Philadelphia, PA 6/24/14

This morning we set out for Independence National Historical Park.  Murals seem to be everywhere in this part of town.

 

 

 

We visited the Old City Hall of Philadelphia.  The U.S. Supreme Court used the courtroom in this building from 1791 until the federal government moved to Washington DC in 1800.

 

Our next stop was Franklin Court where Benjamin Franklin’s home stood until the early 1800’s when his grandchildren tired of maintaining it and sold it to developers who tore it down and built rental properties.  It is now part of the park; a frame stands where the house used to be and some excavation of the foundation is visible.

The excavated privy or “necessary” for the Franklin household.

 

The street where Franklin’s printshop stood.

 

Type used in an 18^th-century printing press.  The capital letters were all in the upper case, small letters in the lower case on the printer’s table.

 

The passageway Franklin took to and from his home.

 

We visited Independence Hall in the afternoon.

 

 

Built as the Pennsylvania State House in 1732, its Assembly Room has been restored to look as it did in the late 1700s.  In this room the Second Continental Congress voted to break with England, and the Declaration of Independence and Constitution were debated and signed. 

 

The one original piece of furniture in the room is the “Rising Sun” chair George Washington sat in as he presided over the drafting of the Constitution.

 

On our way to lunch we passed an interesting second-hand bookstore.

 

We ate at a food court in the Bourse, the major grain exchange until the market moved to Chicago.  The trading floor is now filled with food vendors and tables and chairs where hungry tourists can eat their burgers or pizza.  Balconies for spectators up above are now lined with offices.

 

 

After lunch we visited Christ Church where several of the founding fathers attended services.

 

 

As a young man, Ben Franklin wrote his own epitaph...

but decided later on a much simpler version.  He and his family are buried at the Christ Church burial ground.

 

On the way to dinner we passed a branch of the Free Library of Philadelphia.

 

We ended our day at another pub where we tried Philly cheese steak.