MORE History

Reading Terminal Market (Photo credit: Larry Laszlo)

 Sitting here with coffee at the Reading Terminal - a hub for gathering, produce shopping and eating since 1892 (I’ve been coming since 1955!) – one can’t help but sense the history of this city.


The original plan for this “Greene Countrie Towne”, as William Penn described it, provided an interior row between two rows of houses for gardens but also for public squares in each section of Philadelphia. The squares remain – Washington, Rittenhouse, Franklin and Logan Circle, Yep, the last one is a circle, but it is inside a square if you look! The Swann Fountain (designed by Alexander Stirling Calder)in its center celebrates three waterways, the Delaware, the Schuylkill and well, we have our secrets, you’ll have to ask about the third!

APGA members Amy Hoffmann, Keri Leymaster, James Gagliardi, and Tee Jay Boudreau at the Swann Fountain (Photo credit: Grace Chapman)

Known as the birthplace of Democracy, Philly was also the birthplace of American Botany. When this town on the Delaware River (a general crossed it one night with some significant results) was settled a few hundred years ago it was a new landscape. There were no books or concerning native plants, so, people like John Bartram made observations, drawings and kept records beginning our Green history. And let’s not forget Horticulture! The Pennsylvania Horticultural Society was formed in 1827 and 2 years later presented the first Philadelphia Flower Show. Now, along with being international in scope, it is the largest and the oldest continuous indoor flower show in the world! Among other plants it showcased Poinsettia, Chrysanthemums, and coffee (yes, the drink in this cup).

We are home to Fairmount Park, the largest park in the United States that is within city limits. And we have treasures. How about original collections from the Lewis & Clark expedition at the Academy of Natural Science? Or Impressionist art collections that rival Paris? These within walking distance of the Symposium!

Shofusu, the Japanese House in Fairmount Park (Photo credit: Grace Chapman)

The Symposium will be held at the Loews Hotel. Once known as the PSFS building (look up at the sign, it’s still there), completed in 1932 and the first skyscraper in America built in the “International Style” – think Bauhaus inspired… At the Loews you are within walking distance of the most historical blocks in America. Take a right at the front entrance, head to the Bourse and then work your way through Society Hill (named because of the “Societies” of craft workers that existed there.) Check out Carpenters Hall, Independence Hall (documents of some importance were debated and signed there a while back), The American Philosophical Society Museum, Second Bank of the United States, the home where Thomas Jefferson drafted the Declaration of Independence, and there’s More!. Another day turn left and there’s the Franklin Institute, Academy of Natural Sciences, Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts and the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Some of these institutions are within a Frisbee throw of each other (ok, you need a decent arm, but it can be done!).  Look up as you walk, there is City Hall, one of the largest masonry buildings in the world…and, hey, there’s More!

Benjamin Franklin Parkway leading to the Philadelphia Art Museum (Photo credit: Grace Chapman)