Logan Circle (Philadelphia) Facts for Kids

Quick facts for kids
Logan Square
U.S. National Register of Historic Places

Swann Memorial Fountain in Logan Circle
Location in Philadelphia Show map of Philadelphia Location in Pennsylvania Show map of Pennsylvania Location in the United States Show map of the United States
Location	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Built	1684
Architect	Thomas Holme; Jacques Greber
MPS	Four Public Squares of Philadelphia TR
NRHP reference No.	81000555
Added to NRHP	September 14, 1981

Logan Circle, also known as Logan Square, is a large open park in Center City, Philadelphia. It is one of the five original squares planned for the city. The park is located in the northwest part of Center City.

The names Logan Square and Logan Circle are often used to mean the same place. When William Penn first planned Philadelphia in 1684, he called this area "Northwest Square." Later, in 1825, it was renamed after James Logan, an important statesman from Philadelphia. Logan Square is a main feature of the neighborhood that shares its name. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1981, which means it's an important historical site.

History of Logan Square
- Recent Improvements
- Events at Logan Circle
Gallery
See also

History of Logan Square

Parkway Central Library and Philadelphia Family Court Building

These buildings look like the Hôtel de Crillon and the Hôtel de la Marine in Place de la Concorde in Paris

For a long time, before the 1800s, Philadelphia mostly grew along the Delaware River. This left the area around Logan Square as untouched forest, even during the American Revolution.

From 1821 to 1830, the City of Philadelphia rented the square to the Orphans' Society. This group helped children who didn't have parents.

By the 1840s, the city started to improve the square. They planted trees and other plants and built a wooden fence. This made the square look more like William Penn's original idea of a green space in the city. At first, only homeowners who lived next to the square and paid for its care could use it. In 1852, a strong iron fence was built around the square.

In 1864, Logan Square was the location of the Great Sanitary Fair. This was a big event to raise money for the United States Sanitary Commission. The money helped buy medicine and support for the Union soldiers during the American Civil War. President Abraham Lincoln even visited the fair. He donated 48 signed copies of the Emancipation Proclamation, which were sold for $10 each.

In 1881, the Pennsylvania Railroad built a bridge called a viaduct. This viaduct separated Logan Square from Rittenhouse Square. This changed William Penn's original plan, which had connected all five of the city's squares. Even in the 1800s, the square was used for concerts and other community events.

Since the 1890s, the city wanted to build a grand boulevard, like the famous Champs-Élysées in Paris. In 1907, these plans were approved. Logan Square began to change again. The original boundaries of the square (18th to 20th Streets, Race to Vine Streets) stayed the same. However, the square started to look more like it does today, with a large circle in the middle.

Construction began in 1917 to connect Center City with Fairmount Park. This became part of the Benjamin Franklin Parkway. A French landscape architect named Jacques Gréber designed it. He changed Logan Square into a circle, similar to the oval shape of the Place de la Concorde in Paris. Philadelphia even designed its Free Library and Family Court Building to look like two famous buildings in Paris, the Hôtel de Crillon and the Hôtel de la Marine.

Many important places are very close to Logan Circle. These include the Swann Memorial Fountain in the center, the Parkway Central Library, the old Philadelphia Family Court Building, the Academy of Natural Sciences, the Franklin Institute, Moore College of Art and Design, the Roman Catholic Cathedral-Basilica of Sts. Peter and Paul, and the Mormon Philadelphia Pennsylvania Temple.

The local band The Wonder Years even has a song called 'Logan Circle' on their album The Upsides.

Recent Improvements

In 2005, the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society (PHS) started to clean up and improve the park. They wanted to make it easier and more pleasant for people to walk through. One big change was removing the large paulownia trees around the fountain. City planners decided these trees were old and didn't look good anymore. They were replaced with similar trees grown especially for Logan Square at Longwood Gardens. This was part of a bigger plan to make the space better. PHS also planted beautiful gardens with many different plants around the fountain and nearby areas. They take care of these gardens all year.

The city also worked on a large plan to fix up the original squares. By 2012, they had restored them and added new plants. This helped make the Parkway a great place for events again. The city has also said it supports changing the circle back into a square. They want to make it an even more beautiful green space in the city.

Events at Logan Circle

Logan Circle has been the site of many important events:

When Pope John Paul II visited Philadelphia in 1979, he held a special mass in the plaza on October 3, 1979.
Since the 1960s, students from J. W. Hallahan Catholic Girls High School have a fun tradition. At the end of every school year, the new Sophomores, Juniors, and Seniors jump into the fountain. This event is often shown on local news in Philadelphia.
In 2016, Logan Circle was the starting point for the 2017 Women's March in Philadelphia.
In April 2017, Logan Circle hosted the NFL Draft, a big event for football fans.