Philadelphia Alley

Philadelphia Alley cuts a narrow, brick-paved line between Queen and Cumberland Streets, marked by iron gates at either end. Originally known as Cow Alley for the livestock once driven through it, the passage gained its current name after local residents formed the Philadelphia Fire Company in the early nineteenth century. During a duel in eighteen thirty-four, a surgeon named Doctor Ravenel killed his opponent here, and the narrow walls kept the encounter hidden from the public gaze until the final shot rang out.