Running tour · Philadelphia

The Parkway to Eastern State

1.2 mi run

Open in Stride Stories

The stories on this route

1. Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul

   Look at the cathedral on the southeast side of the circle: four tall Corinthian columns, bronze statues in niches, and a green copper dome with a cross on top. Now look up at the side walls. The windows are set high above the street. There's a reason.

2. Swann Memorial Fountain

   Look at the fountain in the middle of Logan Circle. Its three big bronze figures stand for the area's waterways: the Wissahickon, the Schuylkill and the Delaware. The swans are a pun on Dr. Wilson Cary Swann. Now look down the Parkway to William Penn on City Hall.

3. Franklin Institute

   Look across 20th Street at the Franklin Institute: six huge Corinthian columns. Inside, a 20-foot Ben Franklin sits under a dome. Now for the strange part. On March 31, 1940, a press agent named William Castellini put out a press release saying the world would end the next day. It caused a panic in the city.

4. Barnes Foundation

   Look at the long, low, pale stone building set back behind the trees and water. Compare it with the columned buildings nearby. That's the Barnes Foundation.

5. Rodin Museum

   Look at the bronze man on the stone pedestal, in front of the gateway, chin on his hand. That's The Thinker.

6. Eastern State Penitentiary

   Look at that wall: thirty feet high, windowless, with towers like a castle. That was the point. The commission wanted the outside to 'convey to the mind a cheerless blank'.

Stories researched October 2026 · every fact checked against a source