NO. 3. LIBRARY HALL, (site of Library Company of Philadelphia), on northeast corner of Library and Fifth Streets. Founded in 1731 by Benjamin Franklin and his friends, the Library Company of Philadelphia was the first subscription library in the American Colonies. From 1790 to 1880, the library was housed in an attractive building on this site. The structure was demolished about 1884.
NO. 4. SECOND BANK OF THE UNITED STATES (Old Custom House), 420 Chestnut Street. The building, patterned after the Parthenon by the architect William Strickland, and considered one of the finest examples of Greek revival architecture in the United States, was erected between 1819 and 1824 to house the Second Bank of the United States. After a bitter controversy between President Jackson and the Whigs over the renewal of the charter, the bank closed in 1836. It was then chartered by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, but finally failed in 1841. From 1845 to 1934, the building was the Philadelphia Custom House. In 1939, the Treasury Department transferred the building to the Department of the Interior. It has been partially restored to its original design under the guidance of the National Park Service. Now exhibited and maintained by the Carl Schurz Memorial Foundation, the building is open to the public Monday through Friday from 9 a. m. to 5 p. m.
NO. 5. DILWORTH-TODD-MOYLAN HOUSE, on northeast corner of Fourth and Walnut Streets. This small brick row house, typical of colonial Philadelphia, was built by Jonathan Dilworth, merchant, about 1775. From 1791 to 1793, it was the home of John Todd, Jr., and his wife, Dolly Payne. Following Todd’s death during the yellow fever epidemic of 1793, his widow married James Madison, Congressman from Virginia, who later became the fourth President of the United States. From 1796 to 1810, it was the home of Gen. Stephen Moylan, mustermaster general and cavalry officer during the Revolution and commissioner of loans in 1793. The building is not open to the public pending its restoration by the National Park Service.
NO. 6. BISHOP WHITE HOUSE, 309 Walnut Street. This large brick residence, an excellent example of an early Philadelphia row house, was built shortly after the Revolution by the Reverend William White, Rector of Christ Church and St. Peter’s Church from 1777. He became the first Bishop of Pennsylvania in 1787 and acted as a unifying force in reorganizing the Episcopal Church after the Revolution. After a long life of service to mankind, he died in his home on July 17, 1836. The building is not open to the public pending its restoration by the National Park Service.
NO. 7. CITY TAVERN (site of), southwest corner of Second and Moravian Streets. A three-story structure, built about 1773, this was the most fashionable tavern in Philadelphia and was famous as the gathering place of members of the Continental Congresses and the Constitutional Convention and officials of the Federal Government from 1790 to 1800. The building was demolished about 1852.
NO. 8. PHILADELPHIA (Merchants’) EXCHANGE, on the northeast corner of Third and Walnut Streets. Built between 1832 and 1834, this building is noteworthy for the beauty of its architecture. For many years it was the meeting place for merchants and was the center of the commercial activities of Philadelphia. The building is not open to the public.