PENNSYLVANIA HOSPITAL
215/829-3971
8th and Pine Streets

With various sections constructed between 1755 and 1805, the historic portion of Pennsylvania Hospital (now part of a modern medical center) was the first hospital in the colonies. The proportions and materials are similar to those of domestic, rather than institutional, architecture. In the domed, skylit amphitheater at the top of the center building, doctors performed the first modern surgical procedure in the United States. An 18th-century herb garden is on the Pine Street grounds. For a 30-minute, self-guided tour, stop by the marketing office (weekdays only) on the second floor of the Pine Building. Enter from Spruce Street.

WALNUT STREET THEATER
www.wstonline.org
215/574-3550, box office
829-833 Walnut Street (at 9th Street)

By 1820—overcoming 18th-century Quaker opposition—Philadelphia was the theatrical center of the country. The Walnut Street Theater, designed in part by John Haviland, was built in 1809, with renovations in 1816 and 1828. The oldest English-speaking theater in continuous use in the United States, its stage has been graced by Sarah Bernhardt, the Barrymores, Lunt and Fontanne, the Marx Brothers, and Katherine Hepburn.

ATWATER KENT MUSEUM
www.philadelphiahistory.org
215/922-3031
15 South 7th Street (between Market and Chestnut Streets)

The Atwater Kent Museum occupies an 1825 Greek Revival-style building, designed by John Haviland and once home of the Franklin Institute for the Promotion of Mechanical Arts. In 1933, the Franklin Institute (by then an expanding science museum) moved to its present location on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, and the century-old structure was nearly demolished. Five years later, local inventor and radio manufacturer Mr. A. Atwater Kent bought the building and established a museum where objects of everyday life communicate more than 300 years of Philadelphia history. Open every day except Tuesday, 10 a.m.–5 p.m.

THE ATHENAEUM
www.philaathenaeum.org
215/925-2688
219 South 5th Street (between Washington Square South and Walnut Street)

In 1814, a group of young men formed a social and literary club and named it after Athena, the Greek goddess of wisdom and learning. Twenty-nine years later, the club built a subscription library opposite Washington Square, on the site of the old Walnut Street Prison. Designed by John Notman, it was the first Italian Renaissance Revival-style building in America. The building was meant to be covered in marble, but an innovative building material—brownstone—was used to save money. Today, this member-supported research library contains significant materials on the French in America; early-American travel, exploration, and transportation; and, especially, architecture and design. The building also serves as headquarters for the Victorian Society in America. First-floor exhibits are open to the public, weekdays 9 a.m.–5 p.m. Tours, by appointment only.

Vintage ambulance.

Pennsylvania Hospital.

The Athenaeum.