On the final day of our visit to Philadelphia we visited the historic district. I think we both were surprised and pleased by our discovery of the Fireman's Hall Museum. For me, this is what a museum should be, small, but with a diverse, well labelled, and interesting collection. The entrance was a donation, and we were the only ones there. It was great.
There were lots of old plaques and coats of arms.
Sarah Played dress up! Where are the helmets though?! That's what everyone wants to try on.
I pretended to bring the fireboat in to save the city.
More amazing plaques and coats and such. Some of these dated back to the 1700s!
These are emblems for the Hand-in-Hand Fire and Life Insurance Co. It's one of the oldest firefighting company's around and was formed as a direct result of the Great Fire of London. Franklin's Union Fire Co. collaborated with Hand-in-Hand to buy Philadelphia a fire bell that could be heard for many blocks in the mid 1700s.
Ben Franklin. This guy was everywhere! In 1736 he helped to found the first firefighting company in Philly, called Union Fire Company. The images of these early firefighters are truly incredible. They were a swarm of men who'd brought their own leather buckets to the fire and proceeded to throw water and enter houses and rescue people and property. According to one of the exhibits, Philadelphians were pretty cautious about fire because many of them remembered or had heard of the Great Fire of London in 1666. Indeed, the city was founded in 1682, so I guess that's possible.
This is the most amazing stained glass window. It;s a tribute to all the firefighters (men AND women, now) who have died serving their community.
This is an old timey parade carriage. I really wanted to take it for Veneta, but for the life of me, I can't figure out how they got it upstairs.
More cool carriages. Sarah and I could have stayed another hour, but the meter was ticking and we still wanted to see the Elven Alley... or whatever it was called.
And here it is. More old houses, less elves than I expected, less information than Sarah expected. Still, the old old houses were really cool. Looks like at least one Loyalist still lives in the city. Or maybe somebody's just being ironic.
I'm not sure these are marked accurately. Colonial and early American history aren't my areas of expertise, but I don;t remember anything about Franklin inventing the skyscraper. Still, the guy was everywhere, and who am I to argue with signage?
Tommy Jefferson lived right next door. They were best friends and played together often, although Tom thought Ben was a little ADHD and Ben felt Tom was a bit of a braggart. One time, when Ben was acting like he had too much to do, Tom set his slaves quarters on fire so that Ben had to show up with all his cool toys. They had a barbeque over the smoldering shack and invented the Philly cheese steak and a little thing called the moon.
We stopped at the Reading Market, but there are no pictures because it was so busy and I was too overstimulated to keep my composure. Sarah did a great job keeping me calm and helping me through the city. I never once got shot or mugged, although there were a couple close calls with the roving gangs of hipsters. Sarah won't admit it, but they made her nervous, too. She drove the ENTIRE time we were in the city; which was a good thing since I could not have done it. Her parallel parking skills are something to behold, honestly. I promised to drive there and back, and I did, for the most part, but on the way out, she drove for a little bit. That little bit just happened to coincide with an April snowstorm! Crazy stuff, friends. So anyway, that's the trip that was. We had a very nice time and are looking forward to planning our next unconventional spring break for next year.
Sarah Played dress up! Where are the helmets though?! That's what everyone wants to try on.
I pretended to bring the fireboat in to save the city.
More amazing plaques and coats and such. Some of these dated back to the 1700s!
These are emblems for the Hand-in-Hand Fire and Life Insurance Co. It's one of the oldest firefighting company's around and was formed as a direct result of the Great Fire of London. Franklin's Union Fire Co. collaborated with Hand-in-Hand to buy Philadelphia a fire bell that could be heard for many blocks in the mid 1700s.
Ben Franklin. This guy was everywhere! In 1736 he helped to found the first firefighting company in Philly, called Union Fire Company. The images of these early firefighters are truly incredible. They were a swarm of men who'd brought their own leather buckets to the fire and proceeded to throw water and enter houses and rescue people and property. According to one of the exhibits, Philadelphians were pretty cautious about fire because many of them remembered or had heard of the Great Fire of London in 1666. Indeed, the city was founded in 1682, so I guess that's possible.
This is the most amazing stained glass window. It;s a tribute to all the firefighters (men AND women, now) who have died serving their community.
This is an old timey parade carriage. I really wanted to take it for Veneta, but for the life of me, I can't figure out how they got it upstairs.
More cool carriages. Sarah and I could have stayed another hour, but the meter was ticking and we still wanted to see the Elven Alley... or whatever it was called.
And here it is. More old houses, less elves than I expected, less information than Sarah expected. Still, the old old houses were really cool. Looks like at least one Loyalist still lives in the city. Or maybe somebody's just being ironic.
I'm not sure these are marked accurately. Colonial and early American history aren't my areas of expertise, but I don;t remember anything about Franklin inventing the skyscraper. Still, the guy was everywhere, and who am I to argue with signage?
Tommy Jefferson lived right next door. They were best friends and played together often, although Tom thought Ben was a little ADHD and Ben felt Tom was a bit of a braggart. One time, when Ben was acting like he had too much to do, Tom set his slaves quarters on fire so that Ben had to show up with all his cool toys. They had a barbeque over the smoldering shack and invented the Philly cheese steak and a little thing called the moon.
We stopped at the Reading Market, but there are no pictures because it was so busy and I was too overstimulated to keep my composure. Sarah did a great job keeping me calm and helping me through the city. I never once got shot or mugged, although there were a couple close calls with the roving gangs of hipsters. Sarah won't admit it, but they made her nervous, too. She drove the ENTIRE time we were in the city; which was a good thing since I could not have done it. Her parallel parking skills are something to behold, honestly. I promised to drive there and back, and I did, for the most part, but on the way out, she drove for a little bit. That little bit just happened to coincide with an April snowstorm! Crazy stuff, friends. So anyway, that's the trip that was. We had a very nice time and are looking forward to planning our next unconventional spring break for next year.
3 comments:
I really like that first picture ...and the carriages! Your blogs have made me want to visit the city too. I read a book with the 6th graders this year about the fire in Chicago - similar I'm sure to the fire in London - really interesting. Thanks for sharing your adventure. Every city has a story to tell!
That last picture is terrific, even if I don't enjoy the subject matter:-)
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