A City of Firsts

We Were Here First!

Philadelphia has always had a pioneering spirit - probably because we were first in many areas.

Below are some famous firsts we're proud to claim:

• The nation's first public grammar school (now known as William Penn Charter School), founded in 1689.

• The nation's first public library, the Free Library of Philadelphia, founded in 1731 by Benjamin Franklin.

• America's first hospital, the Pennsylvania Hospital, founded in 1751.

• The first university in the nation, the University of Pennsylvania, founded in 1779.

• The first art school and art museum in America, The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, founded in Philadelphia in 1805.

• America's first zoo, the Philadelphia Zoo, founded in 1874.

• The African American Museum in Philadelphia, opened in 1976, is the first institution funded and built by a major municipality to preserve, interpret, and exhibit the heritage of African Americans.

• The nation's first ice cream producer, Louis Dubois Bassett, who opened an ice cream stand in 1861, and later moved to the Reading Terminal Market - it's still there, so be sure to stop in!

• The first National League baseball game, between the Philadelphia Athletics and Boston Red Stockings, played in the spring of 1876.

• Mother Bethel AME Church, the first AME church in the world, which sits on the oldest plot continuously owned by African Americans in the nation.