132 Best Sights in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

This was the house of worship for the Free "Fighting" Quakers, a group that broke away from the Society of Friends to support the cause against the British during the Revolutionary War. The building was designed in 1783 by Samuel Wetherill, one of the original leaders of the group, after they were disowned by their pacifist flock. Among the 100 members were Betsy Ross and Timothy Matlack, colonel in Washington's Army and assistant secretary of the Continental Congress. After the Free Quaker group dissolved, the building was used as a school, library, and warehouse. The meetinghouse, built in the Quaker plain style with a brick front and gable roof, has been carefully restored.

No tickets are required, but call the Independence National Historical Park to check on availability.

Formerly called the Deshler-Morris House, the Germantown home was where President Washington lived and held cabinet meetings during the yellow fever epidemic of 1793–94, making it the seat of government of the new republic for a short time, and also the oldest "official" residence of an American president. A major renovation completed in 2009 has put new life into the house. Interpretive exhibits are displayed in the house next door, and the house itself has been restored to the time Washington was there. The emphasis has also shifted to telling the stories of the entire household, from the slaves who worked there to the president and his wife. In October 1777, during the Battle of Germantown, the house was the headquarters for British general Sir William Howe. As one of the many Germantown houses built flush with the road, it has enchanting side and back gardens. The house, which has moved beyond its "Washington slept here" renown into something much more interesting, is part of the Independence National Historical Park.

One of the few relics of the Swedes who settled Pennsylvania before William Penn, Gloria Dei, also known as Old Swedes' Church, was organized in 1642. Built in 1698, the church has numerous intriguing religious artifacts, such as a 1608 Bible once owned by Sweden's Queen Christina. The carvings on the lectern and balcony were salvaged from the congregation's first church, which was destroyed by fire. Models of two of the ships that transported the first Swedish settlers hang from the ceiling—right in the center of the church. Grouped around the church are the parish hall, the caretaker's house, the rectory, and the guild house. The church sits in the center of its graveyard; it forms a picture that is pleasing in its simplicity and tranquillity.

The blood of General James Agnew, who died after being struck by musket balls during the Battle of Germantown, stains the floor in the parlor of this Georgian house. Built by Philadelphia merchant and wine importer John Wister in 1744, Grumblethorpe is one of Germantown's leading examples of early-18th-century Pennsylvania-German architecture. The Wister family lived here for 160 years, and during the Revolution a teenage Sally Wister kept a diary that has become an important historical source for what that time was like. On display are period furnishings and family mementos, but probably the best part of the house is the large garden. Wisteria, the flowering vine, is named after Charles Wister (John's grandson), who was an avid botanist and amateur scientist, and there is plenty of it in the garden. There are also an enormous hundred-year-old rosebush, a peony alley, a two-story arbor with climbing clematis and a grapevine working its way across its base, and a number of tulips.

North America's first paper mill was built here in 1690 by Mennonite minister William Rittenhouse. Over the next 150 years, 10 generations of his family lived on the site and operated the mill. His most famous offspring, born in 1732, was David Rittenhouse, astronomer, statesman, and first president of the U.S. Mint. You can stroll any time through these 30 picturesque acres along the Wissahickon; on summer weekends, the one-hour guided tour of the seven outbuildings gives insight into this self-sufficient industrial village, which is now a National Historic District. Special events include papermaking workshops, cooking demonstrations, and an annual 5K race.

Following a merger with the Balch Institute for Ethnic Studies in 2002 and the Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania in 2006, this superlative special-collections library now contains more than 500,000 books, 300,000 graphic works, and 21 million manuscript items; the emphasis is on Colonial, early national, and Pennsylvania history, as well as immigration history and ethnicity. Founded in 1824, the society also owns one of the largest family history libraries in the nation. This is the place to go to trace your family roots. Notable items from the collection include the Penn family archives, President James Buchanan's papers, a printer's proof of the Declaration of Independence, and the first draft of the Constitution.

On the Horticulture Center's 27 wooded acres are a butterfly garden, a greenhouse where plants and flowers used on city property are grown, and a pavilion in the trees for bird-watching from the woodland canopy. Don't miss the whimsical Seaweed Girl fountain in the display house. The center stands on the site of the 1876 Centennial Exposition's Horticultural Hall.

Philadelphia's maritime museum houses many nautical artifacts, figureheads, and ship models, as well as interactive exhibits that convey just what the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers have meant to the city's fortunes over the years. You can climb in the gray, cold, wooden bunks used in steerage; unload cargo from giant container ships with a miniature crane; or even try your hand at designing your own boat. Enter the museum by passing under the three-story replica of the Benjamin Franklin Bridge, and be sure to check out the Ship Model Shack, where members of the Philadelphia Ship Model Society Society put together scale-model ships in front of visitors' eyes. Admission to the museum includes the USS Becunia and USS Olympia.

On July 8, 1776, the Declaration of Independence was first read in public here. Although the square is not as imposing today, it still has great dignity. You can imagine the impact the reading had on the colonists.

This is the city's official visitor center as well as the gateway to Independence National Historical Park. Here, you'll find a fully staffed concierge-and-trip-planning desk, which provides information on the Park, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Philadelphia Zoo, and other attractions, as well as a reservation and ticketing service. Before you set off on a walking tour, acquaint yourself with Colonial American history by watching the Founding Fathers come to life in the 30-minute movie Independence, one of the films shown in the center's two theaters. There's also a coffee bar with sandwiches, salads, and desserts, and an excellent bookstore, where you can stock up on books, videos, brochures, prints, wall hangings, and souvenirs of historic figures and events. An atrium connects the visitor center to a renovated underground parking area. The outdoor café, Independence Mall Cafe, on the east side of the visitor center, is open May through October.

To see two of the city's famous historic homes—the Bishop White and Todd houses—you'll need to stop at the information desk to get a free, timed ticket, and reserve a spot on one of the tours, each of which takes about an hour.

In Northeastern Philly, a neighborhood not known for its tourist attractions, is a bug lover's heaven. Revel in this ugly-yet-beautiful collection of thousands of creepy crawlers—tarantulas, giant centipedes, assassin bugs, and metallic beetles that look like pieces of gold jewelry. Started by an exterminator, the museum is home to more than 50 live species and mounted insects from around the world. The 5,000-square-foot space has one of the largest butterfly and moth collections in North America, a working beehive, a man-made (and kid-sized) spider web, and a kitchen teeming with live cockroaches. It's definitely a place for screaming kids, but it's hard not to enjoy at any age. It's easier to drive here than to take public transportation. By public transit, take the Market-Frankford subway to the end (Frankford Transportation Center); transfer to SEPTA bus 66 to Welsh Road.

This museum, part of the University of Pennsylvania, has established a reputation for identifying promising artists and exhibiting them at a critical point in their careers. Among the artists who have had shows at ICA and later gone on to international prominence are Andy Warhol, Robert Mapplethorpe, and Laurie Anderson.

After bringing visitors through the hidden back entrance of this 1768 home, guides retrace the experience of slaves who found a haven here when the Johnson House was a key station on the Underground Railroad. They weave the story of the Johnson family, Quakers who worked to abolish slavery, with that of Harriet Tubman, who was sheltered here with runaway slaves and later guided them to freedom. Visitors see hiding places, including the third-floor attic hatch that runaways would use to hide on the roof when the sheriff came by, learn Underground Railroad code words, and view slavery artifacts, such as ankle shackles and collars. The home has contained the gamut of American history; in 1777 the house was in the line of fire during the Battle of Germantown; the shutters still show the impact of the musket rounds. In the early 1900s it was saved from demolition when it became a women's club. The house itself does not amaze, but hearing the stories of the home when you are standing within it is interesting. It's best to call ahead for tours.

John Notman, architect of the Athenaeum and many other noted local buildings, designed Laurel Hill in 1836; it is an important example of an early rural burial ground and the first cemetery in America designed by an architect. Its hills overlooking the Schuylkill River, its rare trees, and its monuments and mausoleums sculpted by Alexander Milne Calder, Alexander Stirling Calder, William Strickland, and Thomas U. Walter made it a popular picnic spot in the 19th century; today it's a great place to stroll or bike, take a guided tour (fee), or download an app for a self-guided tour. Among the notables buried in this 78-acre necropolis are General George Meade and 39 other Civil War–era generals. Burials still take place here.

Built around 1767, this Georgian house on a laurel-covered hill overlooking the Schuylkill River once belonged to Dr. Philip Syng Physick (also owner of Society Hill's Physick House). The house furnishings are from a variety of periods. On some Sunday evenings in summer, Women for Greater Philadelphia sponsors candlelight chamber music concerts here; there are other events, too. Call before visiting.

An impressive example of a Federal-style country house, Lemon Hill was built in 1800 on a 350-acre farm. Its most distinctive features are oval parlors with concave doors and the entrance hall's checkerboard floor of Valley Forge marble.

One Liberty Place is the 945-foot office building designed by Helmut Jahn that propelled Philadelphia into the "ultrahigh" skyscraper era. Built in 1987, it became the city's tallest structure; however, that distinction now belongs to the 975-foot Comcast Center. Vaguely reminiscent of a modern version of New York's Chrysler Building, One Liberty Place is visible from almost everywhere in the city. On the 57th floor is the One Liberty Observation Deck, which offers panoramic views of the Philadelphia skyline. Downstairs are dozens of stores and a food court. In 1990 the adjacent tower, Two Liberty Place, opened. Zeidler Roberts designed this second building with Murphy & Jahn, which now holds the Westin Philadelphia, luxury condominiums, and a restaurant on the 37th floor.

Founded in 1731, this is one of the oldest cultural institutions in the United States and the only major Colonial American library that has survived virtually intact, despite having moved from building to building. From 1774 to 1800 it functioned as the de facto Library of Congress, and until the late 19th century it was the city library. Ten signers of the Declaration of Independence were members, among them Benjamin Franklin, Robert Morris, Benjamin Rush, and Thomas McKean. The 500,000-volume collection includes 200,000 rare books. Among the first editions—many acquired when they were first published—are Herman Melville's Moby-Dick and Walt Whitman's Leaves of Grass. The library is particularly rich in Americana up to 1880, black history to 1915, the history of science, and women's history. Changing exhibits showcase the library's holdings.

This 20th-century building is a reconstruction of Franklin's Library Company of Philadelphia, the first public library in the colonies. The American Philosophical Society, one of the country's leading institutions for the study of science, has its library here. The vaults contain such treasures as a copy of the Declaration of Independence handwritten by Thomas Jefferson, William Penn's 1701 Charter of Privileges, and journals from the Lewis and Clark expedition of 1803–06. The library's collection also includes first editions of Newton's Principia Mathematica, Franklin's Experiments and Observations, and Darwin's On the Origin of Species. The APS also offers a small, rotating exhibit of its rare books and manuscripts in the lobby of its first floor.

This 15-minute, 3-D film called Liberty 360 is narrated by "Benjamin Franklin," telling the story of the founding of the nation and the meaning of its symbols in an indoor theater-in-the-round. Although the narrative offers little new information for history buffs, kids of all ages will enjoy wearing the 3-D glasses and getting a unique perspective on the nation's founding history.

One of William Penn's five squares, Logan Circle was originally a burying ground and the site of a public execution by hanging in 1823. It found a fate better than death, though. In 1825 the square was named for James Logan, Penn's secretary; it later became a circle and is now one of the city's gems. The focal point of Logan Circle is the Swann Fountain of 1920, designed by Alexander Stirling Calder, son of Alexander Milne Calder, who created the William Penn statue atop City Hall. You can find many works by a third generation of the family, noted modern sculptor Alexander Calder, the mobile- and stabile-maker, in the nearby Philadelphia Museum of Art. The main figures in the fountain symbolize Philadelphia's three leading waterways: the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers and Wissahickon Creek. Around Logan Circle are some examples of Philadelphia's magnificent collection of outdoor art, including General Galusha Pennypacker, the Shakespeare Memorial (Hamlet and the Fool, by Alexander Stirling Calder), and Jesus Breaking Bread.

One of the restored 18th-century houses in this lovely court was once home to Benjamin Loxley, a carpenter who worked on Independence Hall. The court's claim to fame, according to its residents, is as the spot where Benjamin Franklin flew his kite in his experiment with lightning; the key tied to it was the key to Loxley's front door.

The temple is one of the city's architectural jewels, but it remains a hidden treasure even to many Philadelphians. Historically, Freemasons were skilled stoneworkers of the Middle Ages who relied on secret signs and passwords. Their worldwide fraternal order—the Free and Accepted Masons—included men in the building trades, plus many honorary members; the secret society prospered in Philadelphia during Colonial times. Brother James Windrim designed this elaborate temple as a home for the Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of Pennsylvania. The ceremonial gavel used here at the laying of the cornerstone in 1868, while 10,000 brothers looked on, was the same one that Brother George Washington used to set the cornerstone of the U.S. Capitol. The temple's ornate interior consists of seven lavishly decorated lodge halls built to exemplify specific styles of architecture: Corinthian, Ionic, Italian Renaissance, Norman, Gothic, Oriental, and Egyptian. The Egyptian hall, with its accurate hieroglyphics, is the most famous. The temple also houses an interesting museum of Masonic items, including Benjamin Franklin's printing of the first book on Freemasonry published in America and George Washington's Masonic Apron.

Nathan Levy, a Colonial merchant whose ship, the Myrtilla, brought the Liberty Bell to America, helped found this Jewish congregation in 1740, making it the oldest in Philadelphia and the second oldest in the United States. The original synagogue was at 3rd and Cherry Streets; the congregation's current space, where it has been since 1976, is in the Sephardic style (following Spanish and Portuguese Jewish ritual). The synagogue's Spruce Street Cemetery (about eight blocks away, beyond Old City) dates from 1740 and is the oldest surviving Jewish site in Philadelphia. It was the burial ground for the Spanish-Portuguese Jewish community. Guided tours of the synagogue and the cemetery are available by appointment.

This is one of the best arboretums in the country, and makes for a great stroll. Begun in 1887 and bequeathed to the University of Pennsylvania in 1932, this 92-acre arboretum was based on Victorian-era garden and landscape design, with its romantic winding paths, hidden grotto, a fernery, a koi pond, and natural woodland. The highlights are the spectacular rose garden and the swans. Large modern sculptures, some of which are spectacular, are sprinkled throughout the property. The arboretum has 3,500 trees and shrubs from around the world, including one of the finest collections of Asian plants outside Asia. Twice annually, the popular Garden Railway exhibit features an elaborate model railroad surrounded by miniature replicas of historic Philadelphia landmarks and other notable buildings crafted from natural materials. You may want to drive, as it's a good hike from the top of Chestnut Hill and a very hilly but short bike ride.

Built in 1761 by John Macpherson, a Scottish sea captain, Mount Pleasant is one of the finest examples of Georgian architecture in the country. The level of craftsmanship in the rooms, including architectural carvings, is high, and the historically accurate furnishings are culled from the Philadelphia Museum of Art's noted collection of Philadelphia Chippendale furniture.