Welcome to Washington Square

William Penn planned Philadelphia as a prosperous, bustling city with straight, orderly streets and five public squares, ideas that influenced the design of many later American towns and cities. Southeast Square, renamed for George Washington in 1825, only slowly fulfilled that vision. In the 18th century it served as a burial ground and pasture. In the 19th century the city added trees, walks, benches, lamps, and an ornamental fence, and an 1846 guidebook called the Square beautiful and fashionable. In the mid-20th century, residents added the memorial to Washington and unknown soldiers of the American Revolution, which remains the Square's centerpiece. Its national importance was formally recognized when it became part of Independence National Historical Park at the beginning of the 21st century.

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania · United States