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After enjoying their first Philly cheesesteak at the Reading Terminal Market on a Saturday, Jim and Beata Hope of Washington, D.C. went to their destination on this trip to the city, a nondescript house at 301 Pine Street.
In 1797-98, it was the home of Thaddeus Kosciuszko, a Polish soldier and engineer who assisted George Washington and other generals during the American Revolution. The Kosciuszko House was designated a National Memorial in 1972. It is the smallest site in the National Park System, between 800 and 900 square feet in size. It’s a tiny fraction of the size of the largest National Park, Alaska’s Wrangell-St. Elias National Park & Preserve which clocks in at 13.2-million-acres.
“It was amazing, for the smallest National Park site in their portfolio, it was pretty impressive,” said Jim Hope.
For Beata, a native of Poland, she was impressed how a volunteer at the house talked to her in Polish about Kosciuszko.
Kosciuszko specialized in defensive fortifications, and the barriers he developed helped the colonies win the battle of Saratoga and kept West Point free from British soldiers. Upon his return to Europe, he also fought for Polish independence from Russia and was imprisoned by Tsar Paul I, son of Catherine the Great, who later set him free.
While living on Pine Street he was visited by notable figures, including Thomas Jefferson.
Kosciuszko came to help the colonies because he was “very much invested in the ideals of the enlightenment and human self-determination – [such as an] early anti-slavery stance,” said Peter Obst, president of the Polish Heritage Society of Philadelphia.
There were also practical reasons for his arrival in the colonies. “Though well trained in military engineering, he could not get an appointment in Poland,” Obst said.
In August 1776, Kościuszko arrived in Philadelphia and made the acquaintance of Benjamin Franklin. He proved his worth by designing blockades and fortresses along the Delaware River, and was given the rank of colonel by Congress in October 1776.
In December 1776, the same month Washington made his sneak attack across the Delaware River on Christmas, Kościuszko was designing Fort Mercer in Red Bank, New Jersey.
Throughout the war, Kościuszko contributed to American victories throughout the northern colonies, leading troops and using creative solutions to stymie the British army.
On November 14, 1782, Kościuszko led a successful skirmish at Dills Bluff, near James Island, South Carolina, targeting British woodcutters, an action that is considered one of the final armed conflicts of the American Revolution.
Visiting Kosciuszko House
Kosciuszko House is only open on weekends from noon to 4 pm. Still, in 2024, more than 2,400 people visited the house. Park rangers say many tourists from Poland come to the site, so many that pamphlets about the site are printed in English and Polish.
About a year ago, a delegation from the Polish embassy in Washington came to the house.
Carie Carlson is teaching himself Polish.”20 minutes a day on Babbel,” he says. He and his wife Izabela came from Las Vegas for their first visit to Philadelphia and their first visit to the house.
Izabela Carlson said she did a Google search and came across the site. “Looking at the map, oh that Kosciuszko, that’s my homey,” she said.
“She knows there’s a large Polish community here, looking at Polish things, Polish restaurants, Polish markets,” Carrie Carlson said. “We’re going to hit some restaurants today actually, so I just wanted to see the house and history.”
Inside the house, large maps and placards detail Kosciuszko’s life and efforts. One of them is a quote from Thomas Jefferson that reads, “He is as pure a son of liberty as I have ever known, and of that liberty which is to go to all, and not to the few or rich alone.”
Jefferson assisted Kosciuszko in writing in his will, which included: “I authorize Thomas Jefferson in purchasing negroes …and giving them liberty in my name…teaching them to be defenders of the liberty and country.”
The house also displays artifacts and letters, including Polish currency with Kosciuszko’s image on them.
Saved from demolition
The house had been slated for demolition, Obst said. It was saved from the wrecking ball by the efforts of Edward Pinkowski, a Polish historian who discovered and preserved the house. He also placed an official Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission marker in front of the building. The property was purchased by Edward Piszk, the co-founder of Mrs. Paul’s Fishticks and other frozen foods, who then donated the property to the National Park Service.
“My first time at the Kosciuszko Memorial was in 1977,” Obst said. “Over the years, I was at the house many times. In the past, celebrations of Kosciuszko’s birthday were held there. I donated some small items to the display. In 1996, a cousin from Poland visited and served as a volunteer guide at the house.”
“Poland has had over 1,000 years of turbulent history and many national heroes. Kosciuszko ranks in the top 10 – many say he is at the very top — and every Polish citizen knows at least something about him,” Obst said, who came to the United States with his family in 1963.
Obst says the Philadelphia Photo Archive has many photos of that corner over the years. In one of the photos, he said, the Kosciuszko house is a drugstore. In another photo from the 1920s, the adjoining building is a tobacco shop.
