Elfreth's Alley Museum
add photosMarch through October
Tuesday Noon to 5pm
Wednesday to Saturday 10 am to 5pm
Sunday Noon to 5pm
November through February
Thursday to Saturday 10 am to 5pm
Sunday Noon to 5pm
3 Reviews for Elfreth's Alley Museum
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"Fun with the Family"
To get an idea of what Philadelphia may have looked like in the 1700s, take a walk down Elfreth’s Alley, the oldest residential street in America. Families still inhabit this cobblestone alley tucked between Arch and Race Streets on Second Street in Old City. Walking down this charming street, you can imagine what life must have been like when these thirty houses were built between 1728 and 1836, when carpenters and other artisans lived here.
Number 126, the 1762 Mantua Maker’s House Museum, and Number 124, the Windsor Chairmaker’s House, are open to the public. (A mantua was a type of gown made by the house’s first residents, a pair of seamstresses.) A guide will show you around.
Other houses are open during special open-house events. On weekends in summer there are demonstrations of traditional crafts, such as basket weaving, broom making, needlework, and candle dipping. In June the Elfreth’s Alley Association hosts Fête Days, when many of the houses and gardens are opened to the public and colonial crafts are demonstrated. On the second Friday of December, the alley hosts “Deck the Alley,” a candlelight open-house tour. The garden and Windsor Chairmaker’s House are wheelchair accessible. People still live in these houses, so remind your children to use their manners.
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1 family found this helpful
"Walking through history"
Walking down Elfreth's Alley is a walk down the oldest residential street in the U.S. It's narrow, only a block long, with private residences on either side. Like other Philadelphia sites, there's not much excitement for the kids, other than to point out that these are old houses, and to have them look for the little "busybody" mirrors that show who's knocking on the door. It's only a block away from Fireman's Hall, so you might as well see it if you're headed in that direction.
2 families found this helpful
"dream of colonial america"
I absolutely love walking and exploring the cobbled Efreth's Alley. I'd often take visitors here for a taste of colonial Philadelphia. The scale of the alley is amazing, it almost feels 3/4 the size of what we would think of as livable today. There are many nooks and side gardens to wander around. It's free to wander around if you don't tour the interior of the houses. I've spent many a lunch break here in this different world from a time long past.
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