My favourite place: Philadelphia
For the latest in our historical holiday series, George introduces the delights of a US city steeped in history – Philadelphia
Philadelphia prides itself on being the United States’ number one historic visitor destination. It does so with every justification, because this is where the new nation began. It is where the Declaration of Independence was made and the war for it was fought (with Philadelphia itself being lost and won on several occasions). Philadelphia was also the new country’s capital before Washington took over in 1800. It is a place of great history and it knows how to celebrate it, without having to try too hard.
Philadelphia has charming 18th-century areas near the Independence National Historical Park (INHP), set on a grid system planned by William Penn, the Quaker who founded the city in 1682 and gave it the ancient Greek name of ‘ brotherly love’.
For around a century, this was a British city and a thriving mercantile centre that was to outstrip Boston and become the largest in the American colonies. So for me, a Briton interested in 18th-century British life with a twist, Philadelphia is a treasure trove, with a whole street of merchants’ houses such as Elffreth’s Alley or inddividual gems such as thhe glorious Physick House and its near neeighbour the Powel HHouse. Samuel Powel wwas the last British and first independent AAmerican mayor of Phhiladelphia and here, wwith his formidable wwife, Elizabeth, he enntertained their friends and neighbours George and Martha Washington, together with other great luminaries of the American Revolution such as Lafayette, John Adams and, of course, Benjamin Franklin.
This is very much Benjamin Franklin’s city. He may have spent the first 17 of his 84 years in Boston, and the best part of two decades in London and one in France, but it was in Philadelphia where he achieved his initial fame and fortune and where he returned to spend the last five years of his life.
Franklin founded some of America’s great institutions, including the American Philosophical Society, the Library Company and the Ivy League University of Pennsylvania, and each one has its own museum in the city. One can visit his grave and I know readers can be trusted not to follow the strange practice of throwing coins onto it. After all, as the quote commonly attributed to Franklin goes: “A penny saved is a penny got.”
None of Franklin’s Philadelphia houses has survived; in fact his only surviving home is London’s Benjamin Franklin House, itself a museum and education centre. But Franklin Court, where his last house stood, has its own Benjamin Franklin Museum which explores Franklin’s life and character through personal possessions, animations and hands-on interactive displays. It is not far away from the brand new multi-million dollar Museum of the American Revolution, which mixes original artefacts with modern hi-tech displays that put you on the front line of battle.
Another short walk brings you to INHP, which includes Independence Hall (where the declaration and the US constitution were signed) and the Liberty Bell Center. As to the latter, it is possible that there could be a discouragingly long queue, as Americans do give the bell an iconic status.
To complete the revolutionary-era experience, you could visit the City Tavern, the founding fathers’ own haunt.
If you fancy something a little later, then there is the Reading Terminal Market, purpose built in the late 19th century, where you will be able to order the famous Philly Cheesesteak – if you must! – and a vast choice of other foods, though personally I think their roast beef on rye is pretty hard to beat.
This is a good stop-off between the 18th-century city and the long Parisian-style boulevard named Benjamin Franklin Parkway, which has the Franklin Institute Science Museum near one end and the Philadelphia Museum of Art at the other. The latter is the greatest of the city’s many art collections. It is like London’s National Gallery and V& A rolled into one, with an enviable collection of European and American paintings and many rooms (often created mise en scène) of near and far-eastern art and artefacts. Two collections that stunned me were the 15th-century arms and armour and the 18th-century English and Scottish portraits.
Look out too for people still trying to imitate Sylvester Stallone’s ‘Rocky’ by running up the museum’s front steps (where the iconic scene from the film was shot).
One final thing: Philadelphia is roughly half-way between New York and Washington. It is easily combined with the other two and is, in itself, a great gateway to America.
George Goodwin is the author of Benjamin Franklin in London: The British Life of America’s Founding Father. You can hear him at BBC History Magazine’s History Weekend in York this November. Find out more on page 82.
Read more of George’s experiences at historyextra.com/philadelphia
Next month: Sasha Mullally explores Vietnam
This is very much Benjamin Franklin’s city. It was here he achieved his fame and fortune