History behind Philadelphia's Squares


There's a lot of history behind some of Philadelphia's most famous green spaces: the squares. When William Penn was first laying out the city, he decided to put five squares on the map, one at each cardinal direction corner, and one in the middle, according to Philadelphia Magazine. But after Penn laid out these squares, they were given names to honor notable people at the time. Thus, Franklin Square, Washington Square, Logan Square, Rittenhouse Square, and Center Square (now where City Hall is located) were founded. Benjamin Franklin was a famous Philadelphian, and there is a statue of Washington in his Square, near Independence Hall. Rittenhouse was an astronomer, and Logan was a colonial mayor. When we sit in these parks, history is all around us.

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