Penn faces northeast. The statue faces Penn Treaty Park where Penn signed a peace treaty with the local Leni Lenape Indians.

Source: Philadelphia's City Hall, 2003, p. 63, Allen M. Hornblum, 974.811 H783P

It is commonly thought that Pennsylvania was named for William Penn; however, the state was actually named by Charles II of England to honor his close friend, William Penn's father.

Source: Phila. Inquirer, 4/19/82

Center City is a term common in Europe, but unusual in the United States. William Penn spaced his four squares equidistant from Center Square, which was where City Hall now stands.

Source: Phila. Inquirer, 01/16/75

It is from William Penn's "Initial Plans for Philadelphia." It reads "Let every house be placed...so there may be ground on each side...that it may be a greene country town." Penn wished to improve upon the crowded condition of London by designing a city with houses set on large lots along wide streets to limit the spread of disease and fire.

William Penn disembarked from the Welcome on October 28th, 1682, at what the Lenni Lenape called Coaquannock, and is now considered Front and Dock Streets.

Source: Philadelphia: The Fabulous City of Firsts, 1976, p.2, G. Don Fairbairn, 974.81 F15p

They called it Pennickpacka, which meant Bear Fat Creek. It was sold by Chief Meltamicon of that tribe to William Penn in 1697.

Source: Fairmount Park, a History and Guidebook, 1974, p.136, Esther M. Klein, 917.481 K672f

The General Wayne Inn in Merion was founded in 1704 as the Wayside Inn. In its early years it hosted William Penn, and in later years Edgar Allan Poe, who is said to have written part of "The Raven" there. As of 1976 it was still in operation.

Source: Philadelphia Bulletin Almanac, 1976, p.94 .

Pennsbury Manor is the site of William Penn’s country home near Tullytown, Bucks County, along the Delaware about 25 miles north of Philadelphia.

Source: Philadelphia: Beyond the Liberty Bell, 1991, p.141-143, Ron Avery, 917.4811 Av38p. See also the Pennsbury Manor website.

William Penn granted the Quakers land in 1701 for the Quakers to use as a cemetery. Owen Biddle designed the meeting house. The Arch Street Meeting is Biddle’s principal monument. The east wing and center building were built in 1803-1805. The west wing was completed in 1811.

Source: Historic Sacred Places of Philadelphia, 2005, p.48-49, Roger W. Moss, 726.5097 M855H, See Also the Arch Street Friends website.

In 1681 King Charles II of Great Britain granted William Penn a 45,000-square-mile tract of land to repay a debt he owed to Penn's father. This land was known as Pennsylvania, or Penn's woods.

Source: Philadelphia Almanac and Citizen's Manual, 1995, p.174, Kenneth Finkel, 974.811 P53AA

The nearly four story twenty-seven ton statue was cast by the Tacony Iron and Metal Works in 1889. It was completed in three years. It was raised in fourteen pieces to the top of the tower on November 28, 1894.

Source: Philadelphia's City Hall, 2003, p. 63, Allen M. Hornblum, 974.811 H783P

Captain Thomas Holmes, the first surveyor General of Pennsylvania, is buried near the Pennypack Creek at Crispin Cemetery on Holmes Circle in Northeast Philadelphia.

Source: Fairmount Park, a History and Guidebook, 1974, p.140, Esther M. Klein, 917.481 K672f

Logan, perhaps best known for being William Penn's secretary, was also President of the Provincial Council, Chief Justice of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, and Mayor of Philadelphia. Logan Square, located between 18^th and 20^th Streets on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, was named for him.

Source: Fairmount Park, a History and Guidebook, 1974, p.153, Esther M. Klein, 917.481 K672f