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Ready to dig deep into Philly’s Black history?
The Black Journey: African-American History Walking Tour of Philadelphia takes you on an engaging journey through Philly’s rich Black history — dating as far back as 44 years before the city was founded — and examines communities of the past and the often untold stories of some of the nation’s most prominent figures.
Follow the guide’s Pan-African flags on The Black Journey’s two family-friendly tour offerings to explore buildings, homes and monuments connected to Philadelphia’s early and quintessential Black history.
Walk the cobblestone streets where abolitionists, enslaved people and Founding Fathers once stood. Get a primer on the Indigenous history behind Southeastern Pennsylvania’s neighborhoods and rivers. And learn the hidden stories behind various Philly landmarks and murals.
— Photo by Visit Philadelphia
The Black Journey: African-American History Walking Tour of Philadelphia runs year-round on Saturdays, Sundays, select holidays and by request. Tickets are required and each tour lasts up to two hours.
Learn about African Americans’ role in the founding of America during the Original Black History Tour of Old City, the first of two tour options on The Black Journey.
Starting at the Independence Visitor Center, the tour tells the story of some of the city’s most prominent Black figures. That includes Oney Judge, a former slave who emancipated herself and several others along the Underground Railroad, and James Forten, a successful Black businessman and abolitionist (and one of the wealthiest Americans of the 1800s).
The tour also guides you through several historic (and fascinating) Old City locales, including The President’s House, the site where the home of Presidents George Washington and John Adams once stood and the only federally funded memorial to enslaved Black people, as well as Washington Square, where the countless unmarked graves of yellow fever victims reside below.
Other featured tour stops: Independence Hall, the Liberty Bell, Old City Hall, the first U.S. Supreme Court building and more.
The Original Black History Tour of Old City is offered each Saturday at 2 p.m., along with select holidays and by request. Advanced tickets are required.
Philadelphia’s 7th Ward — now comprising parts of Graduate Hospital, Rittenhouse Square, Washington Square West and Society Hill — was once the epicenter of the city’s Black culture and, for much of the 18th and 19th centuries, one of the nation’s largest free Black communities.
The Black Journey’s Seventh Ward Tour tells the story behind this formerly thriving community, highlighting the work of some of Philly’s most celebrated Black figures (like W.E.B. Du Bois and Octavius Catto), the devastating events that displaced many of the 7th Ward’s Black residents, and histories of the institutions, buildings and homes that remain.
The Seventh Ward Tour begins at Mother Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church, an official National Historic Landmark and the longest Black-owned piece of land in the United States, and passes by a number of notable destinations. Stops include the statue of church founder Bishop Richard Allen, various points on South Street and the Mapping Courage mural on the walls of Engine 11, dedicated to Philadelphia’s only all-Black fire department.
Seventh Ward Tours depart at 2 p.m. most Sundays and are available by request. Advanced tickets are required.
For more info on The Black Journey: African-American History Walking Tour of Philadelphia, click the button below.
The only way to fully experience Philly? Stay over.
Book the Visit Philly Overnight Package and get free hotel parking and choose-your-own-adventure perks, including tickets to the Philadelphia Museum of Art, The Franklin Institute, or the National Constitution Center and the Museum of the American Revolution.
Or maybe you’d prefer to buy two Philly hotel nights and get a third night for free? Then book the new Visit Philly 3-Day Stay package.
Which will you choose?