Girard College to Eastern State Penitentiary: A Tour of North Fairmount

Philadelphia is a city of neighborhoods and as we celebrate the US 250 come find out more about North Fairmount.

In the decades after the American Revolution, Philadelphia was at the forefront of the creation of new institutions such as schools, charities, and reform societies to address social problems and promote civic virtue in the young nation. Many of these would ultimately find a home in Fairmount. On this walking tour from Girard College to Eastern State Penitentiary, we will explore some of many institutions that are part of our neighborhood's history.

In 1821, when what is now Fairmount was farmland, the Philadelphia Society for Alleviating the Miseries of Public Prisons urged the creation of the nation's first penitentiary as a means of Pr*son reform. Eastern State opened its doors in 1829. Girard College, a boarding school for financially-disadvantaged children, came soon after, with construction beginning in 1833. Over time, these two massive establishments were joined by a variety of institutions, from the Women’s Medical College to the first public school in Philadelphia designed specifically for students with physical disabilities.

Our tour will start at the Girard College gate. We will then walk through the neighborhood, looking at sites of current and former institutions before ending at 22nd and Fairmount, at the corner of Eastern State Penitentiary.

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Host or Publisher Kathy Haas, Director of Historical Resources, Girard College