A Philadelphia Story. Lori Litchman

Water Works became the prototype for water supplies across the growing nation. Latrobe’s structure was eventually torn down in 1829.

      Graff died in 1847, and his son, Frederick Graff Jr., took over as the superintendent of Fairmount Water Works. Graff Jr. saw a need to ensure the safety and cleanliness of the water supply for the city and pushed the city to acquire land along the banks of the Schuylkill River. The city started buying land in 1855 and continued to do so through 1890, effectively creating thousands of acres of a buffer zone that is known today as Fairmount Park. The Fairmount Park Commission was created in 1867, and Frederick Graff Jr. Was one of the first commissioners of the new government body. Today, Fairmount Park covers more than 9,200 acres and is one of the largest urban parks in the world.

      From City Square to Boneyard and Back

      WASHINGTON SQUARE IS A FAVORITE PLACE for Philadelphians and tourists to stroll through during any season to take in its pastoral beauty in the middle of the city. One of Penn’s original squares, it was laid out in the plan of the city in 1682. Back then it was called Southeast Square.

      However, within 25 years of the founding of Philadelphia, the square had become a potter’s field—a cheap burial ground for the poor and unknown in the city. Later, during the Revolutionary War, deceased soldiers were buried in pits at the square. When the British took over Philadelphia in 1777, they kept prisoners of war in the Walnut Street Jail. Anyone who died in the prison ended up in the square. And—you guessed it—during the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793, the square became a massive grave site for those who succumbed to the sickness.

      In 1815, the city decided to turn the 6.4-acre area back into a public park, planting trees and beautifying the space. The park was renamed Washington Square in 1825 in honor of George Washington.

      Today, it serves as a public green space in the city and is a favorite resting area for lunching Philadelphians and visiting tourists. And no ghost tour is complete in the city without stopping by the square and talking about its storied history.

      Medical Milestones

      ANOTHER NOTABLE FIRST in Philadelphia’s health history is the founding of the country’s first independent biomedical research facility. The Wistar Institute opened its doors in 1892. The institute derives its name from Dr. Caspar Wistar, a prominent early doctor. Wistar, who started his medical practice in 1787, was the author of the first American textbook on anatomy. Wistar was friends with Thomas Jefferson and was a president of the American Philosophical Society. He was also a professor and chair at Penn’s medical school in the Department of Anatomy. Throughout his career, Wistar would collect preserved human body parts, which he would dry and inject with wax. His friend, Rush, also constructed sculpted anatomical models. The collection kept growing in size and use and ultimately became known as the Wistar and Horner Museum, the second name originating from Wistar’s friend Dr. William Edmonds Horner.

      A fire in the University of Pennsylvania facility that housed the collection caused the provost at the time, Dr. William Pepper, to start a movement to provide a home for the collection where medical professionals could study. Wistar, whose family was widely involved in Philadelphia society, died in 1818. Some years later, his great-nephew, Isaac Jones Wistar, came to the rescue of the collection. Isaac Wistar was a prominent lawyer and brigadier general in the Civil War and decided to make a generous donation that led to the creation of The Wistar Institute of Anatomy and Biology. The Wistar Institute grew into a center for medical and biological research. It has been a leader in research in the areas of vaccines, cancer, DNA, gene expression, and numerous other areas.

      Other notable medical firsts include the following:

      ■The nation’s first children’s hospital, The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP), is known today as the Children’s Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Francis West Lewis founded it in 1855, aided by two colleagues, Drs. T. Hewson Bache and R. A. F. Penrose.

      ■The nation’s first eye hospital, Wills Eye Hospital, was established in 1832 by James Wills. Today it is part of Thomas Jefferson University.

      ■The nation’s first medical school for women, The Women’s Medical College of Pennsylvania, was founded in 1850. It was later renamed The Medical College of Pennsylvania in 1970 when men were admitted. It is now part of the Drexel University College of Medicine.

      ■Friends Hospital is the oldest private psychiatric hospital in the nation. Quakers founded it in 1813 to provide dignity and support for those suffering from mental illness. It still operates today in northeast Philadelphia.

      End of an Era, Beginning of a Legacy

      IN HIS PULITZER PRIZE-WINNING BIOGRAPHY, Benjamin Franklin, author Carl Van Doren wrote, “No other town burying its great man, ever buried more of itself than Philadelphia with Franklin.” Franklin had had problems with his lungs for years when an abscess there finally burst, causing his death on April 17, 1790. He was buried four days later when an estimated 20,000 people (half of the city) attended his funeral. The nation mourned his loss. He is buried at Christ Church, where tourists can regularly visit his final resting place and toss pennies on his tombstone in the hopes that Franklin’s spirit will give them good luck. Christ Church also plays its own role in the founding of the nation, as men as prestigious as Franklin worshiped there in the nation’s infant years. It was founded in 1695, was the first Church of England parish in the colonies, and was the birthplace of the American Episcopal Church.