Ghosts of Old City Philadelphia

Tour meeting place and first stop. Once the tavern that was backdrop to the American Revolution and all the men and women in power, it burned in 1834 and was razed in 1854. Who started the fire, and does the ghost of a burnt bride scream through the shadows here?

The Merchants’ Exchange building, c. 1834, was once bordered by infamous Dock Creek, a cesspool of filth and disease. Once the city’s commercial center, greed butted up against the ghosts of the unfortunate just outside the door.

Some say that living here in Philly became the fuse that imploded Alexander Hamilton’s life and destroyed his trajectory to the presidency. Does his ghost wander here, ruminating on his ill-advised affair with Maria Reynolds?

One of the most iconic original buildings in Philadelphia, c. 1774. Everyone knows about the First Continental Congress held here, but Carpenters’ Hall was also a makeshift hospital during the American Revolution, a notorious meeting place for French spies, the location of an ill-fated bank robbery, and so much more.

Dolley Todd’s baby son and first husband died horrible deaths at this site, c. 1775, from yellow fever. Dolley herself moved on to occupy the White House as first lady and wife of fourth American president, James Madison, but do the ghosts of her family linger here in her old house?

The founding father everyone has forgotten. Robert Morris was a fiery patriot, statesman, financier and tremendous leader in the American Revolution. Yet today he’s barely known. Morris signed all three founding documents, the Declaration of Independence, Articles of Confederation, and Constitution, but he died broke and sick. Some people say his ghost haunts the area of the Walnut Street Jail across the street, where he was incarcerated nearby for his debts.

A statue of Benjamin Franklin occupies the center façade of this building – the library of the American Philosophical Society he formed in 1743. Franklin, a key founding father, was also a diplomat, civic leader, accomplished scientist, inventor, and writer. Quite the spectacular life. But he disowned his son, neglected his wife, and refused to forgive those who crossed him. Who are the ghosts that haunt his likeness?

You know it as the place we became a nation and where the Declaration of Independence and Constitution were signed. But do you know about the bodies that were dumped on the steps during the French and Indian War, or how many people died here at the hands of authorities? America’s birthplace has more than a few ghosts.

Now home to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, this square was once a burial field for American Revolutionary soldiers, as well as the poor and unclaimed dead. John Adams, walking here in 1777, commented on the 2,000 soldiers buried at this site and wrote to his wife that he had spent an hour in the “congregation of the dead.” No shortage of ghosts here.