Philadelphia City Archives

Join us on a special evening tour of Philadelphia City Archives on Spring Garden Street. From Board of Health lists of abandoned privy wells, to ground rent deeds, to the original architectural plans for City Hall, the records in the City Archives hold the key to innumerable inquiries into Philadelphia’s past. Learn how archivists preserve the City’s

Laurel Hill Cemetery Rescheduled to April 20

Special Tour: Laurel Hill Cemetery Designing for the Dead: Art and Architecture at Laurel Hill The birth of the rural or garden cemetery, with its spacious lots and bucolic landscapes, created a unique marketing opportunity for 19th century designers. Noted architects like John Notman, William Strickland, Frank Furness, and John J. McArthur, competed fiercely for

Founders Hall

Stephen Girard’s 1831 will left an unprecedented $2 million construction budget to build a school to educate poor orphans. He left meticulous instructions for the original classroom building, now known as Founder’s Hall. It was to be built of masonry and marble, have four 50’x 50’ classrooms on each of three floors, front and rear vestibules,

Gershman Hall

At its dedication in 1924, the Young Men’s & Young Women’s Hebrew Association at 401-11 S. Broad Street was celebrated as the largest Jewish institutional building of its kind in the nation. More recently known as the Gershman Y, for nearly a century the building served the Jewish community of Philadelphia through lectures, concerts, screenings,

Visit West Chester!

Chester County History Center is home to over 100,000 photographs, 70,000 objects, and 750,000 documents and manuscripts that explore and preserve the rich history of Chester County, Pennsylvania. It’s also home to the award-winning permanent exhibit, Becoming Chester County, which is all about choices—the choices that colonists and indigenous peoples made. Colonists made difficult choices to immigrate

Powelton Village

The small neighborhood of Powelton Village in West Philadelphia has great stories to tell. Settled by Welsh Quakers after 1682, the village was named for the 18th-century estate of Samuel Powel, the mayor of Philadelphia during the Revolution. This tour features an eclectic variety of mid- to late 19th-century houses, mansions, and a few churches

Powelton Village

The small neighborhood of Powelton Village in West Philadelphia has great stories to tell. Settled by Welsh Quakers after 1682, the village was named for the 18th-century estate of Samuel Powel, the mayor of Philadelphia during the Revolution. This tour features an eclectic variety of mid- to late 19th-century houses, mansions, and a few churches

Mount Moriah Cemetery

Join Bill Warwick on a walk through time on nearly 200 rolling acres of secluded, and largely unknown Victorian era rustic green space situated in South West Philadelphia and Yeadon Delaware County. Chartered in 1855 and the final resting place for an estimated two hundred thousand persons, we will walk and discuss the history of the cemetery

Collaboration Old City Tour with FringeArts

The Preservation Alliance and FringeArts is excited to present a unique collaborative tour experience on Saturday, September 23, 2023 from 3:00 pm-6:30 pm. Join us on a tour of Old City led by Preservation Alliance Tour Guide, Antoinette Langeveld, starting at Elfreth’s Alley with stops featuring the Philadelphia Fringe Festival along the way.  Highlights include Rhythm Bath, an immersive and

Frankford

Discover beautiful Victorian residences, churches, and public buildings in this historic neighborhood that developed along an old Native American trail. See the commercial revitalization efforts of today’s Frankford Avenue. Learn about Frankford’s early history that predates Philadelphia and how it figured prominently in this city’s colonial past. Experience its tremendous growth during the city’s industrial

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