Franklin Court

(This is just for the printing office)
I suppose at times this place can get mobbed with school groups and scout troops but each time that I’ve come (all in the winter and normally on a Saturday) things have been blissfully deserted.
It was just the three of us and a fourth person who was in town from Minnesota for the flower show. That’s was it for over twenty plus minutes while the ranger on duty went through the entire printing process while having a nice little Q&A with each of us.
Worth noting is that if you want to take a souvenir of the print shop home with you they do sell various sized documents that can be purchased (cash only) for a few dollars which on the bottom has the year plus where it came from. I paid a dollar for my favorite from Franklin about what you need to do to keep a secret amongst three people.
Overall while not a lengthy diversion this is a great place to see 18^th century technology at it’s finest and to see the trade that Franklin most loved and wanted to be remembered for.

This review is for the printing office only. We arrived at 4:25 pm and the printer was not letting anyone else in because he wanted to start cleaning up. He wanted to be out the door by 5 pm. While he was busy telling a group of kids that they cannot come in we snuck by him and stood with the group waiting for the demonstration. They should not tell people closing time is 5 pm if they refuse to accept people after 4 something pm. While we were inside, he spent a good few minutes obsessing over making sure no one comes in so he can quit by 5 pm. During his demonstration, you can tell by how he spoke that his mind was already at home. He gave such a lackluster, apathetic effort and was quick to get everyone out. He belongs at the DMV not in a place where you are trying to impress tourists and give them a memorable day. Oh wait, maybe this was Benjamin Franklin’s Department of Motor Vehicles?

I didn’t go into the museum, but I walked around the grounds and went into the printing shop for the demonstration. I was in there while a school group was there, and then stayed while the guide started over with adults. The guide did a great job of adapting for his audience.
I also stopped by the post office and got something hand-​cancelled with a replica of Ben Franklin’s original stamp. :)

Get your learn on about Mr. Ben Franklin. I checked out this museum during his birthday weekend so it was free. Normally admission is 5 dollars for adults and cheaper for children. Walk down the stairs and it leads you to interesting exhibits, interactive games, and facts about him. I would say this museum takes an average of 45 minutes to walk through. I enjoyed my time here and hope anyone else would too for such a wonderful man who helped our country.

Love this! There’s so much to see here, but it’s all small and close together, so it’s easy to see everything. Most of the sites are open at 9 am daily, but some don’t open till 10:00 or noon, so just be aware of that. The guy at the post office wasn’t very friendly, but make sure to at least go in. =) It’s cool to see the outline of where his house was and see the passageway he walked every day while he lived there. Rumor has it Ben still shows up now and again!

Ben Franklin was one BAMF…
There was so much attributed to him that mere words cannot begin to say enough. I admit that by the time I visited this site, I was already beginning to get «museumed-​out» so this review will be a bit terse in details. What was at one time Ben Franklin’s house is merely a frame which represents where it once stood. There is an excavation site which is covered over with see-​through plexiglass that shows some of the details of the actual house’s foundation and structure. This ‘courtyard” is fronted on the street side by a post office, which was closed on the day of our visit, and a printing shop where you can go inside and watch volunteers print copies of the declaration of independence using the same techniques of that time. There is a museum underground which shows some of Ben Franklin’s inventions and artifacts. I remember and particularly enjoyed seeing Ben Franklin’s cartography work. There was also a theater, but we somehow missed the cutoff for entry by a few minutes and didn’t want to wait for the next showing. It was mentioned by other reviews that most of this seems dated and that a more modern museum is in the works for 2012…
I don’t remember paying for entry so this must have been a freebie like everyone reviewing says. I also found this to be a more interesting place to visit than the nearby Betsy Ross house…

Pretty Neat! You can visit Ben Franklins row homes which he rented out, making him the first US landlord– pretty cool! The homes have been preserved as well. Unfortunately Franklins own home, which was located behind the row homes, is no longer standing. However the «footprints» of the structure are visable underground, with glass viewing windows showing footprints of the bearing walls along with descriptions of waht rooms once occupied those spaces.
Insider Info.
During the summer of 2006, Philadelphia conducted an archelogical dig just outside the Liberty Bell exhibit enterance. They had a viewing platform to watch archeologists and workers as they uncovered artifacts from what was one of Washington’s homes. During that time we spoke with an archeologist who was answering questions, about how much we enjoyed the Franklin Court exhibit with viewing windows which they had worked on. They expressed to us that the City had actually deamed the Franklin Court project «a failure» due to lack of interest as it wasn’t as «exciting» for tourists as walking through physical buildings. Because of this the archeological dig they were currently conducting, which was of one of George Washington’s homes, was simply being excavated for artifacts, and not preserved in the manner that Franklin Court was. Unfortunately this plot of land was indeed refilled with soil after the excavation was complete, with no views of the footprints of Washingtons home.

Well, I’m a sucker for historical stuff and this totally satisfied my craving. Ben Franklin’s original house is not standing here anymore (thanks to some descendants who didn’t think it was a big deal to keep the house alive) but there are frames of where the house stood and windows on the ground showing some left over rubble from his home. You can also go into his print shop and watch some volunteers print out the Declaration of Independence old school-​style. There’s a Benjamin Franklin museum, showing off some artifacts and movies about his life. I definitely recommend stopping by here.

Since Ben Franklin is my number one historical crush, I make sure to take all of my visitors to Franklin Court. The underground museum may not live up to modern standards, but it’s a heck of a lot more fun than the Liberty Bell. I think it’s outdatedness is what I find so endearing about it. You can call different historical figures and hear them talk about Ben; you can see real live replicas of things that may have looked like something Ben owned; if you time it right (or make friends with the staff) you can even watch a floor show re-​enactment of Ben’s political endeavors. And don’t forget to check out the movies, all of which are cheesily genius. The best part of all: it’s totally free.

Fun spot! You know you think you know all of the history of this place, and then when you get there you find out all these neat details that just change your perspective on what you thought you knew.

The courtyard was nice and the man himself was a true visionary, but the outdated and dark/​dank museum is a poor tribute. The outline of the house was mildly interesting and the ice-​pit out back was something I’d never really thought about (in the time before freezers and all.)
Go see the printing pressess and the ancient post office — it only takes 20 minutes and that part is free. Until the museum undergoes rennovation, skip it.

I consider myself a bit of a Franklin enthusiast (I think we would have been good friends ha), so I’m a bit embarrassed to say I visited Franklin Court for the first time this weekend.
The actual Ghost House is moderately amusing. I like that they didn’t attempt to recreate his house (it was torn down by his relatives to build tenant housing, what?) and instead allow you to use your imagination, mainly because no one really knows what the house looked like.
I ran out of time to enter the underground museum, but it is filled with paintings, objects, and inventions associated with Benjamin Franklin so you know i’ll be back to check it out.
The real winner of the court though is the old tenant housing that used to be the front of market street. One has been excavated to show Franklin’s attempt at fire-​resistant buildings, old pottery, and drawings of how these places were utilized.
There is also a post office museum and a still working post office that you can go in, which, fun fact, is the only post office in the United States that does not fly a US flag because there wasn’t a flag for the US in 1775 when it opened.
Lastly, there is a printing office with the equipment on display.
I became completely absorbed in all of this stuff and still feel like I didn’t get to experience it all.
The weirdest part of it though is when you exit onto market street to a loud-​busy 21^st century city; I almost forgot where I was!

Anyone who doesn’t enjoy Franklin Court must have missed something. The draw is not the silly frame outline of Franklin’s house (which was torn down long, long ago), nor is it the little windows that reveal pieces of the original foundation (yawn). Actually, it’s not even the underground museum with its antiquated exhibits.
Go inside, for crying out loud! There’s a real, functioning, 18^th-​century print shop with working printing presses and a perpetual smell of black soot based ink. The Rangers who do the printing really tell a great story, so ask them about what they’re doing (and maybe ask if you can help if there isn’t a crowd of children there). Next door is the oldest post office in the colonies, commissioned by the British Crown. In fact, they still don’t fly a US flag today — making them the only US Post Office which doesn’t. It still operates so definitely send some mail out; they use a cancellation stamp not used anywhere else. Around the corner, look for the 18^th-​century printing office that was used by Franklin’s son or nephew or something. Either way, printing history is just great — and remember that’s what Franklin himself wanted to be his legacy: «B. Franklin, printer.»
I’ve heard that they are doing substantial renovations to the underground museum. I hope the rest stays open!

Does this museum need a major update? Yes. Is it still really cool? Hells, yes.
A short hall of artifacts and portraits followed by a seascape image of Philadelphia lead to the main room. In the gallery, there are images, texts, and artifacts detailing Franklin’s many lives as an author, inventor, and statesman. A diorama shows three of his major political interventions in a charming but low-​tech manner that is reminiscent of Franklin’s own experiments with energy and motion. There are phones (mostly not functioning) that can be used to access recordings of other famous folks speaking about Franklin, as well.
Finally, a rather large theater shows three different short films that introduce the scope of Franklin’s life.
The staff was friendly and accommodating, and it took me two visits with different folks to have enough time to satisfy my curiosity about all there was to see.
I agree that a renovation will be great, but I also loved the fact that there were few other visitors to interrupt my reading :)

Yay Ben! This museum highlights just some of the innovations that Benjamin Franklin was known for. My favorite parts were the demonstration of the printing press, the glass armonica (we heard a recording of the song «The Parting Glass» being played on it – think people playing music on the rims of crystal wineglasses, but a much grander scale; it’s very haunting), and the post office (which is still a real post office! I loved the inclusion of the dolls dressed to represent to look of mail carriers throughout American history).
Ben’s house is a bit weird, basically because it’s not there. It was torn down somewhere along the way, but you see the outline of where it was, and there are some sections where you can look down into the foundations, but it’s a shame that people did not have the foresight to preserve his home.

Franklin Court is nice — but the museum needs a lot of work. Most everything is out of order.
When speaking to one of the National Parks people, they advised that Franklin Museum will be closing this fall for a 3 year renovation. It’s much needed.
They said that the renovated museum will be much more modern, and will be totally different… So skip this until 2012! :-)

I liked that the entrance is just an arch next to the side walk. And I really liked that it was free– I mean the Betsy Ross museum charged $ 3 and all she did was sew a damn flag. Thanks to Franklin Court, I know that Ben Franklin was down in printing, post office, electricity, musical instruments, stoves, and good writing. I learned all this at the underground museum and the film I watched about Franklin. For free. How exciting.
The people who run the old house and old printing place are really funny. The printing guy was terrifying– the was yelling about how important the printing press was and how it shapes our lives today… He was super passionate about the printing press.
Definitely worth a visit just because it’s free and nice.

There is not much to see here. It’s getting 2 stars for convenience on the way to other more interesting historic sites.
Basically nothing but crumbling foundation remains of Franklin’s house – his grandkids had it torn down to build rental apartments. funny.
This attraction is best used as a pass-​through from Market street to Chestnut if you’re too lazy to walk down to the corner.

Technically, this place has no street address. It’s at Chestnut St. between 3^rd and 4^th sts., with another entrance at 316 – 322 Market St. It is the site where Ben Franklin’s house used to stand. Visit the outline of the structure, then visit the free underground museum dedicated to Franklin’s life and pursuits. Great for kids.
Nearby you can visit the Post Office Museum, the printer and bindery, and the office used by Franklin’s grandson to publish his newspaper.