Philadelphia Mint

The Young Ladies' Academy of Philadelphia was the first government recognized institution established for women's higher education in the United States. Located on Cherry Street, between Third and Fourth Streets, and founded by John Poor on June 4, 1787, it was chartered on January 7, 1792. It provided young women with a diverse curriculum, notably teaching students about various components of English, science, arithmetic, history, and geography.

Girard Fountain Park is a 0.15-acre (610 m2) pocket park in the Old City neighborhood of Philadelphia, at 325 Arch Street. It is open to the public during daylight hours and is maintained by local volunteers now incorporated as d.b.a. Old City Green.The park was created in the mid-1960s after the demolition of four 3- and 4-story commercial buildings that had stood on the northeast corner of 4th and Arch Streets. A firehouse was built on the corner lots, while the lot formerly occupied by 325 Arch was cleared.The park was improved following the 1976 grant of money from a city-held fund established by banker Stephen Girard (1750–1831) to improve areas near the Delaware River.In 1971, a sculpture of Benjamin Franklin by local sculptor Reginald E. Beauchamp was installed atop the park's front wall. It was made of acrylic and covered with almost 80,000 pennies collected from local schoolchildren, and it incorporated a device that delivered a recorded two-minute speech on fire prevention at the push of a button. Penny Franklin was unveiled on June 10, 1971, by U.S. Mint Director Mary Brooks. Over the next two decades, the sculpture, also known as Penny Benny, became "one of the city's best-known landmarks." But it eventually deteriorated and became a potential hazard. For a while, the sculpture was kept from tumbling onto the sidewalk by ropes rigged by the firefighters from the firehouse next door. In 1996, it was removed to city storage.In 2003, the city's public arts agency commissioned sculptor James Peniston to replace the older work. Peniston sculpted a bust of Franklin in bronze and covered it with casts of 1,000 keys collected from local schoolchildren. Called Keys To Community, the one-ton sculpture also contains several brass nameplates representing Philadelphia firefighters fallen in the line of duty over four centuries. The sculpture was partially funded by the Fire Department and by more than 1.5 million pennies donated by schoolchildren in 500 area schools. It was unveiled and dedicated on October 5, 2007.The park itself had fallen into disrepair by the mid-1990s, and its gate was generally kept locked by the Fire Department. But a restoration effort, begun in summer of 2006 led by Old City residents Janet Kalter and Joe Schiavo, brought the park back into public use. In the wake of the sculpture's dedication, Fire Department officials consented to restoration work on the fountain. The work began in June 2008 and the fountain was restored to operation in August. The Fire Department formally returned the fountain to service in a Nov. 1 ceremony. Kalter and Schiavo, now incorporated as d.b.a. Old City Green, have continued to propose and execute major improvement projects, minor upgrades, and maintain the park on a daily basis. In 2016, with financial assistance provided by Old City District, Old City Green replaced all the aging park furniture and seating area pavers, upgraded the fountain filtration and chlorination systems, and altered the park entrance walls and gate to present a more welcoming appearance. In 2019, Old City Green proposed, funded, and executed a redesign of the north section of the park, expanding the garden perimeter, installing a central raised-planter feature, three new bench locations, and replaced the (unsustainable) lawn with a deep-bed crushed brick surface. In 2019, a mural, depicting the history of organized firefighting in Philadelphia and founding of the Philadelphia Fire Department and subsequent supporting organizations, was installed on the east wall of the park. The mural, designed by Eric Okdeh, was a partnership project of Mural Arts Philadelphia, the Philadelphia Fire Department, the PFD Family Association, and WAWA.

The Arch Street Friends Meeting House, at 320 Arch Street at the corner of 4th Street in the Old City neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is a Meeting House of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers). Built to reflect Friends’ testimonies of simplicity and equality, this building is little changed after more than two centuries of continuous use. Pennsylvania founder and Quaker William Penn deeded land to the Society of Friends in 1701 to be used as a burial ground. The east wing and center of the meetinghouse was built between 1803 and 1805 according to a design by the Quaker carpenter Owen Biddle Jr. Biddle is best known as the author of a builder's handbook, The Young Carpenter's Assistant, published in 1805. The building was enlarged in 1810–11, with the addition of the west wing. Architects Walter Ferris Price and Morris & Erskine also contributed to the design and construction of the building. The firm Cope & Lippincott renovated the interior of the east wing and designed the two-story addition behind the center building in 1968–69.Today, the Meeting House continues to be a center for worship and the activities of the Monthly Meeting of Friends of Philadelphia and Philadelphia Yearly Meeting. Notable members of the Religious Society of Friends who worshiped at this meetinghouse include abolitionists and woman rights advocates Sarah and Angelina Grimke. Edward Hicks, the noted painter and cousin of Elias Hicks, also attended meeting here.The meetinghouse was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1971 and declared a National Historic Landmark in 2011. The latter designation was as a consequence of the building being the only surviving documented work by Owen Biddle.

James Peniston (born 1973) is an American sculptor whose monumental works in bronze include Gregor Mendel (1998), Keys To Community (2007), and American Pharoah (2017). Peniston worked on the 2004 National World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C., for which he helped design the stainless-steel armature that holds up the bronze eagles and wreaths under the Atlantic and Pacific arches.Peniston is also a cofounder and arts director of Studio 34: Yoga Healing Arts, a yoga and creative arts center in West Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

The National Constitution Center is a non-profit institution devoted to the Constitution of the United States. On Independence Mall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 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 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 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.

St. George's United Methodist Church, located at the corner of 4th and New Streets, in the Old City neighborhood of Philadelphia, is the oldest Methodist church in continuous use in the United States, beginning in 1769. The congregation was founded in 1767, meeting initially in a sail loft on Dock Street, and in 1769 it purchased the shell of a building which had been erected in 1763 by a German Reformed congregation. At this time, Methodists had not yet broken away from the Anglican Church and the Methodist Episcopal Church was not founded until 1784.Richard Allen and Absalom Jones became the first African Americans licensed by the Methodist Church. They were licensed by St. George's Church in 1784. Three years later, protesting racial segregation in the worship services, Allen led most of the black members out of St. George's. Allen's camp founded the Mother Bethel A.M.E. Church and the African Methodist Episcopal denomination, while Jones became an Episcopal priest, founding the African Episcopal Church of St. Thomas.In the 1920s a court case saved the church from being demolished to make way for the Benjamin Franklin Bridge. The case resulted in the bridge being relocated.St. George's has experienced many changes during its 249-year history. From 100 members in 1769, the church grew to a peak membership of 3,200 congregants in 1835. The Civil War and industrialization changed the neighborhood; the congregation was reduced to 25 by 1900. Today the church is an active and vibrant Methodist congregation, tracing its roots back to its founding in 1769. The current pastor of St. George's is Reverend Mark Ignatius Salvacion, J.D. St. George's is one of the more than 500 churches in the Eastern PA Conference of the United Methodist Church (http://www.epaumc.org/). St. George's is committed to a theology of love and inclusion, to personal transformation by faith, and to putting God's love to work in the community – the same core values as the first Methodists who met there. St. George's is also continuing with the ongoing work of reconciliation with African-American brothers and sisters for the racial injustices of the past.

Christ Church Burial Ground in Philadelphia is an important early-American cemetery. It is the final resting place of Benjamin Franklin and his wife, Deborah. Four other signers of the Declaration of Independence are buried here, Benjamin Rush, Francis Hopkinson, Joseph Hewes and George Ross. Two more signers (James Wilson and Robert Morris) are buried at Christ Church just a few blocks away. The cemetery belongs to Christ Church, the Episcopal church founded in 1695 and place of worship for many of the famous Revolutionary War participants, including George Washington. The burial ground is located at 5th and Arch Streets, across from the Visitors Center and National Constitution Center. The Burial Ground was started in 1719, and it is still an active cemetery. The Burial Ground is open to the public for a small fee, weather permitting; about 100,000 tourists visit each year. When the Burial Ground is closed, one can still view Benjamin Franklin's gravesite from the sidewalk at the corner of 5th and Arch through a set of iron rails. The bronze rails in the brick wall were added for public viewing in 1858 by parties working at the behest of the Franklin Institute, which assumed the responsibility of defending Franklin's historic ties to Philadelphia after prominent Bostonians criticized the city's maintenance of the grave and erected a Franklin statue there. Leaving pennies on Franklin's grave is an old Philadelphia tradition.

St. Augustine Catholic Church, also called Olde St. Augustine's, is a historic Catholic church in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Consecrated in 1848, the Palladian-style church was designed by Napoleon LeBrun. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The church was built to replace the Old St. Augustine Church which was completed in 1801. The first Order of Hermits of St. Augustine church founded in the United States, the original St Augustine housed the Liberty Bell's "Sister Bell". The church was burned down in the anti-Catholic Philadelphia Nativist Riots on May 8, 1844. The church sued the city of Philadelphia for not providing it with adequate protection. The money awarded to the church went to rebuilding the current church, which broke ground on May 27, 1847. Organizations founded by the church led to the creation of both Villanova University and the Philadelphia Orchestra.

Pennsylvania Hall, "one of the most commodious and splendid buildings in the city," was an abolitionist venue in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, built in 1837–38. It was a "Temple of Free Discussion", where antislavery, women's rights, and other reform lecturers could be heard. Four days after it opened it was destroyed by arson, the work of an anti-abolitionist mob. Except for the burning of the White House and the Capitol during the War of 1812, it was the worst case of arson in American history up to that date. This was only six months after the murder of Rev. Elijah P. Lovejoy by a pro-slavery mob in Illinois, a free state. The abolitionist movement consequently became stronger. The process repeated itself with Pennsylvania Hall; the movement gained strength because of the outrage the burning caused. Abolitionists realized that in some places they would be met with violence. The country became more polarized.

Franklin Square station is an unused, underground rapid transit station on the PATCO Speedline, operated by the Delaware River Port Authority. It is located under Franklin Square in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Opened on June 7, 1936, the station was the first westbound and final eastbound station in Philadelphia, located just west of the Benjamin Franklin Bridge which carries trains over the Delaware River. The station has been opened for four separate intervals, each time eventually being closed for low ridership. The station is currently being refurbished and is expected to open once again in April 2024.

The Black Banana (formerly La Banane Noire) was a nightclub in Philadelphia.

Museum for Art in Wood is an American educational wood art institution located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was officially established as a nonprofit in 1986 by brothers Albert and Alan LeCoff, following a series of international symposium from 1976-1986 presented by the LeCoff's with woodturner Palmer Sharpless. The organization operated as the Wood Turning Center until 2011, when the nonprofit moved to its current location in Old City District of Philadelphia and changed its name to The Center for Art in Wood. As of January 30, 2023 the Center has changed ita name to Museum for Art in Wood. Today, the Museum presents changing exhibitions of contemporary art work in the medium of wood, a permanent collection of over 1,000 pieces and a host of educational programs and workshops. The Museum also houses a research library, artists files, and a museum store. A series of publications documents the Museum's work and highlights premier artists working in the field of wood turning and art in wood.