Thaddeus Kosciuszko National Monument

I had to pick up some specimens from a couple of places in Philly on Thursday and had a little extra time, so we decided to go on a couple of short National Monument tours.

This is the 1st National Monument that Sarah, Jackson and I have visited and completed since we decided that we want to visit all of them.

I never heard of this National Monument (NM) or this person until I heard this story on NPR: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=92035186

I'm assuming most people who read this won't have heard of him either, so there's a link in this post title and here's another one: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thaddeus_Kosciuszko

This is the smallest park in the National Park system (0.02 acres). It really only consists of a singe small house at the corner of Pine and 3rd Streets in downtown Philly. Actually, it's in the Society Hill area of town, which is really nice because much of it (the buildings, cobblestone roads, etc.) literally has hardly changed since colonial times when people like Betsy Ross, Thomas Jefferson, and Ben Franklin walked its streets.

Anyway, the house is tiny and very unassuming. I imagine hundreds of people walk by it every day, or live in the area all their lives, and without ever stopping by or knowing it is there.

This was the house of Thaddeus Kosciuszko, who was a well trained military man from Poland who fought for the Americans in the Revolution. He became inspired by the ideals of the American cause and tried to go back to Poland to start a similar revolution, but was unsuccessful. He was captured by the Prussians and was badly wounded, but survived and came back here to this house in exile. He was a hero to Americans for his heroism in the Revolution, so was welcomed back to Philadelphia with cannons and cheering crowds.

He was good friends with Thomas Jefferson, and even made him executor of his American will, which gave all of his money to buy the freedom of slaves.

He apparently is still a big national hero the Polish. The sign in book had visitors from Poland just earlier in the week. There are numerous monuments, roads, bridges, etc. named for him all over the country.

Anyway, the place was interesting and we had fun. The house really only consists of a recreation of his room on the 2nd floor, an adjacent theater, and a small welcome area on the 1st floor. We were the only people there and by the reaction from the ranger, we may have been the 1st people he'd seen in quite a while. It was free to enter.