Though he doesn’t have a Broadway smash named after him, Benjamin Franklin nevertheless stands as one of the most important of our Founding Fathers and one of the more consequential figures in American history. A Philadelphian for most of his adult life, his family home was located in a courtyard south of the 300 block of Market Street. The building only outlived Franklin himself by 22 years, getting demolished in 1812.
In advance of the Bicentennial in 1976, Congress created Independence National Historical Park, part of which called for the recreation of Franklin Court in its original location. At the time, there was not perfect information regarding the home’s design, so architects Robert Venturi, William Rauch, and Denise Scott Brown designed “ghost structures” of Franklin’s home and printing press, to provide a sense of the scale of the buildings. Those structures still stand today, greeting visitors to the Benjamin Franklin Museum.
Ongoing efforts to digitize some of the City’s oldest permitting records recently turned up something remarkable – the original plans for Benjamin Franklin’s house. With this information newly unearthed and America’s semiquincentennial celebration coming up next year, National Parks Service officials announced plans today to rebuild old Silence Dogood’s former residence. Given that the ghost structures are still in great shape and already tell part of Franklin’s life story, officials needed to pick a different location for this project. They’ve settled on Race Street Pier, just five blocks away from the home’s original location. There’s something poetic about this plan, allowing the spirit of Ben Franklin to gaze upon the bridge named after him.
Mayor Parker has already endorsed the project. “This counts towards my goal of building thirty thousand new homes in Philadelphia, even if a ghost is the only one that lives there. And technically the ghost won’t have to pay rent, so we’re considering this an affordable unit.”
While rumors of the impending reconstruction have mostly been met with cheers, some folks are worried the new building could change the character of the neighborhood. “Why weren’t we given more notice that the 250th birthday of the United States would be occurring next year?!” asked a concerned near neighbor. “This is why we need a zoning overlay covering all of Philadelphia, to make sure nobody can go around celebrating Philadelphia’s centuries of architectural history and the struggle for freedom all willy-nilly,” they continued.
With the semiquincentennial quickly approaching, this project will need to move forward with light speed if it’s to be completed in time for America’s birthday celebration. We expect that this will be fast tracked with help from the Mayor’s office, but it’ll still be a race against the clock. If the City and National Parks wins this proverbial race, we might just be able to fly a kite (sans key) next to a reproduction of Ben Franklin’s house on the Delaware Waterfront on July 4th, 2026. Then, that evening, we’ll walk over to the Parkway named for him and enjoy some fireworks.
Update: This is not remotely true. Hoping you has a great April Fools’ Day!