After the Declaration of Independence was signed on July 4, 1776, there was a long struggle to make the document a reality.
"Southeast Square" was one of William Penn's five designated "green" spaces. In colonial times it often served as a pauper's field. In 1825, it was renamed in honor of George Washington
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| Washington Square - fountain and monument |
During the War for Independence, the British held Philadelphia. Soldiers of Washington's army who were prisoners of war often died of wounds and sickness. The British hauled their bodies to the square and buried them in unmarked graves.
"The Tomb of the Unknown Revolutionary Soldier" honors these soldiers.
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| Tomb of the Unknown Revolutionary Soldier |
The monument includes a a tomb with remains of a soldier disinterred from the park, an eternal flame ...
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| Eternal Flame |
... and a bronze cast of Houdon's statue of Washington.
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| George Washington (bronze cast from Houdon's statue) |
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| George Washington (detail) |
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