A drive from the beginning to the end of Germantown Avenue takes riders through a complete experience of the city of Philadelphia. Starting underneath the highway by the Delaware River on one side of the city, passing behind the shadow of the newest, trendiest parts of Philadelphia, through some of its toughest neighborhoods, onto the most historic neighborhoods, and ending at the city’s toniest alcove on the other border, Germantown Avenue is the city in a single street.

Highlights include:

  • Deshler-Morris House, “The Germantown White House,” where Washington and his family took refuge during periods of yellow fever.
  • Fairhill Cemetery, A Quaker cemetery founded in 1703, which includes the graves of some of the nation’s most famous abolitionists from the Underground Railroad.
  • Germantown, Daniel Pastorius bought the land from William Penn in 1683 to create a German enclave in Pennsylvania. The land is now known as the Philadelphia neighborhood Germantown. Its side streets include a vast array of Victorian homes as well.
  • Cliveden, the site of the Revolutionary War’s Battle of Germantown. Bullet holes from the muskets of fighters are still visible in the building.
  • Pelham, a sub-neighborhood was once the site of John Carpenter’s 300 acre estate, which in the 19th century was one of the biggest mansions in the country. It was sold by his heirs to create Pelham.