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Some of My Favorite Places in Philadelphia

We asked Landmark Events historian Bill Potter to share some of his favorite places in Philadelphia in anticipation of our Cradle of Liberty Tour June 29-July 3. His answers capture the essence of why we study history the way we do.

Some of My Favorite Places in Philadelphia
by Bill Potter

I have visited many interesting and remarkable historic sites around the world. In each area are several special places and messages associated with them that inspire, encourage, or warn me in my own pilgrimage in the world. Philadelphia is no exception. In some ways it exudes little of the brotherly love that William Penn intended to evoke for all his posterity, as “ground zero” of the War for American Independence. Nonetheless, the city and nearby places have been the providential location of great Gospel witness that affected all of the United States and the world.

Because of the welcoming climate of Penn’s colony, dissenters settled in its borders, creating a launching platform for the Gospel. In the 1740s the evangelist George Whitefield came to America. Some estimate that in his lifetime he preached about 18,000 sermons and reached about ten million people! In his seven visits to America, he preached in Philadelphia several times. No church could hold the crowds so he preached in the open air to tens of thousands. Multiple hundreds professed faith in Christ upon hearing his powerful messages. He struck up a friendship with Benjamin Franklin which lasted his lifetime. I like to stand in the street that was packed with Whitefield’s hearers and imagine in my mind’s eye how his stentorian voice could be heard a hundred yards away. He took for granted that among the throngs of a city known for its religious interests, that many church-goers did not have heart religion or were hypocrites in disguise.


William Penn


George Whitefield


Benjamin Franklin

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We visit the cemetery in Princeton, New Jersey, a short drive from Philadelphia. There lie the graves of some of the most influential Christian pastors and theologians in all of history. I love to stand at the feet of Jonathan Edwards, the other great preacher of the Great Awakening and Samuel Davies, “the apostle of Virginia.” Alongside them are other great men of Princeton — Samuel Miller, three generations of Hodges, Benjamin Warfield, and even the rascal Aaron Burr, whose mother was Jonathan Edwards’s daughter, and after serving as Vice President of the United States, killed the great Alexander Hamilton in a duel.


Jonathan Edwards


My Favorite President


Samuel Davies

One of my two favorite Presidents in American history is buried in the Princeton cemetery... but you have to come to find out who it is and why he is great!

Attracted as I am to armies, battles and wars, the Philly tour visits the Brandywine battlefield. It is there that the Marquis de Lafayette joined Washington in battle for the first time and was wounded. We tell his story. It is the place that General Washington ended up in the sights of a sharpshooter who did not shoot. We tell that amazing tale of providence. But one of my favorite sites at that battlefield is the massive 391-year-old Sycamore tree that stands next to Lafayette’s headquarters. It is a living thing that witnessed the battle and still stands as mute testimony of a providential battle of huge importance in our history. Hard to imagine. It is a place for a memorable photograph of your family — which it will likely outlive!


Marquis de Lafayette


Brandywine Field


George Washington

There are more amazing places to visit on our tour, but these are some of my favorites.

Bill Potter

Picture Your Family in Philadelphia!

Landmark Events is about making memories. For this purpose we will outfit every young patriot on the tour with a souvenir wooden musket and charge across the battlefield to confront the enemy and secure liberty, reminding them every step of the way that they are running on the very ground on which General Washington’s army fought. Our hope is those little ones leave the field trusting in the Lord for their victories, just as beloved General Washington did.

 

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