Welcome to the Park of the Week Newsletter for July 4, 2024. This week we’re featuring a park that commemorates the earliest history of the United States of America.
Independence National Historical Park
Location
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
Claim to fame
Independence National Historical Park is made up of several sites important to the founding of the United States. The city acted as the seat of the fledgling US government before the capital was moved to Washington, DC in 1800.
Within the parks 54 acres are the Liberty Bell (an important symbol of freedom to revolutionaries and abolitionists), Independence Hall (a UNESCO World Heritage Site where the Declaration of Independence and US Constitution were debated and signed), and Congress Hall (home of the US Congress from 1790-1800).
Reason to visit
Independence National Historical Park is a must-visit for those interested in the origins of American democracy. The park oversees numerous sites that played a key role in the revolution and earliest days of the US, including the home where Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence (which told the world that the US colonies no longer recognized the rule of England) and the City Tavern, a popular 18th century spot where the nation’s founding fathers dined, drank, and discussed revolution and the birth of a democratic nation.
Wild Fact
Enslaved African Americans are also integral to the story of emancipation told by Independence National Historical Park. Nine enslaved men and women lived in and worked for George Washington in the President’s House, the home of the US president from 1790 to 1800. The building was torn down in 1832, but, after years of advocacy from African American groups, its foundations were excavated. Today the President’s House is an outdoor memorial dedicated to those enslaved people who were denied freedom even as their owners declared their own.
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