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The Curtis Publishing Company
The Curtis Publishing Company was founded in 1891 by publisher Cyrus H. K. Curtis, who published the People's Ledger, a news magazine he had begun in Boston in 1872 and moved to Philadelphia in 1876. The company’s most famous publication was the Saturday Evening Post which had its roots in Ben Franklin's Pennsylvania Gazette and went as far back as 1728. The Post became one of the nation's most popular periodicals in the early 20th Century with a circulation of one million in 1906 peaking at more than six million in 1960, just before the rise of television initiated the decline of popular periodicals. The Post was famous for the quality of its illustrations and commissioned many of Norman Rockwell’s famous illustrations, including the Four Freedoms series which became emblematic of FDR-era America.
Lippincott Building
Joshua Ballinger Lippincott (1813- 86) founded the publishing company J. B. Lippincott & Co in 1836. The business began publishing Bibles and prayer books before expanding into history, biography, fiction, poetry, and gift books. The company later added almanacs, medicine and law, school textbooks, and dictionaries. Lippincott published the first textbook of nursing in the US in 1878 and the first issue of the American Journal of Nursing in 1900. The Lippincott building was also built that year. The best known text published by Lippincott today is probably the book To Kill a Mockingbird. In 1978 the company was sold and after a series of ownership changes in the 1990s is now part of Wolters Kluwer Heath.
Locks Gallery
The building that currently houses the Locks Gallery at 600 South Washington Square is the former home of Lea & Febiger, and dates to 1925, when Lea & Febiger commissioned the building’s design and construction to hold its editorial offices. In 1990, Lea & Febiger was sold to Waverly, Inc., and is today part of Wolters Kluwer Health.
W.B. Saunders Company
The U.S. medical publishing industry got its start in Philadelphia in the early nineteenth century, and the Philadelphia region has maintained its preeminence in the industry ever since. The largest of all medical publishers, W.B. Saunders Co., started in 1888, publishing “Quiz Compend” books for medical students. Saunders remained under family ownership until 1968, when it was sold to the broadcaster CBS, then keen to diversify. After CBS, Saunders had other owners and became part of the Health Sciences Division of Elsevier. The building currently houses condominiums.
Walnut Street Theater
Founded in 1809, the Walnut St Theater is said to be the oldest continuously operating theater in the English-speaking world and the oldest in the United States and the first copyright law protecting American plays has its roots at the Walnut. The Walnut St theater school was established and currently enrolls over 1200 students annually and it is the largest subscribed regional theater company in the worked with over 50,000 subscribers annually.
Jeweler's Row
Situated in the heart of the original city plan for Philadelphia, on Sansom Street between Seventh and Eighth Streets and on Eighth Street between Chestnut and Walnut Streets, Jewelers Row reflected the architectural and developmental history of the city. Jewelers Row in Center City Philadelphia emerged in the 1880s and over time became home to more than two hundred jewelry retailers, wholesalers, and craftsmen. By the twenty-first century, Jewelers Row had become regarded as the oldest diamond district in the United States, second in size only to the jewelry district in New York City.Unlike other local industries, such as styled-textile manufacturing, a combination of factors made Jewelers Row well suited to survive through periods of economic distress and market volatility. In 2016, Jewelers Row became the focus of public attention when a proposed redevelopment of part of the 700 block of Sansom Street by Toll Brothers sought to demolish and replace several of the buildings with a high-rise condominium. Opponents fought to protect the architectural heritage of the block by nominating three of the five buildings proposed for demolition (704 and 706-708 Sansom Street) to be designated as historic structures by the Philadelphia Register of Historic Places, joining several other addresses on the Row that already possessed landmark status. The battle reflected the complex identity of Jewelers Row itself: a mix of old-world craftsmanship, family-owned businesses, and architectural history, combined with modern concerns of urban decentralization, changing demographics, and privatized development in a city looking to the future while at the same time seeking to preserve the legacy of its past.
Declaration House
Bricklayer Jacob Graff built this modest three floor house in the 1770s, with the intention to have its second floor let for extra income. The second Continental Congress soon brought to the house a slim, ginner haired lodger named Thomas Jefferson, who was looking for a quiet room away from the city noise. His search must have been successful, given the fact that he drafted the declaration of independence in just a few weeks of staying in late spring 1776.
Independence Hall
Independence hall is the building where both the United States Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution were debated and adopted. It is now the centerpiece of the Independence National Historical Park. The building was completed in 1753 as the Pennsylvania State House, and served as the capitol for the Province and Commonwealth of Pennsylvania until the state capital moved to Lancaster in 1799. It became the principal meeting place of the Second Continental Congress from 1775 to 1783 and was the site of the Constitutional Convention in the summer of 1787.A convention held in Independence Hall in 1915, presided over by former US president William Howard Taft, marked the formal announcement of the formation of the League to Enforce Peace, which led to the League of Nations and eventually the United Nations.The lowest chamber of the original wooden steeple was the first home of the Liberty Bell. When that steeple was removed in the 1780s the bell was lowered into the highest chamber of the brick tower, where it remained until the 1850s. The much larger Centennial Bell, created for the United States Centennial Exposition in 1876, hangs in the cupola of the 1828 steeple.
Congress Hall
Philadelphia served as the capital of the United States both during and immediately after the American Revolutionary War. Congress Hall served as the seat of the United States Congress from December 6, 1790 to May 14, 1800.[2][3] During Congress Hall's duration as the capitol of the United States, the country admitted three new states, Vermont, Kentucky, and Tennessee; ratified the Bill of Rights of the United States Constitution; and oversaw the Presidential inaugurations of both George Washington (his second) and John Adams.
American Philosophical Society
The first drudgery of settling new colonies is now pretty well over," wrote Benjamin Franklin in 1743, "and there are many in every province in circumstances that set them at ease, and afford leisure to cultivate the finer arts, and improve the common stock of knowledge." The scholarly society he advocated became a reality that year. The American Philosophical Society founded in 1743, published the first scientific journal in the Americas, The Transactions of the American Philosophical Society in 1771.Greatly contributing to the Society's international fame was its participation in astronomical observations of the 1760s. With one of his telescopes, erected on a platform behind the State House (now Independence Hall), David Rittenhouse plotted the transit of Venus, thus attracting the recognition of the scholarly world. Until about 1840 the APS, though a private organization, fulfilled many functions of a national academy of science, national library and museum, and even patent office. Accordingly, chiefs of staff, cabinet officers, and presidents often consulted the Society. Jefferson, and other Members of the Society, instructed Lewis and Clark concerning the scientific, linguistic, and anthropological aspects of their impending exploration of the Louisiana Territory. The Publications program, which had maintained a journal and a monograph series, added a book series, the Memoirs, and a Yearbook.
Liberty Bell Center
The Liberty Bell is an iconic symbol of American independence. The bell was commissioned in 1752 by the Pennsylvania Provincial Assembly from the London firm of Lester and Pack, and was cast with the lettering "Proclaim LIBERTY Throughout all the Land unto all the Inhabitants Thereof", a Biblical reference from the Book of Leviticus. The bell first cracked when rung after its arrival in Philadelphia and was twice recast by local workmen John Pass and John Stow, whose last names appear on the bell. In its early years the bell was used to summon lawmakers to legislative sessions and to alert citizens about public meetings and proclamations. After American independence was secured, the bell fell into relative obscurity until, in the 1830s, when the bell was adopted as a symbol by abolitionist societies, who dubbed it the "Liberty Bell. Once placed in the steeple of Independence Hall, the bell today is now located here in the Liberty Bell Center.
Independence Visitor's Center
The Independence Visitor Center is the Official Visitor Center for the Greater Philadelphia Region, located in Independence National Historical Park.
American Bible Society
The American Bible Society was founded in 1816 by Christians who were committed to the Bible and to the end of slavery. The first President was Elias Boudinot, who had been President of the Continental Congress from 1782 to 1783. The American Bible Society provided the first Bibles in hotels and the first pocket Bibles for soldiers during the American Civil War. At one time the society was the largest printer of books in America, printing 2,000,000 Bibles in 1915. The ABS moved from its original location in New York to Philadelphia in 2015. The ABS library holds the largest collection of Bibles in the western hemisphere.
Christ Church Burial Ground
Christ Church Burial Ground was founded by the Christ Church as a supplementary burial ground in 1719. It is one of the most significant American cemeteries holding 1400 markers on two acres. Some of the United States’ most historic leaders including Benjamin Franklin and four other signers of the declaration of Independence, have found their resting place here.
National Constitution Center
The National Constitution Center was created by the Constitution Heritage Act. Approved on September 16, 1988 and signed by President Ronald Reagan, the act defined the National Constitution Center as "within or in close proximity to the Independence National Historical Park. The Center shall disseminate information about the United States Constitution on a non-partisan basis in order to increase the awareness and understanding of the Constitution among the American people." The center is at 525 Arch Street, an address chosen because May 25 was the date that the Constitutional Convention began in Philadelphia.The center is an interactive museum and a national town hall for constitutional dialogue, hosting government leaders, journalists, scholars, and celebrities for public discussions (including presidential debates). The center houses the Annenberg Center for Education and Outreach, which offers civic learning resources onsite and online. It does not house the original Constitution, which is stored at the National Archives Building in Washington, D.C.. The groundbreaking ceremony (attended by President Bill Clinton) was held on September 17, 2000, the 213th anniversary of the signing of the Constitution. The center opened on July 4, 2003, joining other historic sites and attractions in what has been called "America's most historic square mile" because of its proximity to Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell.
Elfreth's Alley
Elfreth's Alley is the nation's oldest residential street. Elfreth’s Alley was not included in original plans for Philadelphia, but as Philadelphia became a bustling city, artisans and merchants purchased or rented property close to the ports where goods and materials arrived. This led to overcrowding, and landowners recognized that tradesmen needed alternate routes to the river. Landowners Arthur Wells and John Gilbert combined their properties between Front and Second Streets to open Elfreth’sAlley, named after silversmith Jeremiah Elfreth, as a cart path in 1706.For more than 70 years, Elfreth's Alley has celebrated "Fête Day" in early June, which celebrates the Alley's diverse ethnic heritage.Residents open their private homes to the public, and are accompanied by historical reenactments and festivities. For about 10 years, Elfreth's Alley has held "Deck the Alley," an annual self-guided tour of 13 private homes festooned with Christmas and holiday decorations, and also includes caroling.
Quirk Books
Quirk publishes just 25 strikingly un-conventional books per year, and every title is a labor of love born out of our passions and obsessions. Always looking to set the next trend, Quirk delivers books and stories that are bold, unprecedented, beautifully designed, and affordable. Some of Quirk’s more popular titles include the best-selling YA series Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, the Edgar Award–winning mystery The Last Policeman, fangirl favorite Geekerella, the legendary Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, and classroom favorite William Shakespeare’s Star Wars—plus children’s books, pop culture titles, cookbooks, art books, gag gifts, and more. Quirk’s books are distributed worldwide by Penguin Random House and available wherever books are sold.
Benjamin Franklin Printing House
In 1728, when Franklin was 22 years old, he entered a partnership with Hugh Meredith, a co-worker at Keimer’s Printing Shop. With a loan from Meredith’s father, who had a high regard for Franklin, they were able to rent a house and import printing equipment from England. His printing skills were set against the loan and profit would be shared equally. Their first customer was a farmer referred by a friend. On October 2, 1729 Franklin seized the opportunity to purchase the Pennsylvania Gazette from his former boss, Samuel Keimer. Under Franklin The Gazette became the most successful newspaper in the colonies. Another successful publication that brought wealth to Franklin was Poor Richard’s Almanac. It was published continuously from 1732 to 1758. However, the most profitable business was becoming the official printer of Pennsylvania in 1730 and of New Jersey in 1740.
City Tavern
When John Adams arrived in Philadelphia in August of 1774, to attend the First Continental Congress, he was greeted by leading citizens and immediately taken to the tavern he would call “the most genteel tavern in America.” The tavern Adams referred to, City Tavern, was not yet a year old and was already caught in momentous events. A few months earlier, Paul Revere had ridden up to the Tavern with the news of the closing of the port of Boston by the British Government. Many other important events took place at the building in the first few decades of the new nation including the first 4 July celebration in 1777, marking the anniversary of America's Independence from Britain. The City Tavern was built in 1773 and was partially destroyed by fire in 1834. It was rebuilt in the 1970s and currently operated as a functioning tavern and restaurant. It is the oldest known tavern in the United States.
Resting place of Mathew Carey
Mathew Carey was an Irish-born American publisher and economist who lived and worked in Philadelphia. He entered the bookselling and printing business in Ireland in 1775, and at the age of seventeen published a pamphlet criticizing dueling. This publication was quickly followed by another work criticizing the severity of the Irish penal code, and another criticizing Parliament. As a result, the British House of Commons threatened him with prosecution and Carey fled to Paris in 1781. There he met Benjamin Franklin who took him to work with him at his printing office. Upon Carey's arrival in Philadelphia, Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette gave him $400 to establish himself, and he used this money to set up a new publishing business and a book shop, establishing: The Pennsylvania Herald (1785) Columbian Magazine (1786), and The American MuseumNone of these ventures proved very profitable, although the American Museum became the first American periodical to treat American culture as rich and original instead of a poor imitation of Great Britain's. Carey printed the first American version of the Douay–Rheims Bible, popularly known as the Carey Bible, in 48 weekly installments, which subscribers could then have bound. It was the first Roman Catholic version of the Bible printed in the United States. Carey also printed numerous editions of the King James Version. In 1794-1796, Carey published America's first atlases. His 1802 map of Washington, D.C., was the first to name the stretch of land west of the United States Capitol as the "Mall". Carey is buried here at Old St Mary’s Church.
Spruce Street Harbor Park
PARTY!!!!
