The Tomb of the Unknown Revolutionary War Soldier honors the soldiers who died during the American Revolutionary War. Many of those soldiers were buried in mass graves in Washington Square, where the monument is located. The memorial was conceived in 1954 by the Washington Square Planning Committee and completed in 1957. The monument, designed by architect G. Edwin Brumbaugh, features an eternal flame and a bronze cast of Jean Antoine Houdon’s George Washington statue. An unknown soldier — either British or a colonial soldier — is encased in the memorial. Both the tomb and Washington Square are part of Independence National Historical Park.
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The Philadelphia Mint has been a staple of the city since 1792 when the nation’s first-ever Mint opened here. At the time, the city was the nation’s capital. The Mint has been housed in its current building at the intersection of N. 5th and Arch streets since 1969. Visitors can take free self-guided tours and see the coining operations from a walkway 40 feet above the factory floor.
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