The Eighteenth Century Garden features symmetrical brick paths lined with boxwood hedges and iron gates that mirror the formal style of the seventeen hundreds. This space serves as an intentional replica of the ornamental gardens that…
Society Hill Pocket Gardens
This walk guides you through the quiet brick alleyways, hidden courtyards, and community gardens of Philadelphia's most historic neighborhood. It’s a peaceful way to experience how 18th-century town planning combined lush urban greenery with pedestrian-friendly pathways.
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1. 18th Century Garden
2. Rose Garden
The McCall Burying Ground occupies this corner, distinguished by a low, weathered stone wall and a dense thicket of climbing roses that bloom along the iron fencing. It holds the remains of Archibald McCall and his descendants, a prominent…
3. The Magnolia Garden
A white wrought iron gate marks the entrance to the Magnolia Garden, a tiny public green space tucked between two brick townhouses on Fourth Street. In the nineteen fifties, this spot was a vacant lot filled with debris, slated for…
4. Old Saint Joseph's Catholic Church
Old Saint Joseph’s Church sits tucked down a narrow alleyway, marked by a simple brick facade that disappears into the surrounding row houses. This is the oldest Catholic congregation in Philadelphia, founded in seventeen thirty-three.…
5. Bingham Court
Bingham Court features a distinct row of brick townhouses designed with tall, arched doorways and gated courtyards that tuck away from the street. These homes occupy the footprint of the original eighteenth century mansion belonging to…
6. Hill-Physick House
The Hill-Physick House stands out with its bright yellow facade and the high, arched windows that face South Fourth Street. Built in seventeen eighty-six, this residence belonged to Philip Syng Physick, a man frequently called the father…
7. Three Bears Park
Three Bears Park features a playground enclosed by a high brick wall topped with iron fencing. The land once held a series of dilapidated row houses that the neighborhood association purchased in the late nineteen sixties to prevent them…
8. Saint Peter's Way
Saint Peter’s Way is a narrow, brick-paved pedestrian passage cutting between the back gardens of eighteenth-century houses in Society Hill. It marks the original boundary of the Saint Peter’s Church burial ground. In seventeen sixty-one,…
9. St. Peter's Church, Philadelphia
The brick tower of Saint Peter’s Church rises above the intersection of Pine and Third Streets, topped by a white wooden steeple that holds a ring of eight bells. Built in seventeen sixty-one, the church provided space for members of…