History & local legend
The Hill–Physick House on South Fourth Street in Philadelphia was built for wine merchant Henry Hill in 1786. Surgeon Philip Syng Physick moved there in 1815, after he and his wife, Elizabeth Emlen, had separated. Elizabeth never lived in this house.
That fact makes its garden ghost story unusual. Local tradition nevertheless places Elizabeth’s spirit outside the mansion, looking toward a home associated with her estranged husband. The History Girl’s account recounts this version of the legend alongside the couple’s separation and the house’s ownership history.
