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Second Bank of the United States: Tours & Tickets

121 Reviews

#76 of 443 things to do in Philadelphia

Museums, Art Museums

Chestnut Street, 4th and 5th Streets, Philadelphia, PA 19106

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Certificate of Excellence

Traveller Overview

4.0 121 reviews

Excellent37%
Very good46%
Average14%
Poor2%
Terrible1%

Certificate of Excellence

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What travellers are saying

Take time to visit the portrait gallery featuring numerous famous pieces, including quite a few by well known portrait artist Charles Willson Peale and a number of members of Peale's family members.

It really helps you put a face with a name of our founding fathers and other important people of the time.

George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, John Paul Jones, Marquis de Lafayette and many others.

Contact

Chestnut Street, 4th and 5th Streets, Philadelphia, PA 19106

City Centre East

Website

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1 - 10 of 106 reviews

flo220

New York City, New York

21296

Reviewed 1 week ago

Nice portraits; good park ranger talk

The museum has nice portraits of the founding fathers with good descriptions. It was interesting to go through. When we were there they were also offering various slide shows/lectures. We went to one on Benedict Arnold -- which was an hour long, full of information...More

Date of experience: November 2019

Thank flo220

Amy M

Cleveland, Ohio

18440

Reviewed 4 weeks ago

Nice exhibit

This building currently holds an exhibit of portraits of important colonial figures. Very interesting to see.

Date of experience: October 2019

Thank Amy M

Andrew-Leakey

Leigh, United Kingdom

991257

Reviewed September 14, 2019 via mobile

Portraits

Amazing to see pictures of some of the founding fathers. I'd not seen paintings of Adams or others before. Fascinating snippets of their lives. Would have liked more info on some. Lovely building and well laid out. Enjoyed this gallery with a difference !

Date of experience: September 2019

Thank Andrew-Leakey

waldentenn

Signal Mountain, Tennessee

606231

Reviewed July 11, 2019

Great Collection, rather sterile interpretation

The Second Bank, aka old Customs House, is a museum within Independence National Historical Park. There is essentially one gallery full of portraits of all the luminaries from the Revolutionary generation, many painted by Charles Willson Peale. An exhibit on Peale's museum is in a...More

Date of experience: July 2019

Thank waldentenn

jerryr111

Cleveland, Ohio

8029

Reviewed July 10, 2019

Wonderful surprise portrait gallery

This very old bank building has been converted into a wonderful portrait gallery ....and the explanatory notes were a great help in discovering the people that helped grow our country. We were also very pleasantly surprised to find that the guards were extremely well versed...More

Date of experience: April 2019

Thank jerryr111

RossOrpington

Orpington

673355

Reviewed June 15, 2019

Portraits well described

I just happened upon this gallery en route to the Independence Hall. It is free and housed in a grand building which was the Second Bank of the USA. There are supporting pillars along the two main sides of the central hall. Unfortunately there is...More

Date of experience: June 2019

Thank RossOrpington

E7575NSmikeg

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

32583

Reviewed June 4, 2019

An amazing structure filled with incredible portraits.

We ducked in just to cool off and thank goodness we did. It was a remarkable collection of portraits. It really helps you put a face with a name of our founding fathers and other important people of the time. I was amazed at the...More

Date of experience: May 2019

1 Thank E7575NSmikeg

maserk

Colorado Springs, Colorado

363130

Reviewed May 29, 2019

Fun to stumble upon this gem

Second Bank has been turned from a bank into a portrait museum, smaller than the National Portrait Museum in Washington DC, but still chock-full of historical portraits, mainly of the Founding Fathers and associates from that era. Entrance is free, and there are rangers there...More

Date of experience: May 2019

1 Thank maserk

davidoH2706NF

Orlando, Florida

9715

Reviewed May 4, 2019 via mobile

Portrait Gallery of American History

The build was once a bank and customs house now it houses Portraits of the founding fathers. The architecture is also great to see. And the the gallery is free. May take around 30-45 to go through.

Date of experience: May 2019

Thank davidoH2706NF

larryderm

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

812194

Reviewed April 7, 2019

OK Museum

The portraits of famous people associated with the early years of our country are interesting but not exciting. A visit is worth about 20 minutes.

Date of experience: April 2019

Thank larryderm

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