the lap desk.&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;

The Bishop White House was home to Bishop William White from the time it was completed in 1787 until his death in 1836.  White was the Rector of both Christ Church and St. Peter’s Church as well as the chaplain to the Continental Congress and U.S. Senate while the federal capital was located in Philadelphia.  White was also the first Episcopal Bishop in Pennsylvania.  The Bishop’s former home has been restored to its late 18th century appearance and is now part of the larger Independence National Historical Park.  It now provides contemporary visitors with a look into the life of a well-to-do Philadelphian from that era.  The house features period artifacts, to include many that are original to the house and were owned by the Bishop.

Bishop White House

Dolley was
the daughter of John and Mary Payne, a Quaker family that moved to Philadelphia
from Virginia in 1783.&nbsp; She was 15 at the
time and one of eight children.&nbsp; Her
father had freed his slaves after converting to the Quaker religion as slavery
was antithetical to the ideals of Quakerism.&nbsp;
He tried his hand as a starch merchant in Philadelphia, but failed to
such a degree that he was expelled from the Society of Friends.&nbsp; John Payne died in 1792, forcing his widow to
open a boarding house to make ends meet.&nbsp;
Mary Payne would leave Philadelphia the next year and move in with her
daughter, Lucy, who had married a nephew of George Washington.

Meanwhile,
the 22-year-old Dolley had married lawyer John Todd in 1790 and the two quickly
had two sons, John Payne Todd (known as Payne) and William.&nbsp; The house was also home to Dolley’s sister
Anna and two of John’s law clerks, who boarded with the Todds.&nbsp; Tragedy struck the family in 1793 in the form
of a yellow fever epidemic.&nbsp; Dolley, like
many, fled the city for a country resort.&nbsp;
However, her husband stayed in the city to care for his parents and his
law practice.&nbsp; Dolley lost her in-laws,
husband and 3-month-old son, William, all in 1793 (her son and husband on the
same day).&nbsp; She was now a widow at 25
with a one-year-old son to care for and in financial difficulty.

Luckily,
prior to her husband’s death, they had travelled in the social circle that included
many members of the federal government where she perhaps encountered the likes
of James Madison and Aaron Burr.&nbsp; Madison
was serving in the House of Representatives from Virginia and indications are
that Burr, Madison’s college friend, arranged the meeting between Dolley and
James at this home on Walnut Street.&nbsp; The
courtship progressed quickly and the two were married less than a year after
John Todd’s death, thus securing Dolley’s future as well as that of her young
son.&nbsp; The Madisons then moved to James’
home on Spruce Street and lived there until James’ term expired in 1797 when
they moved to Virginia and, later, the White House.

The Dolley
Todd Houses was then occupied by Revolutionary War General Stephen Moylan, the
man credited with using the term “United States of America” for the first time,
until 1807.&nbsp; It now features the
recreated law office of John Todd, the Todds bedroom and their parlor.&nbsp; It also contains two leather fire buckets that
were required in all homes for communal use.&nbsp;

Prior to becoming Dolley Madison in 1794, Dolley Todd and her first husband, John Todd, lived at this house from 1791-1793.  This 18th century, 3-story, Georgian home was built in 1775 by John Dilworth.  John Todd died in 1793 and, soon after, Dolley married James Madison.  She remained in Philadelphia until the Madisons retired, temporarily, to the family estate at Montpelier in Virginia in 1797.  The house is now part of the larger Independence National Historical Park.  It has been restored to how it looked while it was occupied by the Todds with period artifacts and furniture.  It is occasionally open as a house museum that provides a window into the life of a solidly middle-class, Philadelphia family at the end of the 18th century.

Dolley Todd House

This historic building was completed in 1771 and is still home to the Carpenters' Company of the City and County of Philadelphia. Many of the leading organizations in the city have used this building for meetings, including the American Philosophical Society.

Constructed in 1771 and home to the oldest craft guild in the United States, Carpenter's Hall is best-known as the meeting place of the First Continental Congress. In response to the passage of the Coercive Acts by the British government, 56 Representatives from twelve of the thirteen North American colonies that would later form the United States met in this building between September 5th and October 26, 1774. The delegates issued a protest against the British government but stopped far short of declaring independence, requesting instead that the colonists be able to enjoy a measure of local autonomy within the British Empire. The colonists acknowledged London's authority over matters of trade and diplomacy but insisted that they, like all other English subjects, could only be taxed by their elected representatives. Britain ignored the delegates, pushing the colonists further towards independence.

Carpenter's Hall

An exhibit called "Marines in the Revolution" documents the role of leathernecks from the years 1775-1781. Half a year before the Declaration of Independence was written, an Act of Congress gave birth to the Continental Marine Corps by authorizing the formation of two battalions of troops. Recruiting for the new military branch occurred at Tun Tavern, a popular Philadelphia waterfront watering-hole, which no longer stands.&nbsp;Vertical, glass-enclosed displays showcase hand grenades, a blunderbuss, swords, and other Marine weaponry and equipment. At the bottom of each case, a Revolutionary War timeline gives a headline history of the clash's salient events, particularly those pertaining to the Marines. We learn that long before the Halls of Montezuma, Marines supported George Washington during his 1776 Christmas crossing of the Delaware, surprising the Hessians at Trenton.New Hall was built in 1791 by members of the Carpenters' Company. The guild was so successful in renting out their headquarters, Carpenters' Hall, that they were forced to move their own headquarters out of their building to New Hall. This is a great little museum to go and visit. &nbsp;It is walking distance to many other great museums. &nbsp;New Hall Military Museum is 3 blocks from Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell.&nbsp;

The museum is located in Carpenters' Court, along Chestnut Street between 3rd and 4th Streets. This building is a reconstruction of the one constructed by the Carpenters' Company in 1791 and originally used to house the office of the first Secretary of War, Henry Knox, and his staff. The building currently houses exhibits highlighting the founding of the United States Marine Corps and the Army and Navy Departments from the American Revolution through the last decades of the 18th century.

New Hall Military Museum 

The United States came out of the War of 1812, which ended in 1815, in financial difficulty. It was in severe debt and state and local banks were causing chaos by being permitted to print their own bank notes. As a result, the push for a second national bank gained momentum, led by financiers John Jacob Astor, Jacob Barker, Stephen Girard, and David Parish and politicians Alexander Dallas and John C. Calhoun, and it was created with the stroke of President James Madison’s pen in 1816. Modeled after Alexander Hamilton’s First Bank, it opened its doors in January of 1817 and was responsible for all the financial transactions of the United States’ Government. It was also tasked with regulating the notes and credit issued by private and state banks, establishing a stable and secure national currency and controlling inflation, among other things. By 1832, it had established 25 branch offices in cities such as Boston, St, Louis, and Lexington.The bank came under severe criticism after the Panic of 1819, an extended recession that caused severe credit restrictions and massive unemployment. The bank’s reputation and standing was temporarily rebuilt under the guidance of its third president, Nicholas Biddle, and it was on sound footing by Andrew Jackson’s first inauguration in 1829. The bank’s constitutionality had also been established by the Supreme Court’s ruling in the McCulloch v. Maryland case of 1819. However, President Jackson still viewed the bank as unconstitutional and a corrupt institution run by the country’s elite. The bank became a major campaign issue during the election of 1832 as Jackson’s opponent, Henry Clay, sought its re-charter four years prior to its expiration. Jackson acted quickly when he vetoed the re-charter and then withdrew all federal funds from the bank after he was re-elected. The bank limped along until its original charter expired in 1836, when it became a private institution which was eventually liquidated in 1841. The building itself was designed by American architect, William Strickland, in the Greek Revival style. Strickland’s design was chosen over his mentor’s, Benjamin Latrobe. Strickland also designed the Merchants’ Exchange Building which sits a few blocks away. He used the Greek Parthenon as his model, including wide stairs leading to its main level and huge Doric columnns. It was constructed with Pennsylvania blue marble from 1819-1824. The building served numerous functions after the bank was not re-chartered, to include the Custom House of Philadelphia. Over the years, its interior was drastically altered and the only original items include its barrel-vaulted ceiling, marble columnns in the main room, and the side fireplaces. It now is home to an art gallery that focuses on the portraits of famous early Americans, many done by Charles Wilson Peale. The portraits include many well-known figures, such as Thomas Jefferson, James and Dolley Madison, and Alexander Hamilton.

Part of Philadelphia’s Independence National Historical Park, the building that is most famous for housing the Second Bank of the United States was completed in 1824.  It represented the nation’s second effort at creating a national bank after the First Bank was not re-chartered in 1811.  It served as the nation’s bank until it was dismantled, largely by President Andrew Jackson, in 1836.  The building now serves the city as an art gallery that features its “People of Independence” exhibit.  This exhibit displays over 150 portraits of influential 18th and 19th century Americans.  The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1987.

Philadelphia Beyond the Liberty Bell (Walking Tour)

Athenaeum of Philadelphia

Introduction

Images

Backstory and Context

Sources

Additional Information