Elfreth's Alley Historic District

Elfreth's Alley is a short lane of two- and three-story row houses north of Arch Street, between Second and Front Streets in Philadelphia. Its dwellings were laid out after the alley was opened between 1702 and 1704 by Arthur Wells and John Gilbert. The oldest surviving houses, Nos. 120 and 122, date to the early 1700s, and about half of the buildings standing were erected before the middle of the 18th century or before the Revolution. The rest were built in the post-colonial and Federal years. Their flush facades, low ceilings and deep cellars reflect typical urban building of the period. Original residents were mostly artisans and tradesmen, including shipwrights, carpenters, blacksmiths and potters. William Maugridge, a tenant from 1728 to 1731, was an original member of Benjamin Franklin's Junto. The houses have survived largely unchanged while the surrounding city has altered, and the alley is valued as a rare survival of colonial domestic architecture.