Physick House

Address:321 S Fourth St.
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Tel: (215) 925-7866

Visit the home of the father of American surgery, Dr. Physick, and explore the Federal Style architecture of the late 1700's!

Built in 1786 by Madeira wine importer Henry Hill, the Physick House, formerly the Hill-Physick-Keith House, is named after Dr. Philip Physick, the "Father of American Surgery," who created the first carbonated soft drink in the United States for the relief of gastric disorders. Combining both attractive design and historical interest, Physick House is a free-standing mansion, decorated with fabric, rugs and swan motif wallpaper. The mansion is an excellent illustration of the Federal style from about 1815. Visitors can see the drawing room which opens onto a lovely 19th-century walled garden, and a Roman stool as well as 18th-century Italian art, and collectibles that illustrate the excitement caused by the discovery of the buried city of Pompeii at that time.

Check out an inkstand blessed by Ben Franklin's fingerprints, and Justice Marshall's portrait and a wine stand given to Dr Physick as a "thank you" gift. The Society of Cincinnatus, one of the oldest and most distinguished in the United States, has its headquarters in the upstairs parlor and on the second floor there's a room honoring Dr. Physick and his many surgical inventions.

Physick House is located at 321 South 4th Street Philadelphia.

Madeira, which the British didn't tax, provided Hill the money to build it; The "Father of American Surgery," Philip Syng Physick, lived here. See how the wealthy lived in the early 1800's at this 32-room house.