Free previewStop 9 of Philadelphia Walking Tour: Independence Hall to Elfreth's Alley
The Grave Boston Said Philadelphia Neglected
You're at the corner of 5th and Arch, beside the old brick wall of Christ Church Burial Ground. Find the gap in that wall fitted with metal rails. Look through them and you'll see a plain flat stone, often scattered with pennies. That's the grave of Benjamin Franklin, and of his wife, Deborah.
You've followed Franklin all day: the printer, the scientist, the diplomat. This is where the story ends. Christ Church opened this ground in 1719, out at what was then the edge of town, and it's still an active cemetery. It holds about 1,400 markers on two acres. When Franklin died in April 1790, the most famous American in the world came here to lie beside Deborah, under a stone as modest as the one you're looking at.
For decades, that was enough. Then, in the 1850s, Boston spoke up.
That's the opening. The rest plays at stop 9 of Philadelphia Walking Tour: Independence Hall to Elfreth's Alley (3 min in all). Unlock the tour to hear it all, or try stop 1 free first.
