Philadelphia, PA Guides, Vacations, Tourism

The original capital of the nation, Philadelphia was laid out by William Penn Jr in 1682, on a grid system that was to provide the pattern for most American cities. It was envisaged as a "greene countrie towne," traces of which are still discernable. Just a few blocks away from the noise and crowds of downtown, shady cobbled alleys stand lined with red-brick colonial houses, while the peace and quiet of huge Fairmount Park make it easy to forget you're in a major metropolis. Settled by Quakers, Philadelphia prospered swiftly on the back of trade and commerce, and by the 1750s had become the second … more »