All Historic Sites in United States

Known for its grand architecture and strict discipline, this was the world’s first true “penitentiary,” a prison designed to inspire penitence, or true regret, in the hearts of convicts. Its vaulted, sky-lit cells once held many of America’s most notorious criminals, including bank robber “Slick Willie” Sutton and Al Capone. Eastern State Penitentiary is open every day, 10 am to 5 pm. Admission includes “The Voices of Eastern State” Audio Tours, guided tours, Hands-On History interactive experiences, and a critically acclaimed series of artist installations.

Covering half a city block of indoor and outdoor space, Philadelphia’s Magic Gardens glisten with creativity and urban renaissance. Artist Isaiah Zagar began tiling South Street in the 1960’s and never stopped, eventually building a mosaic garden out of ceramic shards, broken mirrors, bicycle spokes, and vivid splashes of dyed cement. The tiled passages of the Magic Garden weave over and under ground, and perhaps more than anything through the mind of a dedicated and obsessed artist.

Philadelphia City Hall, located at 1 Penn Square, is the seat of government for the city of Philadelphia, in the commonwealth of Pennsylvania.At 548ft, including the statue of city founder William Penn atop it, it was the tallest habitable building in the world from 1894 to 1908. It remained the tallest in Pennsylvania until it was surpassed in 1932 by the Gulf Tower in Pittsburgh; it was the tallest in Philadelphia until the construction of One Liberty Place (1984–87) ended the informal gentlemen’s agreement that limited the height of buildings in the city. Today, it is the state’s 16th-tallest building.City Hall has been the world’s tallest masonry building since at least the 1953 collapse of the pinnacle of the Mole Antonelliana in Turin. Its weight is borne by granite and brick walls up to 22ft thick. The principal exterior materials are limestone, granite, and marble.In 2007, the building was voted #21 on the American Institute of Architects’ list of Americans’ 150 favorite U.S. structures.

The Liberty Bell is an iconic symbol of American independence, located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Formerly placed in the steeple of the Pennsylvania State House (now renamed Independence Hall), the bell today is located in the Liberty Bell Center in Independence National Historical Park. The bell was commissioned from the London firm of Lester and Pack (today the Whitechapel Bell Foundry) in 1752, and was cast with the lettering “Proclaim LIBERTY throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof,” a Biblical reference from the Book of Leviticus (25:10). The bell first cracked when rung after its arrival in Philadelphia, and was twice recast by local workmen John Pass and John Stow, whose last names appear on the bell. In its early years, the Liberty Bell was used to summon lawmakers to legislative sessions and to alert citizens to public meetings and proclamations.No immediate announcement was made of the Second Continental Congress’s vote for independence, and thus the bell could not have rung on July 4, 1776, at least not for any reason related to that vote. Bells were rung to mark the reading of the Declaration of Independence on July 8, 1776, and while there is no contemporary account of the Liberty Bell ringing, most historians believe it was one of the bells rung. After American independence was secured, it fell into relative obscurity for some years. In the 1830s, the bell was adopted as a symbol by abolitionist societies, who dubbed it the “Liberty Bell.”

Independence Hall is where both the United States Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution were debated and adopted. It is now the centerpiece of the Independence National Historical Park in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.The building was completed in 1753 as the colonial legislature (later Pennsylvania State House) for the Province of Pennsylvania. It became the principal meeting place of the Second Continental Congress from 1775 to 1783 and was the site of the Constitutional Convention in the summer of 1787.A convention held in Independence Hall in 1915, presided over by former US president William Howard Taft, marked the formal announcement of the formation of the League to Enforce Peace, which led to the League of Nations and eventually the United Nations. The building is part of Independence National Historical Park and is listed as a World Heritage Site.Preparation for constructionBy the spring of 1729 the citizens of Philadelphia were petitioning to be allowed to build a state house. Two thousand pounds were committed to the endeavor. A committee composed of Thomas Lawrence, Dr. John Kearsley, and Andrew Hamilton was charged with the responsibility of selecting a site for construction, acquiring plans for the building, and contracting a company for the purpose of construction. Hamilton and William Allen were named trustees of the purchasing and building fund and authorized to buy the land that would be the site of the state house. By October 1730 they had begun purchasing lots on Chestnut Street.

The Powel House is a historic house museum located at 244 South 3rd Street, between Willings Alley and Spruce Street, in the Society Hill neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Built in 1765 in the Georgian style, and embellished by second owner Samuel Powel (1738 – 1793), it has been called “the finest Georgian row house in the city.” As with other houses of this type, the exterior facade was, but the interior was elaborately appointed.HistoryThe elegant brick city house was built for Charles Stedman, a merchant and shipmaster. Before he had the chance to live in it, Stedman fell into financial trouble – eventually winding up in debtors’ prison. The house was purchased for £3,150 on August 2, 1769 by Samuel Powel, who would become the last mayor of Philadelphia under British rule and the city’s first mayor following independence. A Quaker who converted to Anglicanism, he supported the American Revolution and was dubbed the “Patriot Mayor.”The building is attributed to architect/builder Robert Smith. Powel and his wife Elizabeth (née Willing) lavishly redecorated, creating some of the most ornate interiors in the Colonies. The Rococo plastered ceilings are attributed to James Clow, and the architectural woodwork is attributed to carvers Hercules Courtnay and Martin Jugiez.

Petra was rediscovered in 1812 by the Swiss explorer Johan Ludwig Burckhardt during his expedition, which was funded by the British Royal Geographical Society, in the Levant, Egypt and the Arabian Peninsula. Due to the centuries that lapsed before the rediscovery of the city by the outside world, Petra was named the “Lost City”. It was also described by the English poet Bergen as the unique, astonishing Eastern city. In its heyday, the Nabatean Kingdom flourished to reach the north-west of the Arabian Peninsula where the city of Madian Saleh lies. It further extended its influence to the Red Sea shores of Sinai and the Horan Fields in Syria to Damascus. The Nabatean Kingdom, along with its capital Petra, was surrounded by many ancient kingdoms and civilizations including the Pharaohs to the west, Tadmor to the north, and Mesopotamia to the east. The archaeological park in Petra covers 264 dunums (264,000 square meters). Visitors are met with an amazing landscape of pink-hued rock mountains and the ancient Nabataean city of Petra, carved into the rock over 2,000 years ago.

From humble storefront beginnings in 1971 on a derelict corner of northwest Portland, Oregon, Powell’s Books has grown into one of the world’s great bookstores. Powell’s distinctive synergy today underpins four full-service bookstores (Powell’s City of Books, Powell’s at Cedar Hills Crossing, Powell’s on Hawthorne, and Powell’s at PDX), two specialty stores (Powell’s Technical Books and Powell’s Books for Home and Garden), and Powells.com.