Secret Philly
Secret Philly takes you behind the scenes to places that are hidden — or just overlooked — around the city.
Why do we call Philly’s downtown ‘Center City’? Historians aren’t sure
It could stem from William Penn's original "Centre Square" — or have to do with the metropolis' shifting borders.
Behind the 10-foot walls of Girard College, where a whites-only legacy has been turned upside down
This centuries-old institution is the latest in our Secret Philly series.
Secret Philly: How the City Hall clocks spring forward for Daylight Saving Time
The 235-pound minute hands have to be manually adjusted.
Secret Philly: These 11 bars serve seriously great food
Great Italian at an Irish pub, Ethiopian at a Brewerytown dive and more hidden gems.
Secret Philly: The for-sale house Albert Barnes built before his famous museum
There's only one real piece of the famously quirky collector's work left in use for its original purpose: His other house in Merion Station.
Secret Philly: The rooftop tennis court on the edge of Center City
Built in 1984 for $1.7 million, the space once boasted basketball and handball courts, too.
Inside Pine Street’s Halloween, Philly’s hidden gem of a jewelry store
Henri David set up shop in this tucked-away rowhome-turned-store in 1990: 'It’s got to be handmade, or I’m not interested.'
Inside Philly’s Athenaeum: Napoleon and the Capitol Dome plans
In addition to books, this library has a secret basement that holds arts and architecture history, like the first renderings of the capitol building dome.
Inside Philly’s Mother Bethel AME Church, bastion of civil rights in the U.S.
The structure, on the National Registry of Historic Places, sits on the oldest parcel of land owned continuously by African Americans in America.
Behind the scenes at 30th Street Station: You’ve never seen these secret spots
That big retro board showing arrivals and departures is controlled by a computer running Windows 95.
Backstage at the Electric Factory: Where everyone from Kanye to Lady Gaga has gotten ready
There's a TARDIS backstage, Dr. Who fans. No, really.
The Wagner Free Institute: Inside the nearly hidden science museum right on Temple’s doorstep
Step inside, and step back in time to when rich businessmen moonlighted as collectors of prehistoric treasure.
