President's House (Philadelphia)

For the house on Ninth Street, see President's House (Ninth Street).
President's House in Philadelphia
Third Presidential Mansion,
occupied by George Washington,
November 1790–March 1797
and by John Adams,
March 1797–May 1800.
Map
Former names190 High Street
Masters-Penn House
Robert Morris Mansion
General information
Architectural styleGeorgian
Address524–30 Market Street
Town or cityPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania
CountryUnited States
Coordinates39°57′02″N 75°09′00″W / 39.9505°N 75.1501°W / 39.9505; -75.1501
Construction started1767; 257 years ago (1767)[1]
Demolished1832 / 1951
ClientMary Lawrence Masters

The President's House in Philadelphia was the third U.S. Presidential Mansion. George Washington occupied it from November 27, 1790, to March 10, 1797, and John Adams occupied it from March 21, 1797, to May 30, 1800.

The house was located one block north of the Pennsylvania Statehouse, now known as Independence Hall, and was built by Mary Masters, a widow, around 1767. During the 1777–1778 British occupation of Philadelphia, it was headquarters for General Sir William Howe and the British Army. The British abandoned the city in June 1778, and the house became headquarters for Military Governor Benedict Arnold.

Philadelphia served as the national capital from 1790 to 1800 while Washington, D.C. was under construction. During this time, the house was owned by Revolutionary War financier and Founding Father Robert Morris, who gave the house to George Washington. Washington brought nine enslaved Africans from Mount Vernon to work in his presidential household.[2]

The house also served as the executive mansion for the second U.S. president, John Adams, who later moved to the not-yet-completed White House in Washington, D.C., on November 1, 1800.

In 1951, confusion over the exact location of the Philadelphia President's House led to its surviving walls being unknowingly demolished.[3] Advocacy by historians and African American groups resulted in the 2010 commemoration of the site.

  1. ^ Edward Lawler, Jr., "A Brief History of the President's House in Philadelphia", US History, updated May 2010
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference Lawler 2005 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference Lawler 2002 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).