What do Benjamin Franklin, Rocky, Auguste Rodin, Wilt Chamberlain, Al Capone and Kevin Bacon all have in common? Philadelphia!
The second largest city on the East Coast and the fifth largest in the nation, Philadelphia is a fascinating and historic city. Situated across the Delaware River from New Jersey just 55 miles from Atlantic City, 100 miles from New York City and 133 miles from Washington, D.C., this location makes Philadelphia a popular and easily accessible travel destination via car, bus, train and plane.
The city’s early denizens were Native American tribes and later Dutch and Swedish colonists who came here to establish frontier trades and settlements. The city layout came at the hands of William Penn, a prominent Quaker from England who envisioned a profitable European colony in the Americas and instituted numerous concepts that still hold today. His groundbreaking plans are no doubt part of why today Philadelphia is considered to be the most European city in America.
Now encompassing a population of just over 1.5 million people, the county demographics reflect approximately 45 percent whites, 44 percent African-Americans, 13 percent Hispanics and just under 7 percent Asians. Because of this great diversity, the city and surrounding areas offer a great deal as a major metropolitan melting pot through historic attractions, culinary offerings, performance and visual arts, music, textiles, retail and commercial industries and so forth.
Resource List
Betsy Ross House: 215-629-4026, http://historicphiladelphia.org/betsy-ross-house
Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter & Paul: 215-561-1313, www.cathedralphila.org
Chinatown: www.philadelphia-chinatown.info
Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corp.: 215-599-0776, www.visitphilly.com
Independence Hall, 215-965-2305, www.nps.gov/inde/planyourvisit/independencehall.htm
Independence Visitors Center: 800-537-7676, http://www.phlvisitorcenter.com
Independence National Historical Park: http://www.nps.gov/inde/index.htm
Liberty Bell Center: www.nps.gov/inde/liberty-bell-center.htm
Logan Circle: http://withart.visitphilly.com/museums-attractions/logan-circle
Memorial Hall/Please Touch Museum: 215-581-3181, www.pleasetouchmuseum.org
National Constitution Center: 215-409-6600, http://constitutioncenter.org
Penn’s Landing: 215-629-3200, www.delawareriverwaterfront.com
Philadelphia Trolley Works and 76 Bus Company: 215-389-8687, www.phillytour.com
Exploring the city of brotherly love
The nickname “The City of Brotherly Love” also came from Penn, who combined the Greek words for love, “phileo,” and brother, “adelphos,” as sort of an homage to what he felt as an early denizen and what he hoped to impart to all who came here.
A great place to start your exploration of all of this love is at the Independence Visitors Center, which is chock full of resources about literally every site and attraction the city has to offer. The center is one of numerous entities comprising the 55-acre, 20-city block Independence National Historical Park, “America’s Most Historic Square Mile.” And it is here that you will learn why many of the places, people and events that took place here made Philadelphia a city of “firsts.”
The latter includes the first brick house in the U.S. (1682); the first public school in the America colonies (1698), Philadelphia Hospital, the oldest hospital in America (1732); the first scientific institution in America, founded by Benjamin Franklin (1749); the founding of the American Medical Society (1773); the first conferment of a medical degree to women at the Female Medical College of Philadelphia, now Women’s Medical College (1852); the first zoological garden in America (1847); and the first World’s Fair in the U.S., held in conjunction with the centennial anniversary of the Declaration of Independence (1876), just to name a few.
Among the wealth of sites and attractions related to the history of this country here are the Benjamin Franklin National Memorial, Old City Hall, the Declaration House and the Free Quaker Meeting House.
One of the most popular attractions is the Liberty Bell Center. Much more than just the place where the famous 2,080-pound bell hangs and visitors stand to take photos, the center encompasses several exhibits about the origins of the bell, as well as how it has and still serves as an icon of international freedom today for many social issues, including, way back, the abolitionist movement and the continuing struggle for civil rights.
The National Constitution Center, the first museum dedicated to the U.S. Constitution, features a wide array of exhibits, each offering a different perspective of how the Constitution came into being and still applies to Americans in the present day. My favorite room in the building is Signers’ Hall, featuring 42 striking, life-size, bronze statues of the Founding Fathers posed as they might have been when discussing and debating the many issues our nation faced in its early establishment.
Through Oct. 19, the Constitution Center is presenting “Slavery at Jefferson’s Monticello,” which delves into the behind-the-scenes tale of the numerous slave families who lived here, President Thomas Jefferson’s life and work (including his struggle with the predicament of slavery) and numerous Jefferson family artifacts.
Originally built to be the Pennsylvania State House in the mid-1700s, Independence Hall, recognized as “the birthplace of the United States,” is significant in that it was here that the U.S. Articles of Confederation was adopted in 1781, the U.S. Constitution and the Declaration of Independence were signed, and where, in 1775, George Washington was appointed commander-in-chief of the Continental Army, among other historic events.
Getting Around
Once in Philly, it is very easy to get around on foot or via public transportation. With that, the Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corporation has done a wonderful job of creating a variety of Philly guides detailing places to visit and things to do in 20-minute, one-hour and three-hour timeframes, giving people insights and options into the time to spend at each attraction.
One of the best ways to get a great feel for Philly is by embarking upon one of their many self-guided, bus, trolley and Segway tours.
We chose the Philadelphia Trolley Works and 76 Bus Company, offering double-decker buses, Victorian trolleys, deluxe motor coaches and horse drawn carriages. We took a 90-minute, open air bus tour that took us all over the downtown and surrounding area for an overall feel and logistics. Under the tutelage of their excellent and very knowledgeable and personable tour guides, visitors can hop off and on all day at or near a variety of sites and neighborhoods, including the Betsy Ross House, Philadelphia Zoo, Penn’s Landing and the Waterfront, the Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter & Paul, Chinatown, Memorial Hall and the Please Touch Museum and Logan Circle, among others.
We have barely scratched the surface of the birthplace of America. African-American sites and attractions, museums, accommodations, culinary diversions and more are coming up!
Lysa Allman-Baldwin writes for numerous online and print publications, including as the cultural travel writer for www.Examiner.com and as a senior travel writer for SoulOfAmerica.com, an Afrocentric travel website. Lysa can be reached at lallmanbaldwin@kc.rr.com.