Walking Tours Archive - Preservation Alliance

Four Mills Barn

Designed by Horace Trumbauer in 1891 for a wealthy brewer’s country estate, the Four Mills Barn has been the Wissahickon Trails headquarters for close to 50 years. Changes in the Wissahickon Creek over the last 150 years have affected the flood plain and have forced change to everything in its path. The barn is one

Parkside

Built from the vestiges of the 1876 Centennial landscape by Frederick Poth and his young architect Henry Flower, Parkside rose and fell over the next century due to its changing demographics. Extensive decay by the 1980s was reversed starting in the ’90s by beautiful building restorations that retained the neighborhood’s affordability. Learn about the historic preservation

Frankford

Explore the history of a unique faith community—the New Jerusalem Society of Frankford (Swedenborgian)—organized in 1817 as a Free-Will Baptist church on Hedge and Bowser (now Plum) Streets. HSF Board member Gail McCormick, author of a new book on Philadelphia’s Swedenborgians, will orient guests in the related gallery exhibit at 10 a.m. The walking tour

East Falls

East Falls transitioned from a small fishing outpost along the Schuylkill River to a major mill town in the 1800s, but the last mills closed almost a century ago. As the mills were closing, the neighborhood developed into a ‘suburb’ within Philadelphia. This tour will look at the changes from 1900 to the mid-century with

Skyscrapers Old and New

Penn Center, one of the country’s most acclaimed examples of 20th century, post World War II urban renewal, is a lasting legacy of Edmund Bacon and the Philadelphia City Planning Commission. Learn how this world-famous city planner based this commercial development complex on William Penn’s vision that Market Street would be a commercial thoroughfare and

Second Bank of the United States and Carpenters’ Hall

Visit two classic buildings in Old City honored at this year’s 2024 Preservation Achievement Awards; the Second Bank of the US and Carpenters’ Hall. Second Bank of the United States This marvel of Greek Revival architecture designed by noted Philadelphia architect William Strickland, houses a fine collection of over 100 portraits, many of them by

Underground Philadelphia

Discover the Philadelphia Plan, which gave us two Art Deco masterpieces, the monumental 30th Street Station and Suburban Station, the first all-underground rail terminal. The tour starts at 30th Street Station and proceeds via trolley to 19th St. From the Comcast tower lobby, descend into an underground concourse network to the site of The Fashion

University of Pennsylvania

Stroll the campus of one of the country’s most prestigious Ivy League schools. See old and new buildings designed by such notable American architects as Trumbauer, Cope & Stewardson, Furness, Kahn, and Venturi Scott Brown. Hear about campus planning and the neighborhood’s revitalization and enjoy the University’s award-winning landscape.

Frank Furness: A Talk and Tour

Explore the work of one of Philadelphia’s most colorful architects by taking this comprehensive, first-of-its-kind tour. Buildings that have been demolished or that are beyond walking distance will be discussed by illustrated presentation inside the Furness-designed First Unitarian Church. After the presentation, join your guide for a walking tour of nearby Furnessian gems.

Around Washington Square

Walk around one of William Penn’s original planned public parks. Learn how this square served as a burial ground for over 1,200 Revolutionary War soldiers, then as a potter’s field before receiving its present name in 1825. See The Athenaeum, the first Italian Renaissance building in the US, and learn how the Square became home

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