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Second Bank of the United States
The Second Bank of the United States packs a large punch in a relatively small space, filled with an extraordinary collection of 18th-century portraits.
It’s also a genuine architectural treasure, modeled after the Parthenon and acting as the standard-bearer for many subsequent American bank buildings.
Inside, it holds a repository of portraits depicting many of the men and women vital to 18th-century America’s development.
Included in that list are U.S. Constitution signers Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Mifflin, alongside paintings of Marquis de Lafayette, Patrick Henry and Casimir Pulaski.
Eighty-five of the portraits on view here are by Charles Willson Peale.
The Second Bank of the United States earned its place in history in 1832 when President Andrew Jackson vetoed a bill seeking to re-charter the bank because he viewed it as an unconstitutional monopoly.
Running for reelection, Jackson made his anti-bank stance a critical issue of his campaign and handily defeated opponent Henry Clay.
Eighty-five of the portraits on view here are by Charles Willson Peale, one of early America’s most famous portraitist.
Kids will be intrigued by the pine sculpture of George Washington, as well as his original death mask.
The Visit Philly Overnight Package — booked more than 190,000 times since 2001 — comes with free hotel parking (worth up to $100 in Center City Philadelphia), overnight hotel accommodations and choose-your-own-adventure perks.