Destination: Pennsylvania : Philadelphia: the Rest of the Story : Everybody’s seen the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall, but undiscovered tales lie beyond the obvious in the city where U.S. democracy was born

If you’ve only seen the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall, you haven’t done justice to Independence National Historical Park.

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This national park, scattered around the heart of the city, offers more historic treasures than can be discovered in an entire day.

Park superintendent Martha Aikens calls the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall “international icons that people travel from all over the world to see.”

But Aikens said those who just visit the hall and bell “only reach the first layer of what the park has to offer. If you take the time, there awaits intriguing stories about the people, places and events from which our country and modern democracy have grown.”

While the Liberty Bell gets 1.5 million visitors a year, many places in the park get less than 100,000. Deshler-Morris House, which is the most distant park property and not open year-round, gets less than 1,000 annually, according to figures provided by the National Park Service.

Park rangers say many visitors don’t realize how much Independence offers. Some people just stumble upon overlooked properties. Others know they exist, but never take the time to visit them. “I will next time,” they’ll say. But next time never comes.

As I found out, those people are missing a worthwhile, enriching and inexpensive experience. And especially in the off months of fall, winter and early spring, the park is an easy, peaceful place for explorations.

About 25 of the park’s 40 buildings are open to the public, according to spokeswoman Lee Dickinson. In addition to 18th-century public buildings, sites include museums, historic houses, churches, cemeteries and a restored tavern that serves meals.

As visitors learn, “the American Revolution is much more than the Declaration of Independence,” signed here on July 4, 1776, and first publicly read four days later. “It’s major events and little events; big people and ordinary people,” Dickinson said. “That’s reflected in many buildings people overlook.”

During a recent day in the park, I intentionally skipped the most famous attractions--Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell--to concentrate on places off-the-beaten path . . . even though they’re nearby.

I began my visit in Graff House (also known as Declaration House) at Seventh and Market streets, one block west of the Liberty Bell. I ended it at Deshler-Morris House, in the city’s Germantown section, about 10 miles from the rest of Independence Park.

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Graff House is a reconstruction of the home where 33-year-old Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence. On the second floor are a furnished parlor and bedroom, re-creations of the two rooms he rented here for less than four months in 1776, when the house was at the edge of the city.

Nothing in the two rooms, not even the boots by the bed, really belonged to Jefferson.

The first floor of the red-brick structure is modern, with exhibits and a small theater showing an eight-minute film about Jefferson.

In the rear of the second floor is a modern room filled with illuminated photo cubes celebrating the American bicentennial, complete with the sounds of bands, speeches, cannons and fireworks. A ranger, Maria Schaller, said children love what she calls “the boom-boom room,” an area of Graff House that celebrates July 4 with march music, changing slides and special effects. (Plan to spend about 30 minutes in Graff House.)

At mid-morning, buses were disgorging crowds in front of the Liberty Bell. But the temple-like Second Bank of the United States, along Chestnut Street, less than a block from Independence Hall, was nearly empty.

Ranger Carole-Anne Cordero called the art museum a hidden treasure: “Even Philadelphians say, ‘I never knew this was here.’ When they get here, they are amazed.”

Portraits of famous and not-so-famous figures of the Revolution and early federal government are here, including signers of the Declaration and Constitution.

“We have more than 80 Charles Willson Peale paintings,” Cordero said. “It’s one of his largest collections in one spot.” Less famous artists also have work on display.

There are foreign diplomats, military commanders and leaders of art and industry in the new republic. One gallery focuses on Philadelphia as the nation’s capital.

Another highlight is original 18th-century copies of the Articles of Confederation, Constitution and Declaration. (Spend up to an hour here.)

New Hall is on a brick and cobblestone lane just south of Chestnut Street, on the next block east of Second Bank. Until recently, it was the Marine Corps Memorial Museum. Now Marine exhibits are on the first floor, Army and Navy exhibits on the second. (Plan to spend at least 15 minutes here, twice as long if you see a film about the Army and Navy during the Revolution.)

Because it wasn’t on my itinerary, I only had a few minutes to peek inside cupola-topped Carpenters’ Hall, just beyond New Hall. It was long enough to learn the First Continental Congress met here in the autumn of 1774 to air grievances against Great Britain, months before the first shots ‘It’s major events and little events; big people and ordinary people. That’s reflected in many buildings people overlook.’

of the Revolution were fired in Massachusetts.

That Congress sought a reconciliation with England, not independence. Its delegates wanted American equality and self-government under the British monarch.

Ranger Sue Ketchum guided me through Todd House, home of future First Lady Dolley Madison, on the northeast corner of 4th and Walnut streets, and Bishop White House, home of Dr. William White, bishop to the Continental Congress and the U.S. Senate.

Todd House was the home and office of John Todd Jr., a prominent lawyer who died of yellow fever at age 30. His widow, Dolley, later married James Madison, who became our fourth president. Visitors see rooms with period furniture on two of the four floors. (Stairs are steep and narrow.)

Many objects in Bishop White House, including the sunglasses, books, clerical collar and chamber pot, actually belonged to William White, rector of Christ Church and St. Peter’s Church and Pennsylvania’s first Episcopal bishop.

The house, half a block east along Walnut, has a rare feature, an indoor privy. White inherited his wealth from his family. (Touring both houses takes about an hour.)

Franklin Court, on the south side of Market Street between Third and Fourth, could stand alone as a major attraction about Benjamin Franklin.

“This is one of the places people miss,” Ketchum said. “It’s been here since 1976, but many say ‘I never knew this was here’. Most discover it as an afterthought.”

A ghost mansion, the steel outline of Franklin’s house, dominates Franklin Court. It also has a surprisingly large underground museum, where you can pick up telephones to hear what famous folks say about Franklin.

Along Market Street are restored properties built by Franklin, as well as two buildings he didn’t own. One contains a print shop (Franklin’s print shop was not here). Another has the only U.S. Post Office open seven days a week. You also see his grandson’s newspaper office and an exhibit exposing architectural features in four levels of a building. (You easily can spend 1 1/2 hours at Franklin Court.)

Thaddeus Kosciuszko National Memorial is in a nice neighborhood at Third and Pine streets, further off the beaten path than most places in the park. Kosciuszko (pronounced KOS-CHOOS-KO) was a Polish military engineer in Washington’s army. His fortifications at Saratoga, N.Y., contributed to a key British defeat.

Ranger Eric Knight said Kosciuszko is more famous in Poland than in the United States. Yet as one exhibit shows, bridges, parks and monuments all over both countries are named for him. (Even downtown Los Angeles has its Gen. Thaddeus Kosciuszko Way.)

“What George Washington is to the United States, Thaddeus Kosciuszko is to Poland,” Knight said.

In 1794, Kosciuszko led an unsuccessful peasant uprising to liberate Poland from the Russians. Seriously wounded, he was imprisoned, then exiled. Returning to the United States, he lived in this boarding house from November, 1797, to May, 1798.

Kosciuszko’s second-floor room has been refurnished, though nothing in it actually belonged to him. (Spend 20 minutes in the house, which has Polish-speaking guides and many Polish visitors. A slide show and a tape at the exhibit room are in English and Polish.)

Deshler-Morris House in Germantown is “the only executive mansion George Washington used that’s still in existence,” said Andrew Jarmoluk, president of the committee that gives tours through the house.

Washington lived here in November, 1793, to escape the yellow fever epidemic, which wiped out nearly 25% of Philadelphia’s inhabitants. The house was rented to the president by Col. Isaac Franks, who went to Bethlehem, Pa., to escape the epidemic. Washington returned to the house with his wife and two adopted children the following summer.

“In this room, guaranteed, George Washington did sleep,” Jarmoluk said. “But we don’t have his sacred potty.” They do have his red settee and his china.

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GUIDEBOOK: Philadelphia Freedom

Getting there: From LAX fly nonstop to Philadelphia International Airport on USAir, United and Northwest; or take a connecting flight on American, Continental, TWA or Delta. Lowest advance-purchase, round-trip fares start at about $280.

Parking: An underground parking lot is located along Sixth Street on the left between Arch and Market streets, less than a block from the Liberty Bell. Parking costs $9 for up to 12 hours; $8.25 if you arrive before 10 a.m. and leave before 5 p.m.

A parking garage behind the park visitors’ center can be reached by turning left from Sixth onto Market, then right onto Second Street. The garage is along Second Street, on the left between Chestnut and Walnut. Cost is $8; $6.25 for those who arrive before 10 a.m. and exit by 6 p.m.

When to go: Most park buildings are open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., with extended hours during July and August. Admission is free. The park is busy most days in summer; less so in the fall and winter. Some places (not all are owned by the park) have different hours:

Carpenters’ Hall is open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily except Mondays. (Closed Tuesdays in January and February).

Deshler-Morris House, 5442 Germantown Ave., is open 1 to 4 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays, from April to early December. (Open other times by appointment; telephone 215-596-1748.) Admission is $1 for adults; 50 cents for students with ID.

Todd House and Bishop White House are open by tour only. Tour reservations can be made at the park visitors’ center the day of the visit.

For more information: Superintendent, Independence National Historical Park, 313 Walnut St., Philadelphia, Pa. 19106; tel. (215) 597-8974.

--R.K.