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Historic District
Independence Hall
Chestnut Street between 5th and 6th Streets
 Independence
Hall was built in 1732 as the Pennsylvania State House and
was a symbol of the nation to come. At the time, it was the
most ambitious public building in the thirteen colonies.
Independence Hall is the birthplace of the United States.
Within its walls, the Declaration of Independence was adopted.
It was here that the Constitution of the United States was
debated, drafted and signed.
Open daily 9am - 5pm. Hours extended to 8pm in July and August
and on spring weekends. By tour, every 15 minutes. |
Liberty Bell Pavilion
Market Street between 5th & 6th Streets, 215-597-8974
Our nation's most cherished symbol of
freedom. On July 8, 1776, the Liberty Bell rang out from the
tower of Independence Hall to summon Philadelphia's citizens
to hear the first public reading of the Declaration of Independence.
In 1846, the bell was rung for the last time in celebration
of Washington's birthday
Open daily 9 am - 5 pm. (9 am - 8 pm in July and August)
The bell is visible 24 hours a day. |
Old City Hall
5th and Chestnut Streets
 Known
as Old City Hall, this building was completed in 1791. Philadelphia's
original City Hall, built during Penn's lifetime, was near
the Delaware River on 2nd Street. From 1790 to 1800, Philadelphia
was the Capital of the United States, and the United States
Supreme Court held sessions in the courtroom on the first
floor of Old City Hall, sharing space with the Mayor's Court.
Thousands of immigrants entered the U.S. through Philadelphia
in the last decade of the 18th century. Naturalization ceremonies
for new citizens took place in this courtroom.
Open Wednesday through Sunday 2pm
- 4pm. |
Congress Hall
5th and Chestnut Streets
Congress Hall was occupied by the newly
formed United States Congress when Philadelphia was the capital
of the United States from 1790-1800. Congress Hall has been
restored to its appearance during those important years. The
first floor had been occupied by the House of Representatives;
the upper floor occupied by the Senate. In 1793, President
George Washington was inaugurated here for a second term.
Four years later, in the House of Representatives chamber,
power passed peacefully from George Washington to John Adams
in a ceremony that set a precedent for the modern transfer
of government power. |
Carpenter’s Hall
http://www.ushistory.org/carpentershall/
Carpenters' Court between Third and Fourth Streets on Chestnut
Street, 215-925-0167
 This
building housed the First Continental Congress in 1774. In
attendance at the First Continental Congress were George Washington,
John Adams, Samuel Adams and Patrick Henry. Carpenters' Hall
also served as the headquarters of the First Bank of the United
States in 1791. Other organizations that occupied the hall
include: United States Custom House, Franklin Institute, Society
of Friends, the United States Law Office, the Apprentice's
Free Library, the Second Bank of the United States, and the
Philadelphia Auction Market.
Open March to December, Tuesday
through Sunday, 10am – 4pm.
January and February, Wednesday
through Sunday 10am - 4pm.
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The First Bank of the United States
Third Street, between Chestnut and Walnut Streets
 The
First Bank of the United States is the oldest bank building
in America and was formed to address the government’s
Revolutionary War debt and to create a standard form of currency.
It was built in 1795 while Philadelphia was still the nation's
capital. The first Treasurer, Alexander Hamilton conceived
of the bank. The First Bank's charter was drafted in 1791
by the Congress and signed by President George Washington.
In 1811, Congress voted to abandon the bank and its charter.
The bank was originally housed in Carpenters' Hall from 1791
to 1795. The neo-classical design of the bank was intended
to recall the democracy and splendor of ancient Greece. The
bank building was restored for the Bicentennial in 1976.
Often closed to public; inquire at Visitor's Center |
The Second Bank of the United States
420 Chestnut Street between 4th and 5th, 215-597-8974
Modeled on the Parthenon in Greece, the
Second Bank of the United States was built in 1818, and chartered
for many of the same reasons as its predecessor, the First
Bank of the United States. The War of 1812 had left a formidable
debt, and inflation grew due to the notes issued by private
banks. President Madison signed a bill authorizing the Second
Bank in 1816. Today the bank is home to a portrait gallery.
Here are signers of the Declaration and Constitution; many
of the works painted by Charles Wilson Peale, James Sharples
and Thomas Sully.
Open Tuesday through Sunday, 10am - 3pm. |
The Graff House
7th and Market Streets, 215-597-8974
The Graff house exhibit includes a recreation
of the two rooms Jefferson rented on the second floor. A stable
across the street attracted horseflies, which Jefferson complained
about while writing the Declaration of Independence. Jefferson's
bedchamber contains a tiny bed and a desk. One of the only
original items in the exhibition is a key to the original
desk, which Jefferson used. Jefferson entertained other members
of the Congress in the sitting room. The original structure
was torn down in 1883. Photographs of the site enabled the
National Park Service to build an accurate recreation of the
original building.
Open Wednesday through Sunday 12 pm - 2pm. |
Franklin Court
316-322 Market Street (between 3rd and 4th Streets), 215-597-8974
In the court once stood Benjamin Franklin
‘s house, which was razed in 1812. No historical records
exist, and the area is preserved by a "Ghost Structure"
designed by Venturi for the 1976 bicentennial. Other museums
and sites depict Franklin’s life and legacy. The Underground
Museum is filled with paintings, objects, and inventions associated
with Benjamin Franklin. Franklin inventions included here
include a Franklin stove and the swim fin. The United States
Postal Service Museum exhibits Pony Express pouches and originals
of Franklin's Pennsylvania Gazette. The Post Office at 316
Market Street is the only active post office in the United
States that does not fly a United States flag. The postmark
"B. Free Franklin" is still used. The Printing Office
and Bindery displays 18th century printing equipment. Next
is the restored office of The Aurora and General Advertiser,
the newspaper published by Franklin's grandson, Benjamin Franklin
Bache.
Open Wednesday through Sunday, 10am - 12pm. |
Washington Square
Bounded by 6th and 7th Streets and Walnut and South Seventh
Street
 Washington
Square was one of Philadelphia's five original squares as
laid out in 1682 by William Penn. The Quakers called it Southeast
Square. Within 25 years of Penn's arrival, the square was
being used as a potter's field and a burial yard for strangers
in the city. Improvement started in the form of a public walk
in 1815. A tree-planting program began, and the Square now
bears 60 varieties of trees. The six-acre Southeast Square
was renamed Washington Square in 1825 to honor the great general
and first President. The tomb of the Unknown Soldier is located
within the Square and reads: "Beneath this stone rests
a soldier of Washington's army who died to give you liberty."
An eternal flame burns in front of a bronze sculpture of George
Washington, which faces nearby Independence Hall.
The bicentennial moon tree, a sycamore tree with seeds planted
on May 6, 1975, grows in the Square. The seeds were carried
to the moon by astronaut Stuart Roosa on Apollo XIV.
The Park is open to the public. |
The Library Hall
105 South 5th Street (between Chestnut and Walnut Streets),
215-440-3400
Library Hall was built in 1789 across
the street from Philosophical Hall. It was the first library
in the country open to the public and the forerunner of the
Library of Congress. In 1731, Benjamin Franklin and his friends
founded the Library Company, which established a collection
that was available for use by interested members of the community.
The Library contains the original journals of the Lewis and
Clark expedition, William Penn's Charter of Privileges, the
Declaration of Independence in Jefferson's own handwriting,
and first editions of Sir Isaac Newton's Principia and Charles
Darwin's Origin of Species.
Lobby exhibit space. Open Monday through Friday, 9am - 5pm.
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Bishop White House
309 Walnut Street
Bishop White was chaplain to the Second
Constitutional Congress and the United States Senate.
William White was the first consecrated bishop of the Protestant
Episcopal Church of America and the rector of Christ and St.
Peter's Churches. Born in Philadelphia, the Bishop was very
popular due to his charity work and to the ministering of
the sick in 1793 during the Yellow Fever epidemic. The fine
furnishings of the house indicate the elite social standing
of the Bishop and his family. The Bishop's wife Elizabeth
had come from a landed Virginia family and his grandfather
had been landed gentry in England.
Open daily. Tickets obtained at Visitor Center |
Todd House
Corner of 4th and Walnut Streets
Built in 1775, Todd house is an example
of a middle-class Quaker dwelling. A young lawyer, John Todd
dwelled in the house for two years before he succumbed to
yellow fever in 1793. His widow, Dolley is a historical figure
and was a fabulous hostess. Dolley went on to serve as a de
facto first lady for the widowed Thomas Jefferson in 1801,
and as first lady during husband James Madison's two terms.
Open daily, 9am - 5pm. |
African Methodist Episcopal Church
419 Richard Allen Avenue at the northeast corner of Sixth
(Lombard Street between Fifth and Sixth Streets), 215-925-0616
The African Methodist Episcopal Church (AME) began in a clearing
in the woods by the Delaware River in 1777. An itinerant Methodist
preacher spread the gospel to a group of slaves. Among these
slaves was a 17 year-old field hand named Richard Allen, purchased
his freedom by the time he was 20. He enthusiastically supported
the plan to form the nation's first black church. Allen was
given the responsibility of buying land for the church. Laying
out his own money, Allen purchased a plot of land at 6th and
Lombard in Philadelphia's already historic black community.
Bethel Church's dedication was on July 29, 1794. In its first
two years, membership mushroomed from 20 to 121. Thanks to
Allen's insistence on education Bethel had a children's day
school and an adult night school on premises soon after its
founding. In 1799, Richard Allen was ordained a deacon. As
early as 1795, the church was used in the Underground Railroad
when Allen helped 30 recently freed Jamaican slaves. Aided
by his wife Sarah, Allen would hide, feed and clothe escaping
slaves. Large sums of money were collected in order to facilitate
a slave's flight to freedom. Some current members of the Mother
Bethel AME church are descendants of those who were escaped
slaves assisted by Mother Bethel. Of special note are the
church's stained glass windows, installed when the church
was erected in 1890.
Call in advance for a worthwhile tour of the church and the
Richard Allen Museum. The museum is open after Sunday services
for one hour, and Tuesday through Saturday, 10am - 3pm by
appointment only. |
Welcome Park
Second Street and Samson Street Alley
Welcome Park was built by the Friends
of Independence National Historical Park in 1982 to celebrate
the 300th anniversary of the founding of Pennsylvania by William
Penn in 1682. Named for William Penn's ship, The Welcome,
the park is located on the site of the Slate Roof House, Penn's
residence in Philadelphia from 1699 to 1701. Penn proclaimed
the Charter of Privileges, which guaranteed religious freedoms
to the inhabitants of "Penn's Woods."
Laid out in marble on the ground is the original city plan
of Penn's Philadelphia. In the middle of the park is a miniature
version of the statue of William Penn that crowns City Hall.
Penn's plans and promotions for Philadelphia are engraved
on the walls surrounding the park.
Welcome Park is open to the public. |
Penn's Landing
Delaware River from Race Street south to South Street
 Penn's
Landing marks the site where William Penn first set foot on
Penn’s Woods in 1682. The city's revitalized riverfront
is home to the Port of History Museum, several historic ships
(including the USS Olympia), and a sculpture garden. Concerts
and festivals are held here throughout the year. At Penn's
Landing, the Riverbus offers 20-minute ride to the New Jersey
State Aquarium, across the Delaware in Camden, or The Spirit
of Philadelphia provides passage for a river cruise or tour
of the harbor. The River Taxi at Spruce Street services the
Aquarium, the Naval shipyard, Fort Mifflin, and other historic
sites along the river. The Penn's Landing Trolley is located
at Penn's Landing between Ben Franklin Bridge and Fitzwater
Street and features a 25-minute round-trip with stops that
include Race, Market, Walnut, Dock, Spruce, and Lombard Streets.
Most sites are open daily at 10 am. |
Old St. Joseph's Church
http://www.oldstjoseph.org/
Willings Alley between 3rd and 4th Streets, between Locust
and Walnut Streets, 215-923-1733
Old St. Joseph's Church is located down
Willings Alley and under a narrow arch with iron gates. The
archway opens onto a sunny courtyard and on the north wall
is a plaque that pays tribute to William Penn, who in his
Charter of 1701 granted religious toleration in his new colony.
The plaque reads, “When in 1733 St. Joseph's Roman Catholic
Church was founded and Dedicated to the Guardian of the Holy
Family, it was the only place in the entire English speaking
world where public celebration of the Holy sacrifice of the
Mass was permitted by law.” The first church was built
on this site in 1733, enlarged in 1821 and rebuilt in 1838.
Inside the church is an impressive painting of the Crucifixion.
Lafayette and the Comte de Rochambeau worshiped here.
Tours by appointment. Open for Mass daily.
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Society Hill
Between the Delaware River and 5th Street, from Walnut Street
to the North and Lombard Street to the South
The Free Society of Traders, a stock company
whose members William Penn granted land and privileges, is
the Society for which Society Hill is named. Later it became
the home to many members of the federal government when Philadelphia
served as the nation's capital. The area also attracted the
local wealthy merchants who constructed the narrow alleys
and the Colonial homes that make the area so charming. Of
special note are Head House Square, a Colonial Market from
circa 1745, with its surrounding shops, Delancy Street, and
Spruce Street.
Sites open to the public in Society Hill include the Powel
House, St Mary’s Church, St Peter’s Church and the
Hill-Physick-Keith House. |
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