Heard in the Hall

11) It’s called Society Hill because Penn gave it the Society of Freemasons.
12) The city had to fix up Society Hill or Philadelphia wouldn’t get Bicentennial.
13) Third Street houses is where Jacqueline Kennedy spent a lot of her childhood,
14) They would sell out ships’ cargo even before it docked.
15) Dr. Rush responsible for death of George Washington. He bled him so much and gave him cough medicine with mercury.
16) Washington died in Philadelphia.
17) The reason the kitchens were in the basement is because the long flowing dresses of woman could catch on fire and she could run directly into the streets, instead of through the house and spread the fire.
18) Robert Morris funded one-third of Revolutionary War.
19) Morris financed the building of the Walnut Street Prisons for debtors and ended up in the prison. .. .His son bailed him out because he would inherit his father’s debts.
20) Eight thousand people came to Independence Hall for first reading of Declaration.
21) The Declaration was read first in German because 60 percent of Pa. was German and then read a second time in English..
22) John Barry was really a pirate.
23) Belgian prisoners made the Belgian blocks.
24) Because Belgian blocks were flat and better than cobble stones, Ben Franklin had them put in the streets here and had our prisoners do the work..
25) The expression “saved by the bell” refers to tying a bell on the arm of a corpse to make sure he was really dead.
26) Capt. McPherson who lost his arm in battle (true) shot it back at the enemy.
27) Lincoln statue in Fairmount Park is signing the Declaration of Independence.
28) Ben Franklin had 80 illegitimate children all in Sweden.
29) The fire companies sent a bill to the insurance company for putting out a fire in an insured house.
30) Betsy Ross was known as the black widow because she outlived three husbands
31) Betsy Ross sent a bill for sewing the first flag to the Continental Congress
32) Betsy Ross sewed half the American uniforms
33) JFK lived in the Bouvier houses on Third Street
34) JFK visited the Bouvier houses on Third Street
35) George Washington and Abraham Lincoln ate together at the Powel House.
36) “You can get tickets to see the Powel House at the church down the street.”
37) George Washington is buried in Washington Square
38) The Revolutionary War was financed by people buying bricks for the wall around Washington Square.
39) Each bell-shaped brick in wall of St. Peter’s Church represents a dead Revolutionary War soldier.
40) William Penn was a founder of Pennsylvania Hospital.
41) Benjamin Rush was a founder of Pennsylvania Hospital
42) City tavern is the original building
43) Stephen Girard was an orphan who charged 100 percent interest on a loan while he was still in the orphanage.
44) Betsy Ross’s husband was killed in an explosion (true) that he ignited by smoking around ammunition.
45) The Academy of Natural Sciences was founded to house the Lewis & Clark material.
46) Henry Moore’s statue on the Parkway represents Londoners during the blitz under blankets.
47) Chinatown founded by railroad workers
48 The first seven prisoners at Eastern State Penitentiary went crazy.
49) Prince Rainier proposed marriage to Grace Kelly at the Embassy Suites on the Parkway.
50) The Ben Franklin Bridge is the third longest suspension bridge in the world.
51) City Tavern is where the First Continental Congress met.
52) At the Union League one set of the front steps was for men, the other for women.
53) The reason for window shutters was to close them when the tax man came around because each window was taxed.
54) The population of Philadelphia is 3 ½ million.
55) The population of Center City Philadelphia is 1 ½ million.
56) It’s called Society Hill because it was named for craft societies.
57) Christ Church is the oldest Episcopal church in America.
58) The garden behind the Second National Bank was where wives waited because they weren’t allowed inside the bank.
59) The Second Bank of the United States is an example of “Reefer Bible architecture.” (Meant Greek Revival)
60) A building facade on Walnut Street is an “Egyptian architect.”
61) William Penn only got Philadelphia from the King; he had to buy the rest of Pennsylvania from the Indians.
62) The Walnut Street prison was the first prison in America.
63) Dr. Physick invented anesthesia
64) Dr. Physick first to sterilize his instruments
65) The statue of George Washington (in front of Art Museum) is really Frederick the Great.
66) Physicians are named for Doctor Physick.
67) Ghost Busters was filmed in Philadelphia at the U.S. Customs House.
68) Traitors during the American revolution were buried upside down.
69) The movie “Trading Places” was filmed at the Union League.
70) Edmond Bacon spent $2 billion to create Society Hill
71) The Atwater Kent Museum contains the first radio.
72) The Atwater Kent Museum was originally a radio factory.
73) The terms “upper” and “lower house” are because the Senate was on the second floor at Congress Hall and the House of Representatives on the first floor.
74) Wooden houses were forbidden by William Penn to prevent fires.
75) Catholic midnight Mass was started here because the Catholics were trying to worship secretly.
76) The boat houses on Boat House Row were originally fishing clubs.
77) Ben Franklin weighed 300 pounds when he died and had syphilis.
78) Guides call a street near Carpenters Hall “Barrel Alley” because they “rolled barrels all the way down to the ships on the Delaware River.”

79) Mother Bethel AME is the “first Baptist church in America.”
80) The large house at 3rd and Walnut is where Kevin Bacon lives.
81) Dolly Madison invented ice cream at Ben Franklin’s Library
82) You can tell how old a house is by counting the spokes in the
fanlight over the door
83) Betsy Ross had three cats she named Red, White and Blue.