The President's House

The President’s House is not a building but a memory. The structure that stood at the corner of Sixth and Market Streets from the 1760s until its demolition in 1832 served as the executive residence for George Washington and John Adams during the decade Philadelphia was the nation’s capital. Washington occupied the house from 1790 to 1797, overseeing significant renovations to accommodate his large household, which included family members, secretaries, and a staff of nine enslaved people brought from his Mount Vernon plantation.

The house’s history took on a deeply contested dimension when historians and advocates pointed out in the early 2000s that the planned Liberty Bell Center would be built directly over the house’s footprint, and that the enslaved people’s quarters — including a kitchen and sleeping areas — lay directly beneath the planned entrance. Washington, aware that Pennsylvania’s Gradual Abolition Act could free enslaved people who lived in the state for more than six months, rotated his enslaved staff back to Virginia at intervals specifically to circumvent the law. Oney Judge, an enslaved woman in Washington’s household, escaped to freedom from this location in 1796.

The outdoor memorial that opened in 2010, designed by Kelly/Maiello Architects and Planners, preserves exposed sections of the original foundation walls and uses glass pavilions and interpretive panels to tell the story of both the presidential household and the enslaved people who made it function. The site sits immediately north of the Liberty Bell Center and is administered by the National Park Service as part of Independence National Historical Park.