Lucky 7 @ Historic Logan Square - Philadelphia, PA
N 39° 57.475 W 075° 10.240
18S E 485422 N 4423100
Logan Square, part of William Penn's original plan for the City of Philadelphia dates back to 1682. In the 1920s, when Benjamin Franklin Parkway was overlayed onto the City street grid, Logan Square became a traffic circle.
Waymark Code: WM5BRM
Location: Pennsylvania, United States
Date Posted: 12/14/2008
Views: 30
"46. Logan Square, Benjamin Franklin Parkway from the 18th to 20th Sts., is one of the five parks included in William Penn's original plan of Philadelphia. In the center is a large fountain surrounded by three bronze figures representing the waterways of Philadelphia: the Delaware, the Schuylkill, and the Wissahickon. The fountain was designed by Alexander Sterling Calder, with Wilson, Eyre & McIllvaine as associate architects." --- Pennsylvania: A Guide to the Keystone State, 1940; page 278
Whether you follow the official plaque, which says "Logan Square," or the Wiki says "Logan Circle," the key feature of this plaza area is the Swann Fountain built in 1924. In present times, this fountain is the place where Philadelphia school children symbolically jump into the fountain to celebrate the beginning of Summer... a practice that has been discourage in recent years.
Key landmark buildings surround Logan Square: Free Library of Philadelphia, the Academy of Natural Sciences, the Franklin Institute and the Roman Catholic Cathedral-Basilica of Sts. Peter and Paul.
Personal Anecdote
Since I began geocaching and waymarking a few years ago, I have discovered a significant amount of information about my home, including Philadelphia. To wit, our city was laid out hundreds of years ago and five squares were set aside as open spaces. Except for the middle square (which is where our government makes its home), all the other squares still exist, and function as parks and open spaces. They are filled with fountains, works of art and people.
One day while walking around in Logan Square (now a circle), after visiting the Art Museum, I noticed a large marker which read, "Planned 1682 Dedicated 1997 National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark The City of Philadelphia Surveyor General Thomas Holme, Governor, William Penn & Others planned the open public squares and rational street layout that we enjoy today. These original features have inspired city engineers for 300 years." Who knew I was standing in the middle of an important historical engineering landmark? I thought this was too good to pass up so a whole bunch of waymarks were born!
This particular Lucky 7 waymark is the second square in what will eventually be an entire collection of Lucky 7 squares, one for each of the original squares set aside by WIlliam Penn. By the way, this is my first Lucky 7 which has all the waymarks within the .1 mile radius. Okay, here we go:
Without further ado, here are the title of my waymarks, arranged in ascending order with departments numbers and hot links to boot.
02. “Deinonychus – Terrible Claw” – Philadelphia, PA
04. 1930 - The Old Board of Education Building - Philadelphia, PA
06. The Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia
07. Franklin Institute Science Museum - Philadelphia, PA
08. All Wars Memorial to Colored Soldiers and Sailors - Philadelphia, PA
13. City Plan of Philadelphia - Philadelphia, PA
14. Logan Circle (Philadelphia)