Thaddeus Kosciuszko National Memorial

Why go

Thaddeus Kosciuszko National Memorial earns time because it offers a focused story linking the American Revolution, Polish independence and Kościuszko's Philadelphia visitors. Its central thread is the small rented rooms where the Polish military engineer recovered in 1797. A recreated bedchamber gives the compact site its strongest sense of scale. Exhibits connect Kościuszko with Thomas Jefferson and Indigenous diplomatic visitors.

What to look for

• A recreated bedchamber gives the compact site its strongest sense of scale.
• Exhibits connect Kościuszko with Thomas Jefferson and Indigenous diplomatic visitors.

The full story

Thaddeus Kosciuszko National Memorial is best understood through the small rented rooms where the Polish military engineer recovered in 1797. Thaddeus Kosciuszko National Memorial, at 301 Pine Street in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, preserves the home of Tadeusz Kościuszko. The life and work of the Polish patriot and hero of the American Revolution are commemorated here Kosciuszko returned to America to a hero's welcome after his wounding, capture, imprisonment, and banishment from his native Poland occupied by Russia, in 1796. Kosciuszko's secretary, Julian Ursyn Niemcewicz, having been instructed to find "a dwelling as small, as remote, and as cheap" as possible, chose Mrs. Ann Relf's boarding house at the corner of 3rd and Pine Streets in Society Hill. Here, where Kosciuszko recuperated from his wounds while rarely leaving the house, he was visited by numerous luminaries of the day, including Vice President Thomas Jefferson, architect Benjamin Latrobe, William Paterson (a signer of the US Constitution), Chief Little Turtle of the Miami people, and Chief Joseph Brant of the Mohawk nation. The home was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on December 18, 1970. The National Memorial was authorized on October 21, 1972. It is administered under Independence National Historical Park but is counted as a separate unit of the National Park System.

Useful to know

• Build the visit around its limited seasonal weekend hours rather than assuming daily access.
• Combine it with Society Hill or Old City; the interior itself needs less than an hour.

Your next visit

Estimated · Declared scenario and planning estimates; no live opening, weather, queue or booking service.