Dorrance H. Hamilton Bulding, Philadelphia, Guide du visiteur et quoi faire à proximité

The Dorrance H. Hamilton Building sits at 1001 Locust Street in Philadelphia's Washington Square West neighbourhood. It is an address to use as a marker for a walk through one of the oldest and most layered parts of the city, a few blocks from Washington Square, where the story of early American life and death is written into the ground.

The story behind it

The best-known story nearby belongs to Washington Square, one of the five public squares William Penn's city plan set out. For much of its early history it was used as a burial ground for people the city had little room or money to bury properly. Many soldiers who died during the Revolutionary War are believed to lie here in unmarked graves, and the square also took in many victims of the 1793 yellow fever epidemic. That outbreak killed roughly 5,000 people, about a tenth of the city's population, and sent President Washington and much of the federal government out of town.

The square later became a public park. Today the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier of the American Revolution and its eternal flame mark the site, a quiet reminder of what lies beneath the lawns and benches.

The neighbourhood also has a link to the story of American prisons. The Walnut Street Prison, a few blocks east near Independence Hall, was reorganised in 1790 under Quaker-influenced ideas that silence and solitude could reform inmates. The experiment in isolation spread widely, and later critics, Charles Dickens among them after his 1842 visit to Philadelphia, judged its effect on the mind harshly.

What to look for

• The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier of the American Revolution in Washington Square, with its eternal flame, is the clearest marker of the square's past.
• The mature trees and walking paths of Washington Square show how a burial ground became a calm city park.
• The rows of brick townhouses along Locust Street and the nearby side streets give a good sense of how residential Philadelphia looks and feels.
• Street signs, plaques and small historical markers around the neighbourhood often point to stories that the buildings themselves do not tell.

Tips for your visit

• Treat 1001 Locust Street as a stop on the street rather than a sightseeing attraction, and check current opening hours if you want to go in.
• Allow about 20 to 30 minutes for the block and Washington Square, longer if you wander the side streets.
• Morning or late afternoon light is best for walking, and the park is pleasant for a rest.
• Independence Hall and the rest of Old City are within walking distance, so it combines easily with a wider day on foot.

See it on a quest

You can see this part of the city on Murder Mystery: Death in the Shadows in Washington Square West, Philadelphia. You reach the area on foot as one stop on a longer route through the neighbourhood, the app tells you about each place as you arrive, and you solve a puzzle based on what is in front of you. One ticket covers the whole group, and you can start whenever suits you, with no guide and no fixed departure.