On Walnut Street at 6th Street, on the left when traveling west on Walnut Street.
Founder William Penn had a plan for Philadelphia. He wanted a prosperous, bustling city with straight, orderly streets. He also set aside five squares, establishing parks for the public. Both ideas influenced the design of many later American . . . — — Map (db m9024) HM
Washington Square (6.4 acres) is one of the original five squares laid out by William Penn and his surveyor Thomas Holme in the plan for the city of Philadelphia in 1682. First designated as Southeast Square, it was renamed Washington Square in 1825 . . . — — Map (db m9025) HM
who, during the War for Independence, died prisoners of war in the jails of Philadelphia, and were buried in this ground during the years 1777 and 1778. — — Map (db m9027) HM
William Penn learned many lessons in life. Living in 17th century England taught him that open space offered breathing places for great cities and also slowed the spread of fire.
He applied what he had learned to Philadelphia. He insisted on . . . — — Map (db m9028) HM
Philadelphia thrived. Founded in 1682, it became a haven of religious tolerance. As a Quaker and a victim of discrimination, William Penn believed strongly in allowing others to worship freely.
The city's growth rested on economics as well. . . . — — Map (db m9029) HM
In the 17th century, when the Square first appeared in the city plan, streams drained into a deep gully in front of you. Then, beginning in 1833, geometric paths invited visitors into a leveled square planted with hundreds of trees.
By 1846, . . . — — Map (db m9031) HM
Until the 19th century this was often a sorrowful place. Many people knew it as a potters field, a "publick burying place for all strangers," for soldiers, sailors, convicts, and the "destitute whose remains are walked over." A lonely Acadian . . . — — Map (db m9044) HM
A statue of the most famous American, George Washington, stands near the Square's center. It keeps a vigil at the tomb of an unknown soldier who died during the War for Independence. Revolution linked them in life. This shrine joins them in our . . . — — Map (db m9045) HM
On January 27, 1777, Deborah Norris wrote to her friend Sally Wister of a "shocking sight." Large pits are dug in the negroes burying ground (Washington Square), and forty or fifty (soldiers) coffins are put in the same hole.
Throughout that . . . — — Map (db m9047) HM
In unmarked graves within this square lie thousands of unknown soldiers of Washington’s Army who died of wounds and sickness during the Revolutionary War.
“The independence and liberty you possess are the work of joint councils and joint . . . — — Map (db m9051) HM