Philadelphia Airport Shows Off Historical Landmarks
For the next year, travelers going through Philadelphia International Airport will get a good look at the landmarks that make the city great, all in one place. Yesterday, a new exhibit was unveiled in Terminal A-East that shows photographs and history on the City of Brotherly Love’s 67 National Historic Landmarks. Photos both past and current of the “homes, hospitals, halls, churches, cemeteries, libraries, and financial institutions made famous by what happened there, or the men and women who lived in or designed them” will be on display, as per the Philadelphia Inquirer.
An airport worker points out details in the Historic Landmarks exhibit at Philadelphia International Airport. (The Inquirer)
The exhibit was brought to life by airport chief curator Leah Douglas, who was inspired by Philadelphia’s designation as the country’s first World Heritage City. That happened in November 2015 in part due to the fact that because Independence Hall is a UNESCO World Heritage site.
“We welcome 82,000 people to our airport each and every day, a little over 30 million a year,” said airport CEO Chellie Cameron. “This exhibit is going to have great exposure for Philadelphia and for the World Heritage City status.”
Cameron, along with Philadelphia mayor Jim Kenney, was on hand to unveil the landmarks exhibit. Unfortunately for the public, it will only be visible to ticketed passengers coming through the terminal.
Douglas has, each year for the last decade, come up with a Philadelphia theme to coincide with the 4th of July and Wawa Welcome America festivities. She says that the exhibit on Philadelphia landmarks is a nod towards the need for acknowledgment and preservation of these special places.
According to the Inquirer: “Philadelphia’s 67 national historic landmarks are scattered throughout neighborhoods from Germantown to Southwest Philadelphia, Mount Airy and University City, to North Philadelphia and Center City. Two are ships: the USS Becuna, a World War II submarine, and the USS Olympia, a naval cruiser in the Spanish-American War. Both are at the Independence Seaport Museum.”
