About
Famous for cheese steaks, lawyers and liberty, America's original capital is rich with revolutionary history, culture and symbolism. Home to the Liberty Bell and the Declaration of Independence, today's Philadelphia is far from a historical relic. Urban and urbane, Philadelphia is a rich mix of traditions, races and immigrant cultures, as well as home to an exciting collection of cultural, culinary and recreational amenities that only a city of Philadelphia's heritage can provide. Philadelphia's Historic District is more than Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell. Philadelphia has a very colorful past.
In March 1681, England's King Charles II granted William Penn a charter to a parcel of land west of the Delaware River. Charles dubbed the area 'Penn' in honor of William's father, with Penn the Younger adding '-sylvania', meaning 'woodlands'. Brimming with pacifist Quaker idealism, Penn regarded his colony as a 'holy experiment' and ensured as its governor and proprietor that its laws respected religious freedom and liberal government. Penn chose Philadelphia as the capital of Pennsylvania in 1682, optimistically naming it after the Greek for 'brotherly love'. A survivor of London's Great Fire of 1666, he made sure the city's design included a grid system with wide streets, not the narrow, winding maze that had caused so much havoc in England's capital. This format was to become the inspiration for most American cities.