Historic
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How Levittown’s Home Construction Method Transformed Homeownership After World War II
A simple slab of concrete helped reshape the American Dream, and its origins trace back to Bucks County, writes staff for PhillyBurbs. After World War II, millions of veterans came home to a country without enough housing. Levittown planner and builder Bill Levitt had a solution, and it started from the ground up. Rather than…
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How New Hope Became, and Stayed, One of America’s Greatest Art Towns
Walk through New Hope on any weekend and you feel it before you can explain it. Something about the place hums. Galleries tucked into 18th-century storefronts. Live music spilling out of open doors. Theater companies, sculptors, photographers, and painters all sharing the same few walkable blocks along the Delaware. What most visitors do not know…
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Why Jon Bon Jovi’s Admiration for Philadelphia Native Benjamin Franklin is ‘So Deep’
Jon Bon Jovi, a world-famous rock star, recently revealed his strong admiration for Philadelphia native Benjamin Franklin, writes Lane Florsheim for The Wall Street Journal. He recently sat down for an interview where he answered several questions, including what he has been reading lately. “I’m reading a Ben Franklin biography for the second time,” said…
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Inside Philadelphia Man’s Quest to Commemorate Ben Franklin’s Early Home in Old City
Richard Armandi, a devoted Benjamin Franklin aficionado, is on a quest to turn the site of Benjamin Franklin’s early home into a memorial to the founding father, writes Meir Rinde for Billy Penn at WHYY. Most Philadelphia visitors stop at the museum and printing shop on Market Street, where Franklin lived from 1763 to 1790.…
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How Philadelphia’s John Fitch Launched America’s First Steamboat on the Delaware River in 1787
Long before Robert Fulton became a household name, a lesser-known inventor was already churning up the Delaware River. In 1787, John Fitch launched what is widely recognized as America’s first functioning passenger and freight steamboat right here in Philadelphia, writes Violet Comber-Wilen for Billy Penn at WHYY. His original 45-foot vessel was a radical idea…
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“Make a Left at the Airplane”: The Story Behind Penndel’s Most Iconic Landmark
For decades, one phrase instantly told people they were in Lower Bucks County: “Make a left at the airplane.” Long before GPS, nearly everybody knew exactly what that meant. The Airplane Family Restaurant and Diner in Penndel was one of Bucks County’s most unforgettable landmarks. Sitting at the corner of Route 1 and Durham Road,…
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The Revolution Happened Here: 10 Philadelphia Area Battles That Shaped the Fight for Independence
Before the world called it the American Revolution, it began right here along the Delaware River, across the rolling farms of Chester County, and in the cobblestoned streets of Philadelphia. From Brandywine River to Germantown, the British Army and General Washington’s American forces fought for control of a region that would determine the fate of…
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Pennsylvania’s Other 250-Year-Old Document Deserves Its Own Celebration
As we reach the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, it is natural to focus on that world-changing document. However, the Pennsylvania Constitution of 1776, written in that same era, deserves just as much attention. While the U.S. Constitution is more famous, Pennsylvania’s original state constitution was actually older and, in several key ways,…
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Philadelphia’s Centennial Exposition 1876: The World’s Fair That Changed Everything
Philadelphia played a defining role in the history of world fairs by hosting the Centennial Exposition, the first official world’s fair in the United States, writes Heidi Mitchell for The Wall Street Journal. Held in 1876 in Fairmount Park to celebrate the nation’s 100th anniversary, the exposition introduced millions of visitors to emerging technologies and…
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Philadelphia Historic Register Eyes Chinatown Factory That Revolutionized American Cosmetics
The former Tetlow Manufacturing Company building in Philadelphia’s Chinatown neighborhood could soon earn a place on the Philadelphia Register of Historic Places, writes Aaron Moselle for WHYY. Located at 10th and Cherry streets, the five-story factory became home to the cosmetics company in the 1880s and is now being considered for historic designation because of…
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Historic Rock Ford Leads Lancaster’s Role as an America250 Epicenter
As the nation gears up to mark the 250th anniversary of American independence, one historic site in Lancaster is stepping into the spotlight as a key “epicenter” of the celebration: Historic Rock Ford. Tucked just beyond downtown and surrounded by the natural beauty of Lancaster County Central Park, Historic Rock Ford is more than a…
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Rare Ben Franklin Memorabilia, Recently Displayed At Library Company of Philadelphia, To Be Auctioned in June
Dozens of memorabilia that once belonged to Benjamin Franklin are soon going up for auction, writes Earl Hopkins for The Philadelphia Inquirer. The Franklin memorabilia belongs to former Philadelphia Flyers president Jay T. Snider, who purchased them nearly a decade ago. Among the items being put up for auction is a letter Franklin wrote in…
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Remembering the 14-Story Sears Clock Tower That Stood on Roosevelt Boulevard for Decades
Almost three decades after the Sears Eastern Regional Catalogue Headquarters on Roosevelt Boulevard was demolished, the complex and its 14-story clock tower continues to live on in the memory of many Philadelphians who worked and shopped there, writes Edward W. Duffy for the Hidden City. Not everything is gone, however. The power plant’s chimney still…
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New Exhibit At Historical Society of Pennsylvania Traces Roots of American Independence
The Historical Society of Pennsylvania will soon unveil a new exhibit that traces the roots of America’s independence, writes Peter Crimmins for WHYY. According to University of Pennsylvania law professor William Ewald and the exhibit’s co-curator, American independence started to take shape a decade before 1776 and wouldn’t come to fruition until about a decade…
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Philadelphia Medical History Takes Center Stage in New Play ‘The Woman Question’
The Woman Question, a new play by local playwright Suli Holum, centers on the 1894 class of the Woman’s Medical College of Pennsylvania, the first degree-granting medical school for women in the nation, writes Sabrina Boyd-Surka for KYW Newsradio. “All of these women were coming to Philadelphia to become doctors before they could vote,” said…
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The Global Fight for American Freedom: 7 Immigrants Who Aided the Revolution
When we picture the American Revolution, names like George Washington or Benjamin Franklin often dominate the narrative. But the fight for independence depended on global talent foreign-born immigrants-turned-volunteers who crossed oceans and joined a cause that was not yet theirs. According to Claire Barrett of HistoryNet, seven such men played pivotal roles in shaping strategy,…
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After Nearly 50 Years on National Register, Mount Airy Train Station Joins Philadelphia Register
Mount Airy Train Station, which has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1977, has now been added to the Philadelphia Register of Historic Places, writes Kimberly Haas for the Hidden City. The nomination of the station came as a complete surprise to the Historical Commission, with members expressing shock that it…
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SS United States Deployment, Sinking Delayed to June 2026
The SS United States‘ deployment to Okaloosa County to later be sunk and become the world’s largest artificial reef is being delayed from May to June 2026, writes Claire O’Neil for WEAR News. The historic ship is currently undergoing final preparations before it goes on its journey from Mobile, Alabama to the Florida Coast. According…
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