Cool Stuff About Philadelphia You (Probably) Didn’t Know

You read about the City of Brotherly Love every day here on the CCT blog, but today it’s time for a “did you know?” about our favorite city.

Before European settlement, Philadelphia was known as Shackamaxon, home to the Lenape tribe of Native Americans. Although he was granted a charter for the land by King Charles II, William Penn bought the land from the Lenape to ensure good relations with the tribe. He named the land from the Greek words for “love” or “friendship” (philos), and adelphos, “brother.” Because Penn was a Quaker and had endured religious persecution in his homeland of England, he founded Philadelphia on the principles of liberty and tolerance.

Philadelphia is one interesting city. Find out some cool facts about the City of Brotherly Love!

Philadelphia is the only World Heritage City in the United States, a designation it earned on the basis of its tremendous history and cultural significance.

The lowest point in the city is ten feet above sea level, while the highest is Chestnut Hill, at 445 feet above sea level.

Center City is the nation’s second most-populated downtown area, coming in behind only New York City’s. It was planned and built on a grid system that was intended to make for easy travel and with large open spaces that would hopefully stop the spread of fires. Penn designed five large public squares, which weren’t renamed until the 1820s: Centre Square, North East Publick Square (Franklin Square), Northwest Square (Logan Square), Southwest Square (Rittenhouse Square), and Southeast Square (Washington Square).

Philadelphia was the site of the first modern (International Style) skyscraper in the United States, the PSFS Building, designed by George Howe and William Lescaze. To this day it is considered the most architecturally-important skyscraper built in the first part of the 20th century.

Climate-wise, Philly is considered part of the humid subtropical climate zone. The city’s heaviest single-storm snowfall, at 30.7 inches, took place in January 1996. The most rain recorded in one day occurred on July 28, 2013, when 8.02 in fell at Philadelphia International Airport. THe hottest day on record was August 7, 1918, when the thermometer hit 106 °F. The coldest was February 9, 1934, at −11 °F.

Those are just some fun facts about Philadelphia. Watch the blog for more Cool Stuff About Philadelphia!