![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/2025-08-08-e-lee-richard-armandi-philadelphia-market-street-benjamin-franklin-mural-trash.jpeg\")
Richard Armandi\u2019s plan for the space would turn it into a tourist attraction by getting rid of the greenery, raising the retaining wall and covering it with a mural honoring Benjamin Franklin. (Emma Lee\/WHYY)<\/p>\nFor admirers of Benjamin Franklin and fans of Revolutionary history, a trip to Philadelphia is incomplete without a visit to Franklin Court.<\/p>\n
A museum, printing shop and reconstructed building frame occupy the Market Street property where Franklin had his home from 1763 until he died in 1790, during which he helped write the Constitution and enlisted crucial French support for the Revolution, among many other roles.<\/p>\n
What most visitors probably don\u2019t know, however, is that Franklin had done much of his essential early work \u2014 including publishing the Pennsylvania Gazette and Poor Richard\u2019s Almanac, and helping start the University of Pennsylvania \u2014 while living a couple blocks away.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s where Ben Franklin really started putting out his papers and his ideas about freedom and democracy and everything else,\u201d said Richard Armandi, a devoted Franklin aficionado and local tourism booster. \u201cSo he basically educated the Revolutionary generation, if you will.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nothing marks the three properties on the 100 block of High Street, now Market Street, where the future statesman had his businesses and home for most of the 25-year period from 1726 to 1751.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Richard Armandi\u2019s plan for the space would turn it into a tourist attraction by getting rid of the greenery, raising the retaining wall and covering it with a mural honoring Benjamin Franklin. (Emma Lee\/WHYY)<\/p>\n
The buildings were torn down long ago, and the area now consists of the off-ramp of a bridge from Penn\u2019s Landing, a strip of landscaping, and a subway ventilation grate where homeless people sometimes camp out. A commemorative plaque<\/a> put up by a journalism organization at SEPTA\u2019s nearby 2nd Street station was stolen sometime last year.<\/p>\n But Armandi has a vision for transforming the spot into a new historic site, perhaps with a mural on a newly constructed, 70-foot-long wall. He imagines a large depiction of Franklin\u2019s shop as it might have looked in the mid-18th century, along with information panels about the Library Company of Philadelphia and other institutions Franklin created.<\/p>\n Armandi says he has pitched the idea to PennDOT and SEPTA, which own parts of the property, as well as nearby businesses, the Independence Historical Trust and the Old City District.\u00a0<\/p>\n So far, no one has committed to help him firm up the plan, raise funds and get the needed approvals to build. At least, not yet.<\/p>\n \u201cFundamentally, there\u2019s an important part of the city\u2019s history that isn\u2019t being represented, or isn\u2019t being remembered,\u201d he said. \u201cYou can clean this up and, instead of being an eyesore right now, it can become a very valuable historic site for the city.\u201d<\/p>\n Creating a new tourist destination<\/p>\n The 76-year-old Armandi is a West Philly native and Chester County resident who worked in facilities management until his retirement in 2015. He also got into the souvenir business in 1976, when he started making \u201ccool\u201d Bicentennial T-shirts with a sketch of Ben Franklin playing a kite-powered electric guitar.\u00a0<\/p>\n His online shop<\/a> markets a variety of souvenir T-shirts and mugs to tour guides, many of them Franklin-themed, and offers a set of free, self-guided tours to Old City and other destinations.\u00a0<\/p>\n Armandi is an active member of the Association of Philadelphia Tour Guides, although he\u2019s not an actual guide himself. He said a past treatment for throat cancer limits how long he can talk \u2014 although he seems to forget that once he gets going on Franklin and the historic marker proposal.<\/p>\n \u201cSorry to ramble,\u201d he said during a recent interview, as he laid out the multiple benefits of his plan. \u201cIt\u2019s just a passion of mine.\u201d<\/p>\n On his blog he digs into the site\u2019s history, tracing Franklin\u2019s various home addresses and the subsequent changes to the 100 block of Market. He touts the project as a way to spruce up a neglected corner of the city and enhance a popular tourist walking route.<\/p>\n \u201cI get a sandwich at Campo\u2019s, and sit outside and watch the tourists as they come down from Christ Church, kind of look down Front Street, maybe go to Franklin Fountain for an ice cream. But a lot of people just turn around and go back up to Independence Mall because that area looks so seedy,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n A few years ago he asked the Old City District organization to consider including his project in its Vision 2026 plan for Market Street between 2nd and 6th streets, but the group declined, he said.<\/p>\n That $16 million city project<\/a>, which is currently under construction<\/a>, is adding bike lanes, better pedestrian crossings and a pedestrian plaza at 2nd Street. The planners also hope to move a statue of the Lenape chief Tamanend to the new plaza from its current spot a couple blocks away, at the on-ramp to I-95. The work will finish before next year\u2019s celebrations of the nation\u2019s 250th anniversary bring throngs of history-loving tourists to Old City.<\/p>\n \u201cI know [the Franklin historic site] won\u2019t be ready for the Semiquincentennial, but just that whole tourist corridor, if you will, is really stymied by the inactivity of the 100 block,\u201d Armandi said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Some interest, and some caution<\/p>\n Ben Franklin, it turns out, lived in at least a dozen different places in Philadelphia before building his well-known final home, according to research by historian Hannah Benner Roach.\u00a0<\/p>\n In 1728, the young Franklin started a printing shop with partner Hugh Meredith at 139 Market, steps away from the street\u2019s bustling farmers market. He also lived in the building with his wife and son. Meredith eventually left, and in 1739 the future Founding Father moved his home and business a few doors down to 131 Market Street.\u00a0<\/p>\n By 1747, Franklin was getting sick of the \u201cdin of the Market\u201d and talked about retiring. A partner took over the shop and Franklin moved to \u201ca more quiet part of the town,\u201d by which he apparently meant a house at what\u2019s now 2nd and Race streets.\u00a0<\/p>\n He soon realized it was too out of the way and they moved back, settling this time at 141 Market. In 1751, the family finally ended its time on the 100 block, moving to 325 Market and eventually building a home at 322 Market, the Franklin Court site.<\/p>\n Considering the tremendous influence of Franklin\u2019s newspaper, almanac and other publications, \u201cyou can argue the kernels of equality and opportunity were all disseminated from the 100 block of Market Street,\u201d Armandi said. \u201cHis call for a free press, and his call for unity and independence, spread from this very spot.\u201d<\/p>\n The various entities whose support he would need to make the project a reality have responded with a mix of interest and caution. A key partner would be SEPTA, as it owns the property and its L subway (Market-Frankford line) runs below the site.<\/p>\n \u201cSEPTA staff met with Mr. Armandi a few months ago regarding his idea of a mural. They advised him that SEPTA\u2019s funding crisis was the authority\u2019s most pressing matter now, and we needed to bring resolution to that issue before any further discussion could occur,\u201d a spokesperson said. \u201cSEPTA appreciates Mr. Armandi\u2019s passion and vision for this endeavor and we encourage him to follow up with SEPTA after the budget challenges have been resolved.\u201d<\/p>\n A PennDOT spokesperson said the agency was not familiar with the proposal and, on initial review, a design team noted \u201cthe location presents several challenges due to extensive subsurface infrastructure.\u201d However, they invited Armandi to discuss the idea with them.<\/p>\n A spokesperson for the Independence Historical Trust, which helps plan and fund projects in and around the National Park Service\u2019s Independence National Historic Park, said the organization has not fully reviewed the concept and declined to comment.\u00a0<\/p>\n Job Itzkowitz, executive director of the Old City District, said the organization doesn\u2019t have a firm proposal from Armandi to evaluate, but is interested in improving the block.<\/p>\n \u201cWe would welcome improvements to Triangle Garden,\u201d he said, referring to the landscaped area, which OCD and the city have struggled to keep from serving as an occasional homeless encampment. \u201cIt would be important to include the 100 block of Market in our next visioning plan, as we wrap up Old City District\u2019s Vision 2026.\u201d<\/p>\n In the meantime, Armandi is hoping to at least get a historic marker sign on the sidewalk, and plans to apply to the state agency that installs them. He notes that he\u2019s also been told that the plaque at the 2nd Street station headhouse, honoring Franklin\u2019s advocacy for a free press, will be replaced in the near future.<\/p>\n (Editor\u2019s note: WHYY President and CEO Bill Marrazzo serves as chair of the Independence Historical Trust.)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"For admirers of Benjamin Franklin and fans of Revolutionary history, a trip to Philadelphia is incomplete without a…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":136501,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5132],"tags":[5229,82064,82065,82066,82067,32671,51797,10188,82068,1448,69634,2830,1311,15940,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-136500","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-philadelphia","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-benjamin-franklin","10":"tag-chief-tamanend","11":"tag-franklin-fountain","12":"tag-independence-historical-trust","13":"tag-independence-national-historical-park","14":"tag-market-street","15":"tag-old-city","16":"tag-old-city-district","17":"tag-pa","18":"tag-penndot","19":"tag-pennsylvania","20":"tag-philadelphia","21":"tag-septa","22":"tag-united-states","23":"tag-united-states-of-america","24":"tag-unitedstates","25":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","26":"tag-us","27":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115009247420639640","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136500","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=136500"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136500\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/136501"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=136500"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=136500"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=136500"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Armandi_Picture1.png\")
A conceptual image created by Richard Armandi shows what a proposed Benjamin Franklin mural on the 100 block of Market Street could look like. (Courtesy Richard Armandi)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/2025-08-08-e-lee-philadelphia-market-street-benjamin-franklin-mural-improvements.jpeg\")
Improvements to Market Street in Old City stop short of the 100 block, where Richard Armandi wants to create a historical marker for Benjamin Franklin. (Emma Lee\/WHYY)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/2025-08-08-e-lee-philadelphia-market-street-benjamin-franklin-mural-street-view.jpeg\")
Richard Armandi wants to replace this tiny green space in the 100 block of Market Street with a mural depicting Ben Franklin\u2019s activities and accomplishments while he lived and worked here. (Emma Lee\/WHYY)<\/p>\n