Jake Rose
Illustrations by Various Artists
30 Places to Visit and Color
1
2
Liberty Bell
6//
Love Statue
11
Boathouse Row
Independence Hall
3
Philadelphia City Hall
7
8
Philadelphia's Magic Gardens
Philadelphia Museum of Art
12
Rittenhouse Square
13
Citizens Bank Park
4
5
Betsy Ross House
9
Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts
10
Philadelphia Zoo
14
Ben Franklin Museum
Please Touch Museum
15
B. Free Franklin Post Office
16
Elfreth's Alley
21
Eastern State Penitentiary
17
Museum of the American Revolution
22
Penn Museum
26
27
Franklin Institute
First Bank of the United States
18
Academy of Natural Sciences
23
19
American Philosophical Society
24
Philly Cheesesteak War One Liberty Place
28
Christ Church
29
Masonic Temple and Library
20
Carpenters Hall
25
National Constitution Center
30
Liberti Church / First Baptist Church
1. Liberty Bell Bearing the message: "Proclaim Liberty Throughout All the Land Unto All the Inhabitants thereof", the Liberty Bell is one of America’s greatest symbols of liberty. Pennsylvania Assembly Speaker Isaac Norris ordered a bell for Independence Hall’s tower in 1751 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of William Penn's 1701 Charter of Privileges, Pennsylvania’s first constitution. When it cracked, John Pass and John Stow melted it down and casted a new one in 1753. It's this bell that summoned citizens in 1776 to hear the Declaration of Independence’s first public reading. In the early 1800s, abolitionists gave the Bell meaning by adopting it as an anti-slavery symbol. Though Anti-Slavery Record referred to the bell as Liberty Bell in 1835, that name was not adopted until George Lippard's 1847 story Ring, Grandfather, Ring. The Bell traveled across America in the late 1800s to help the nation recover from the Civil War and remind Americans of when they fought for independence. Now a global symbol, the bell's message of liberty is still relevant today.
Photo by Carol M. Highsmith
2. Independence Hall Risking their lives, fortune, and honor, 56 men gathered at the Pennsylvania State House in 1776 and defied the King of England. Eleven years later, representatives from 12 states gathered to shape the U.S. Constitution and create one unified nation. Today, Independence Hall is an UNESCO World Heritage Site that is part of the U.S. National Park Service and an Independence National Historical Park. George Washington’s “rising sun� chair dominates the Assembly Room, which is arranged as it was during the Constitutional Convention. In the West Wing, the inkstand used to sign the Declaration of Independence and an original draft of the Constitution is displayed.
Photo by R Hood Photography
3. Philadelphia City Hall Referred by Walt Whitman as a majestic and lovely show in the moonlight, Philadelphia City Hall has stood as an architectural wonder in the city's center since 1901. Built by John McArthur Jr. and Thomas Walter from 1871 to 1901, the 548-foot tower is the world’s tallest masonry structure without a steel frame, as well as the United States’ largest municipal building with over 14 acres of floor space. City Hall is an architectural treasure inside and out, as its lavish rooms complement its sculpture-covered exterior that is topped off by Alexander Milne Calder’s 37-foot statue of William Penn. That statue towered as Philadelphia’s tallest point until 1987, when the 945-foot One Liberty Place opened. Designed in the French Second Empire style, City Hall was derided for decades due to its archaic aesthetic. But over time, Philadelphians came to appreciate this historic beauty. A National Historic Landmark, the building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1976 and was cited as a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark in 2006.
5. Pennsylvania Academy of The Fine Arts Founded by Charles Peale and William Rush in 1805, the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts promotes the cultivation of the Fine Arts in the United States by exciting artists to invigorate the talents of its Citizens. PAFA’s collection explores the history of American art from the 1760s to today, while the museum shows works by regional artists and features annual displays of work by PAFA students. Designed by Frank Furness and George Hewitt in 1876, PAFA’s Historic Landmark Building is a Victorian Gothic masterpiece that provides the museum with a marvelous setting for its collections, exhibits, and events. The building is bedazzled with bricks, floral motifs, bas-relief friezes, and a gothic window. For its 200th anniversary in 2005, PAFA opened the Samuel Hamilton Building next to the historic museum building. Designed by OLIN in 2011 between the Historic Landmark and Samuel Hamilton buildings, Lenfest Plaza features Claes Oldenburg's gravity-defying Paint Torch and Jordan Griska's transformative Grumman Greenhouse.
6. Love Statue The City of Brotherly Love’s best-known landmark is LOVE itself – the Robert Indiana sculpture in JFK Plaza, northwest of City Hall. First produced as a painting in 1964, Indiana lent the city a large aluminum sculpture of his “love” image as part of the U.S. Bicentennial in 1976. Though Indiana had the LOVE sculpture moved to New York in 1978, its disappearance sparked a local media uproar. Thus, Philadelphia Art Commission chairman and Philadelphia Sixers’ owner F. Eugene Dixon bought it for $35,000, donated it back to the City of Brotherly Love, and had them reinstall it in the Plaza, now lovingly referred to as LOVE Park. In 2018, LOVE returned to the renovated JFK plaza with a red, green, and purple color scheme. An iconic image synonymous with Philadelphia, the piece is almost as prevalent as the concept of love itself.
7. Philadelphia's Magic Gardens Created by Isaiah Zagar, Philadelphia’s Magic Gardens is an outdoor sculpture garden that uses mosaics, bottles, wheels, and mirrors to celebrate South Street’s beauty. Since the 1960s, Isaiah and his wife Julia have been devoted to beautifying South Street. In the process, they spurred the area’s artistic rebirth by renovating derelict buildings and adding mosaics on the walls. In 1991, Zagar began working on the vacant lots located near his South Street studio. He first mosaicked the buildings on either side of the property, and sculpted walls out of found objects. In 2004, the lots’ owner found Zagar’s installation and decided to sell the land, calling for the work to be dismantled. Unwilling to witness the neighborhood art’s destruction, the community supported the artist in droves. After winning the legal battle, Zagar developed the site by excavating tunnels and grottoes while adding his mosaics to surfaces. In 2008, Philadelphia’s Magic Gardens opened and visitors can participate in tours, activities, hands-on experiences, workshops, concerts, and exhibits.
Photo by rgordon6
8. Philadelphia museum of Art With its world-renowned collection, the Philadelphia Museum of Art brings the arts to life, inspiring visitors through study to discover the spirit of imagination. Connecting people with the arts in varied ways, the Museum invites visitors to see the world through the beauty and power of the arts. Founded in 1876 at the Centennial Exhibition's Memorial Hall, the Museum opened its landmark building on Fairmount in 1928. During the 1950s, growth in the McIlhenny, Barnard, Arensberg and Gallatin Collections assured the Museum's prominence as a place to see modern art masterpieces. Modernization efforts in the 2000s made the Museum into one of the nation's best places to see world-class art. Its highlights include the world’s largest collection of Marcel Duchamp’s works, the United States’ finest collection of Auguste Rodin’s sculptures, Impressionist paintings like Paul Cézanne’s The Large Bathers and Vincent van Gogh’s Sunflowers, and period rooms and architectural ensembles from around the world. The museum’s exterior elements are also a beloved attraction, specifically the Rocky Statue and the “Rocky Steps”. Created by A. Thomas Schomberg in 1980 for Rocky III, the Rocky Statue celebrates the City of Brotherly Love’s favorite celluloid son Rocky Balboa. Since 2006, the statue has been located at the bottom of the stairs at the Philadelphia Museum of Art’s east entrance – which was where Rocky made his famous trek up the 72 steps in the first Rocky movie.
9. Philadelphia zoo
Located at 3400 West Girard Avenue, Philadelphia Zoo is an American first. Though William Camac established the Zoological Society of Philadelphia in 1859, the zoo did not open until 1874. Today, the Zoo educates visitors about conservation via the Zoo360 exploration trail system and the KidZooU children’s zoo and education center. Zoo360 delivers unparalleled animal interaction by giving animals greater freedom of movement while also providing guests with more direct access to see the animals. The KidZooU Children’s Zoo & Education Center has conservation stations, programs, and exhibits that shows visitors how saving energy and recycling can help save wildlife. A visit is not complete without seeing exhibits like KeyBank Big Cat Falls, Bear Country, Penn's Woodland Trail, PECO Primate Reserve, and McNeil Avian Center. The Zoo’s breeding programs serve as a safety net for species threatened with extinction in the wild. These conservation programs and modern animal exhibits make Philadelphia Zoo one of the world’s most renowned zoos.
Photo by michaelwm25
11. Boathouse row Lining the Schuylkill River west of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, historic 19th-century boathouses outline one of the city’s loveliest views, Boathouse Row. From a single rower on a river in the morning to colorful races, rowers of all ages and skill levels flock to the Schuylkill River and Boathouse Row to practice, compete, learn, and explore rowing. Boathouse Row features a series of historic structures, starting with Fairmount Park’s recreation center, Lloyd Hall, and rowing clubs claiming the next 10 buildings all the way to the Sedgely Club. Each club is a member of the Schuylkill Navy of Philadelphia, America’s oldest amateur athletic governing body.
13. Citizens bank Park The home of the Philadelphia Phillies since 2004, Citizens Bank Park is a 43,500-seat stadium with natural grass and a view of the Philadelphia skyline. Named after Phillies’ great Richie Ashburn, the in-stadium entertainment complex Ashburn Alley features a Memory Lane of Phillies lore, along with batting and throwing games. Honored by Food Network with the title of Best Ballpark Eats, Citizens Bank Park excels when it comes to food. Look out for lines waiting for an order of crab fries at Chickie and Pete’s, roast pork sandwiches at Tony Luke’s, and Schmitter cheesesteaks from Chestnut Hill’s McNally’s. The stadium also has a tasty Shake Shack stand and a fantastic sports bar. One of the nation’s most kid-friendly ballparks, Citizens Bank Park also contains the Phanatic Fun Zone, where youngsters can enjoy the Major Leagues’ largest play area for kids. But that’s just the start, as kids can build their own Phanatic, rock climb, and enjoy dollar dogs and soft drinks all game long.
Photo by Kjetli Ree
16. Elfreth's Alley
Nestled between Second Street and the Delaware River, Elfreth's Alley is made up of Federal and Georgian homes that stand as reminders of Philadelphia’s early days. As Philadelphia became a major city, artisans and merchants bought property near ports, which lead to overcrowding. Thus, landowners Arthur Wells and John Gilbert combined their properties to open Elfreth’s Alley as a cart path in 1706. From the 1930s to 1960s, Dolly Ottey helped preserve the Alley as a colonial street. Ottey fought the alley’s deterioration by forming the Elfreth’s Alley Association in 1934. In 1966, the EAA secured National Historic Landmark status to ensure that Interstate 95 construction did not destroy Elfreth’s Alley. Today, Elfreth’s Alley is a great example of early American structures built between 1720 and 1830. A celebration of America’s working class that helped build this nation through sweat and commerce, the alley is still a thriving residential community that is home to artists, artisans, educators, entrepreneurs, and everything in-between.
17. Museum of the American Revolution Across from the First Bank of the United States and a few blocks from Independence Hall lies the brand-new Museum of the American Revolution. Designed by Robert A.M. Stern Architects, the building features sculptural reliefs of Washington crossing the Delaware and the Declaration of Independence’s signing. Drawing on decades of scholarship that highlight the Revolution’s conflicts and paradoxes, the museum displays 500 objects, from muskets and uniforms to teapots and shoes. Infusing history with spectacle, the exhibits create a sense that one is walking through a movie. While the museum hits the major historical beats from 1775 to 1789, the real subject is how a fight for British liberties morphed into a war for independence. Yet there are reminders that not all citizens were equal and that liberty was not the same thing for everyone, as panels explore the meaning of events for Native Americans, African-American slaves, and other ostracized groups. As people leave the museum, they will realize that they all swim in the same stream of history.
Photo by Carol M. Highsmith
21. Eastern State Penitentiary When Eastern State Penitentiary opened in 1829, it changed the world. Known for its grand architecture and strict discipline, Eastern State was the world’s first penitentiary, a prison designed to inspire regret in prisoners through solitary confinement. Completed by John Haviland in 1836, the building was an architectural wonder, as it had high-tech plumbing and sewage systems as well as 450 centrally heated cells. Eastern State soon became one of the United States’ most copied buildings, as governments around the world modeled prisons after Eastern State. Some of Eastern State’s most notorious inmates include capture-free escapee Leo Callahan, Chicago gangster Al Capone, and bank robber Willie Sutton. After closing in 1971, Eastern State went on a restructuring phase until it reopened for daily tours in 1994. A federally designated National Historic Landmark, Eastern State was the backdrop for the films 12 Monkeys and Return to Paradise. Eastern State remains one of Philadelphia’s most interesting institutions.
Color Philadelphia is filled to the brim with the city's most iconic settings, such as Boathouse Row, Love Park, Philadelphia's Magic Gardens, Independence Hall, and the Liberty Bell, among many others.
Through its 30 beautiful black-and-white line drawings and detailed descriptions, “Color Philadelphia� masterfully highlights what makes this city so special to its residents and visitors.