Place · United States
The history of Philadelphia
Assembled from 4 dug tiles · 57 sourced records · 1712–now · last reviewed 16 October 2026
Philadelphia holds ground where a declaration of independence became an act of treason against the Crown, where a Gothic Revival prison once watched seven cellblocks from a single point, where an 18th-century fort survived a deadly siege, and where a surgeon's donated specimens still sit behind glass.
These are the individual spots Strata has dug in Philadelphia — not a guide to the town, but a record of what happened on particular ground.
Digs in Philadelphia
Signatures written as treason against the CrownDelegates signed their names to independence thirty paces from where you are standing, an act punishable by death. Independence Hall
1743–now A Gothic Revival prison, now a museum
This point sits inside Eastern State Penitentiary, a 19th-century prison on Fairmount Avenue that once held Al Capone. Eastern State Penitentiary
1776–2022 An 18th-century fort, now a museum
Fort Mifflin sits on Mud Island in the Delaware River, below Philadelphia, and is now open as a museum. Fort Mifflin
1712–now A 19th-century medical museum, still open
This point sits at the [[Mütter Museum Mütter Museum
1811–2013
Philadelphia in layers
18th–19th century
The Liberty Bell hung originally in the steeple of the Pennsylvania State House before later becoming a separate icon housed nearby. Liberty Bell
The museum's holdings include half of Albert Einstein's brain, tissue from John Wilkes Booth, and the Chevalier Jackson collection of thousands of objects pulled from patients' throats over a 75-year career. Philadelphia Inquirer
The First Unitarian Church of Philadelphia, listed on the National Register, stands about 105 meters from this spot. Wikipedia
1712–1854
The ground around the fort lay within Kingsessing Township, a jurisdiction recorded from 1712 under British colonial Pennsylvania until it was absorbed into Philadelphia in 1854. FamilySearch
founded 1743
Benjamin Franklin founded the American Philosophical Society in 1743; its headquarters, Philosophical Hall, still stands near Independence Hall. Philosophical Hall
born 1744
Thomas Mifflin, who later served as the first governor of Pennsylvania, was born in Philadelphia in 1744. Wikidata / cast record
from 1749
The Bleakly family established a private burial ground in Philadelphia in 1749, one of the oldest dated records of settled life anywhere near this stretch of river. FamilySearch
completed 1753
The building now called Independence Hall was completed in 1753 as the seat of Pennsylvania's colonial government, designed by Edmund Woolley and Andrew Hamilton. Independence Hall
died 1827
William Tilghman, an American judge who served as chief justice of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, died in Philadelphia in 1827. Wikidata / cast record
1771
Captain John Montresor drew up the plans for Fort Mifflin in 1771 on Mud Island, after Philadelphia's leaders decided the port needed real defenses for the first time. Wikipedia: Fort Mifflin
July 4 – August 2, 1776
On July 4, 1776, delegates in this building approved the Declaration of Independence, and most signed it a month later on August 2. Signing of the United States Declaration of Independence
from 1776
By 1776 this patch of ground north of the old city was known as the neighborhood of Francisville, the oldest name tied to this spot. FamilySearch
died 1840
George Wolf, who served as governor of Pennsylvania, died in Philadelphia in 1840. Wikidata / cast record
September 26 – November 16, 1777
From September 26 to November 16, 1777, British ships and land batteries bombarded Fort Mifflin for weeks, killing or wounding roughly 250 of its defenders before Lieutenant Colonel Samuel Smith's garrison finally pulled out. Wikipedia: Siege of Fort Mifflin
October 22, 1777
On October 22, 1777, while the siege of Fort Mifflin dragged on, 900 Hessian troops attacking the sister fort at Red Bank, New Jersey, were beaten back with over 300 casualties, including their commander. Wikipedia: Fort Mercer
October 1777
During the fighting, the grounded British ship Augusta caught fire and blew up with a blast heard as far as Philadelphia, after Fort Mifflin and the Pennsylvania navy attacked it with cannon and fire rafts. Wikipedia: Battle of Red Bank
May 25 – September 17, 1787
From May to September 1787, delegates including James Madison and Alexander Hamilton met here and drafted the U.S. Constitution instead of merely revising the Articles of Confederation. Constitutional Convention (United States)
1790–1800
Just steps west, Congress Hall served as the seat of the United States Congress from 1790 to 1800, admitting Vermont, Kentucky, and Tennessee as states and ratifying the Bill of Rights. Congress Hall
1790–1800
George Washington occupied the President's House on Market Street from 1790 to 1797, and John Adams lived there afterward until moving to the unfinished White House in 1800; Washington's household there included enslaved and indentured servants. President's House (Philadelphia)
1791–1800
Completed in 1791 as Philadelphia's city hall, the building loaned its courtroom to the U.S. Supreme Court from 1791 to 1800, hosting three early chief justices. Old City Hall (Philadelphia)
1794–1962
The U.S. Army began rebuilding Fort Mifflin in 1794 and kept garrisoning and expanding it into the 19th century, not decommissioning it for infantry and artillery use until 1962. Wikipedia: Fort Mifflin
1795
Originally called Fort Island Battery, the post was renamed Fort Mifflin in 1795 for Thomas Mifflin, a Continental Army officer who became Pennsylvania's first post-independence governor. Wikipedia: Fort Mifflin
1811-1859
Thomas Dent Mütter, orphaned by age seven, became a pioneering surgeon who performed Philadelphia's first anesthesia operation in 1846 and invented the skin-grafting 'Mütter Flap' still used today. Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia
1816–1836
Chartered in 1816, the Second Bank operated from a Greek Revival building nearby until its charter fight with Andrew Jackson ended its federal role in 1836. Second Bank of the United States
Questions about Philadelphia
What is Philadelphia known for historically?
Philadelphia is known as the place where Congress approved the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, and where delegates signed the engrossed parchment on August 2, 1776, inside the Pennsylvania State House, now Independence Hall. The same building hosted the Constitutional Convention in 1787.
What happened at Independence Hall in 1776?
Congress approved the Declaration of Independence there on July 4, 1776, and most delegates signed the engrossed parchment on August 2, 1776, with John Hancock signing first. The Liberty Bell hung in the steeple above the building during these events.
What was Eastern State Penitentiary used for?
Eastern State Penitentiary, on Fairmount Avenue, opened in October 1829 as America's first true penitentiary, designed by John Haviland so a single guard could watch seven radiating cellblocks. It held Al Capone in 1929 and 1930 and closed in 1971 after 142 years of operation, reopening as a museum in 1994.
What happened at Fort Mifflin in 1777?
Fort Mifflin, on Mud Island in the Delaware River below Philadelphia, survived a siege from September 26 to November 16, 1777, that killed nearly 350 defenders. The fort was built from an unfinished British design and later held Confederate prisoners during the Civil War.
What is the Mütter Museum and where is it?
The Mütter Museum, part of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia at 19 South 22nd Street, holds more than 25,000 medical specimens. The collection began in 1858 with surgeon Thomas Dent Mütter's donation and has occupied its present Beaux-Arts building since 1909.